RideMex, Track 15, Guanajuato City Tangent
This Track was made for those who want to visit the city of Guanajuato. While Guanajuato is quite a ways off the RideMex loop that goes from the US to Guatemala and back visiting many of Mexico’s most beautiful sites and comprised of its most amazing roads for ADV riding, we wanted to make a special tangent track so as to make it more accessible and visible to those who want to get to know Mexico well. Guanajuato is a very special city. So as not to get confused, understand that Guanajuato is also a state! Guanajuato City has an network of tunnels that are used to get traffic to different neighborhoods. The tunnels are carved out of the bedrock of the mountains and add a lot of character to the city. The colonial downtown area is beautiful and clean. Some of the streets are closed off for pedestrian use only and there are many nice hotels, restaurants, and museums. The Juarez Theater is exceptionally beautiful. Guanajuato is famous for its very unique mummy museum, which is a must-visit.
Recommendations:
- Take time to actually ride through the tunnels, they are extensive and beautiful in their own way. You can’t navigate through them with GPS, but once you get into the system you can just follow them, enjoy them and after you are back under the sky you can have your GPS guide you to your destination. We were able to navigate through the city with our GPS, it would just “catch up” to us when we came out of the tunnels and got a signal so we’d ride a bit more slowly for a few seconds until it updated our location.
- Lodging is not particularly expensive in the city even though it is a very interesting and beautiful place, so if you can afford it, get a place downtown in the colonial center so you can walk everywhere easily and enjoy it. There is almost no parking downtown, so after you find a place to stay and drop of our bags you will most likely have to ride to the hotel parking area out of the downtown area and then catch a taxi back. Ever with this added inconvenience it is worth the trouble. The taxi will only be like US $4 and the city is fascinating. If you book a hotel beforehand they can send you a pin or address for the parking area and then you can go their directly if you so choose, then take a taxi with your bags to your place of lodging.
- Get tickets for a performance at the Juarez theater if there is something available during your visit.
- Visit the Mummy Museum, it is unlike any museum you have ever visited before!
- Beside the Mummy Museum there is a cemetery. It is worthwhile taking a stroll through it as there are slots for the deceased along the walls. It is different than most cemeteries.
Fill up on gasoline/petrol at the following places to avoid any range anxiety:
- There is a gas station in San Luis de la Paz, about half way to Guanajuato City on the Track 14B tangent.
- Get gas in Guanajuato.
Recommended places to stay:
- Hotel Casa Alonso 10 is a classy, beautiful hotel just a block from the Juarez Theater and is right in the middle of the downtown colonial area. Some of the colonial style rooms have large terraces that overlook the cathedrals. The showers put out copious amounts of water, hot or cold, always a bonus when traveling in Mexico. The rooms are quiet. We really have only good things to say about Casa Alonso 10. Their parking is far away from the hotel, but there is a lot of space in the parking area and it is safe. No squeezing the bikes into a tiny space as can be the case in other places. Parking is also included in the price of the hotel which is not the case with them all.
- Hotel Casa Virreyes is also a very pleasant place with a beautiful and relaxing colonial style atmosphere. It is located right across the street from the main cathedral and on one of the main plazas. Rooms here are a bit cheaper, but the hotel is still very good.
- There are many hotels to stay in throughout the city, many with different styles and a price for almost every budget.
