Guadalajara
Guadalajara is the capital and most populous city of the western Mexican state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco.
Guadalajara is the capital and most populous city of the western Mexican state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 8th most populous city in Mexico, while the Guadalajara metropolitan area has a population of 5,268,642, making it the third-largest metropolitan area in the country and the twenty-second largest metropolitan area in the Americas. Guadalajara has the second-highest population density in Mexico with over 10,361 people per km2, surpassed only by Mexico City. Within Mexico, Guadalajara is a center of business, arts and culture, technology and tourism; as well as the economic center of the Bajío region. It usually ranks among the 100 most productive and globally competitive cities in the world. It is home to numerous landmarks, including the Guadalajara Cathedral, Degollado Theatre, the Templo Expiatorio, the UNESCO World Heritage site Hospicio Cabañas, and the San Juan de Dios Market—the largest indoor market in Latin America.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Guadalajara
10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01University of Guadalajara
The University of Guadalajara is a public research university located in Guadalajara, Jalisco. It was originally established in 1586 and officially founded on 12 February 1791 as the Royal and Pontifical University of Guadalajara.
1.2 km · university in Mexico · Wikipedia - 02Hospicio Cabañas
The Hospicio Cabañas or Cabañas Museum in Guadalajara, Jalisco was one of the oldest and largest orphanage and hospital complexes in the Americas. Now turned into a museum, the main hall hosts the magnum opus frescoes of muralist painter José Clemente Orozco.
1.1 km · World Heritage Site in Mexico · Wikipedia - 03Jalisco Stadium
Jalisco Stadium is a football stadium located in Guadalajara, Jalisco. It is the third-largest Mexican football stadium behind Estadio Azteca and Estadio Olímpico Universitario with a capacity of 53,937 spectators.
3.7 km · football (soccer) stadium located in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico · Wikipedia - 04Estadio Tres de Marzo
The Coliseo GNP Seguros is a stadium in Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico. It is currently used for football and American football.
7.4 km · football stadium · Wikipedia - 05Guadalajara Cathedral
The Guadalajara Cathedral or Cathedral of the Assumption of Our Lady, located in Centro, Guadalajara, Jalisco, is the Roman Catholic cathedral of the Archdiocese of Guadalajara and a minor basilica. The cathedral of Guadalajara is among the oldest in the Americas, together with examples such as the cathedral of Mérida and the Cathedral of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.
100 m · cathedral of the Archdiocese of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico · Wikipedia - 06Basilica of Our Lady of Zapopan
The Basilica of Our Lady of Zapopan and the abbey of the same name are a 17th-century Franciscan sanctuary built in downtown Zapopan, in the state of Jalisco, Mexico. It is one of the most visited sanctuaries in Western Mexico, and it preserves a wooden Virgin that is considered a valuable relic of medieval origin, which came from Spain to New Galicia in the 16th century.
6.8 km · church building in Zapopan, Mexico de 45 metros de altura · Wikipedia - 07Hotel Riu Plaza Guadalajara
Hotel Riu Plaza Guadalajara is a skyscraper hotel located in the city of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. At 204-metre tall, it is the city and metropolitan area's tallest building and the twelfth highest in Mexico to date.
5 km · skyscraper hotel in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico · Wikipedia - 08Torrena
Torrena or Torre Nacional was a planned 336.5 metres -high telecommunications and entertainment vaporware tower in the city of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. The tower started construction in the spring of 2005.
6.8 km · skyscraper in Mexico · Wikipedia - 09Guggenheim Guadalajara
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1937 by philanthropist Solomon R. Guggenheim and his long-time art advisor, artist Hilla von Rebay. The foundation is a leading institution for the collection, preservation, and research of modern and contemporary art and operates several museums around the world.
1.1 km · building in Hidalgo, Mexico · Wikipedia - 10Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara
The Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara, commonly abbreviated to UAG or Autónoma, is a coeducational, independent, private university based in the Mexican city of Guadalajara. Established in 1935, it was the first private university and medical school in Mexico.
7.4 km · university · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
- 01Belén Cemetery
- 02Cabañas Cultural Institute
- 03City Museum
- 04Museum of the Arts University of Guadalajara
- 05Plaza Guadalajara
Hidalgo and Calle de Morelos, Zona Centro).
- 06Plaza de Armas
From Wikivoyage: Guadalajara, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Things to do
You can make a sightseeing tour in a very economically and animal friendly carriage. These are not powered by a horse, instead by a battery like an electric car. The start is at the cathedral. Prices are M$300 for half an hour, M$400-500 for a whole hour (Dec 2021).
- 01Expo Guadalajara
Hosts major industrial trade shows throughout the year.
- 02Estadio Akron
- 03Estadio Jalisco
- 04Estadio Tres de Marzo
- 05Estadio Los Charros de Jalisco
Lucía 373, Tepeyac, Zapopan (use bus or taxi (no on-site parking)).
- 06Nuevo Progreso Bullring
From Wikivoyage: Guadalajara, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
Guadalajara has a wide range of restaurants with outstanding street vendors selling regional specialties (particularly birria, tortas, and various tacos). The city also has a mind-boggling variety of outstanding restaurants with dozens of 5-star restaurants offering an upscale experience and a wide range of international flavors.
From Wikivoyage: Guadalajara, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Guadalajara
- Airports
- Guadalajara (GDL), 17 km · Aguascalientes (AGU), 156 km · Guanajuato (BJX), 197 km
- Stations
- Ávila Camacho, 2.6 km · Mexicaltzingo, 1.3 km · Circunvalación Country railway station, 3.8 km · Plaza Patria railway station, 4.9 km · Periférico Norte, 6 km
- Aguascalientes → Guadalajara173 km · quickest by road, 3h 24m · MX$195–265
- Silao → GuadalajaraTrain, bus, flight, ferry and road, side by side
- Puerto Vallarta → Guadalajara196 km · quickest by road, 4h 46m · MX$275–370
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Guadalajara
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Guadalajara. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get aroundMetropolitan Area Mass Transit System (Sistema de Transporte Colectivo de la Zona Metropolitana) is the local transit authority.
- Get aroundTour operators use luxury buses (such as Turquesa, Tour and Cardenal).
From Wikivoyage: Guadalajara, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.
- 011,477 km
- 021,581 km
- 031,641 km
- 042,148 km
- 053,094 km
If you know how people move in Guadalajara – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to Guadalajara
Guadalajara is 6 km from Zapopan, the nearest large city, whose note carries the wider picture.
- Puerta de Hierroneighborhood in Zapopan, Mexico8.6 km