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    A free Puebloteca guide Jalisco's Pueblos Mágicos

    Free Jalisco travel guide

    All 12 of Jalisco's Pueblos Mágicos on one printable page. Free when you sign up for our weekly email.

    • All 12 Pueblos Mágicos, with a photo and what makes each special
    • A map of Jalisco with each one on it
    • Road trips that join the pueblos close together
    • The best months to go
    • How far each is from the nearest city
    • The sights not to miss
    • The fiestas worth planning around
    • The fiestas month by month
    • Where to stay in each
    • Made to print or save as a PDF

    The 12 Pueblos Mágicos in this guide

    Most visited first. The full guide adds the sights not to miss, the fiestas, how far each is by car, and a layout made to print.

    San Sebastián del Oeste12Temacapulín11Talpa de Allende10Sayula9Cocula8Mascota7Lagos de Moreno6Ajijic5Mazamitla4Tlaquepaque3Tequila2Tapalpa1
    1. 1 Wooden boardwalk leading to the giant boulders of Las Piedrotas at sunset, near Tapalpa, Jalisco

      Tapalpa

      Tapalpa is a highland town in Jalisco with white houses, red roofs, and wooden balconies. Nearby are Las Piedrotas, huge boulders scattered across a green valley, along with forests and cabins.

      When to go: Jan, Mar, Apr, Nov

    2. 2 Rows of blue agave on the hills below the Tequila volcano, Jalisco

      Tequila

      The town that gave the drink its name sits among blue agave fields below the Tequila volcano. Visitors tour historic distilleries, ride the tequila trains from Guadalajara, and wander a compact center built around the parish church. The surrounding agave landscape is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

      When to go: Jan, Feb, Nov, Dec

    3. 3 Glowing "Tlaquepaque te quiero" heart under a canopy of papel picado at night, Jalisco

      Tlaquepaque

      Part of greater Guadalajara, Tlaquepaque is known for pottery, blown glass, and craft galleries along its pedestrian streets. Mariachi bands play at El Parián, a large arcade of restaurants around a central bandstand.

      When to go: Jan, Mar, Nov, Dec

    4. 4 Spires of the Parroquia de San Cristóbal against a pink sunset sky, Mazamitla, Jalisco

      Mazamitla

      A mountain town in the pine forests of southern Jalisco, often nicknamed the Mexican Switzerland. Visitors from Guadalajara come for wooden cabins, cool weather, and hikes to the El Salto waterfall.

      When to go: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr

    5. 5 Palm-lined lakeside promenade of Ajijic on Lake Chapala, Jalisco

      Ajijic

      Ajijic sits on the north shore of Lake Chapala, Mexico's largest lake. With a mild climate year-round, it has one of the largest communities of foreign retirees in Mexico, along with murals, galleries, and a lakeside malecón.

      When to go: Jan, Mar, Apr, Nov

    6. 6 Twin baroque towers of the Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco

      Lagos de Moreno

      Lagos de Moreno is a city in the highlands of Los Altos de Jalisco whose historic center and old bridge are part of the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro World Heritage listing. The pink stone Baroque parish of the Assumption towers over streets of mansions, a former Capuchin convent that is now the Casa de la Cultura, and the Calvario church. Nicknamed the Athens of Jalisco for its writers, it is also dairy and horse country, with charrería, cheeses and milk sweets, hot spring resorts and hacienda hotels nearby.

      When to go: Jan, Mar, Apr, Nov

    7. 7 Mascota's rooftops and church tower seen from a lookout, Jalisco

      Mascota

      Mascota is a mountain town in the western sierra of Jalisco, a little over 100 km inland from Puerto Vallarta. It sits in a valley ringed by hills of pine and oak where white-tailed deer still live; the old Nahuatl name means "place of deer and snakes." The 18th-century parish church, with a tower clock shipped from Paris in the 1870s, anchors the center. People come for the mild weather, the forested surroundings and the unhurried pace.

      When to go: Jan, Mar, Nov, Dec

    8. 8 Pink Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel at the end of the main plaza of Cocula, Jalisco

      Cocula

      Cocula is a farm town about an hour southwest of Guadalajara, and it calls itself the cradle of mariachi. Arches decorated with guitars and violins welcome you at the entrance, and the music is everywhere, from the plaza to the song that Jorge Negrete made famous. Around it stretch fields of sugar cane, agave and maize. Visitors come to hear mariachi where it began, walk the center and eat well in an unpretentious Jalisco town.

      When to go: Jan, Feb, Nov, Dec

    9. 9 Statue of a priest before the stone façade and tower of the Sayula cathedral, Jalisco

      Sayula

      Sayula is a traditional town about 100 km south of Guadalajara, with a lively main plaza, a handsome downtown church and several chapels. It is known for its cajeta, a milk caramel, and for a Carnaval with dancing, floats and street vendors. During holidays some downtown streets close to make room for a big open-air market. The writer Juan Rulfo's birth was registered here in 1917.

      When to go: Jan, Mar, Nov, Dec

    10. 10 Twin-towered Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Rosario under a blue sky, Talpa de Allende, Jalisco

      Talpa de Allende

      Talpa de Allende is a small town in the mountains of western Jalisco and one of Mexico's major pilgrimage destinations. Pilgrims arrive throughout the year, many of them on foot, to visit the Virgin of the Rosary of Talpa in her basilica on the main square. Around the plaza, shops sell guava sweets and small figures made from chicle, two local specialties.

      When to go: Jan, Mar, Nov, Dec

    11. 11 Bell tower of the Basílica de los Remedios behind flowering oleanders, Temacapulín, Jalisco

      Temacapulín

      Temacapulín, or Temaca to locals, is a tiny village in the Altos de Jalisco, beside the Río Verde and about five kilometers north of Cañadas de Obregón. Its name comes from the Nahuatl word for a thermal bath, a nod to the warm springs in the area. The village is centered on the Basilica of Nuestra Señora de los Remedios, and it is reached by a single rural road, which keeps it very quiet.

      When to go: Jan, Mar, Apr, Nov

    12. 12 Tiled roofs and white church of San Sebastián del Oeste in a forested valley, Jalisco

      San Sebastián del Oeste

      San Sebastián del Oeste is a tiny former mining town in the mountains of western Jalisco, under two hours by road from Puerto Vallarta. Its cut-stone and adobe buildings have changed little since the nineteenth century, and its church, first built in 1608, has Corinthian columns and frescoed vaults. People come up from the coast for the quiet streets, the restored haciendas nearby, and fiestas such as Saint Sebastian's on January 20.

      When to go: Mar, Apr, May, Nov

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