A mix of colonial Mexico, incredible food, amazing sites, and magical towns, Michoacán offers many things to do. Read my list of things to do in Michoacán.
When planning a trip, hardly anyone would ever consider visiting the state of Michoacán. Mostly known for its Monarch butterfly sanctuaries, this state has much more to offer.
From the many road trips we’ve taken in Mexico, this was truly one for the ages. Think Coco (the movie), mixed with colonial Mexico, incredible food, amazing sites, and finding the roads less traveled.
Table of Contents
Getting There
Our journey began by renting a car in one of our favorite landing hubs: Guadalajara, Jalisco. This trip was so much special because we traveled in December. Mexico embraces this time of the year, and adorns even the smallest pueblos with a lot of colors, music, and traditional foods.
Stop 1: Cuitzeo
We rented a car and drove from the Guadalajara airport straight to Cuitzeo, pueblo mágico, in the state of Michoacán (about a three hour drive). On the way there we absolutely had to stop on the side of the road when we saw signs for fresas (strawberries). These strawberries were huge and delicious!
The plan was to simply make Cuitzeo a pit stop, walk through the placita (the town’s square), and soak in the place. This was such a peaceful, wonderful experience. There were essentially zero tourists and everybody was out enjoying the evening. There was a school or city organized bailable (dance), which we decided to watch.
We visited the former Santa María Magdalena monastery complex, which is right next to the main square. Parking was easy to find, so we just walked around, ate the local ice-cream and fruits, drove by Lake Cuitzeo, and headed out.
Stop 2: Morelia
After our quick stop in Cuitzeo, we drove about 30 minutes to Morelia to spend the night and finish up the day. Our hotel was in a historical building (dating back to 1744) right next to the main square. This enabled us to check-in and just go outside and start walking. The weather was perfect, even in this time of the year: cool but not cold.
The following morning, we decided to take one of the tours that the hotel offered. This experience was ‘ok’, but at least it gave us a few pointers for us to go and explore later on our own, such as the aqueduct and some, very picturesque spots.
The next morning, we went for an experience we try have during each of our road trips: eat at the local mercado. The food was good, but the ambiance was even better! Our little daughter was serenaded by the local musicians while we were having our meal. We tried the typical tamales from Michoacán: corundas, as well as pambazos.
From there, we walked a few short blocks to the home where Jose Maria Morelos (independence hero) was born. My daughter got to learn the word “Morelos” that day! From there, we walked to one of the spots we saw the previous day on the tour: the Acueducto de Morelia. This aqueduct is featured on the 50 pesos bill. It was built in the 1700s to move water into the city.
Morelia has a Callejon del Romance (alley of romance), which is nearby the aqueduct. People are supposed to go there and romanticize. It’s a very peaceful little alley. Our daughter got to run around a little bit.
Stop 3: Capula
Capula is a tiny small town about 30 minutes from Morelia best know for its crafts, specifically the art of La Catrina.
In Mexico, La Catrina is the iconic figure during the traditional Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration. Plenty of these elegant, well-dressed skeleton women can be seen walking around during this celebration commemorating loved ones that have passed on to the land of the dead. Dia de Muertos and La Catrina have inspired movies such as Coco.
There are several craft shops in the main street of Capula. We walked into a few of them and were so amazed by the detail and craftmanship that we decided to bring one of the Catrinas home with us. Great buy! Note that they don’t take credit card. This is such a small town, there are no banks!
Stop 4: Quiroga
We left Capula and decided to head to Quiroga (about a 30 minute drive) for a quick lunch stop. This town was so highly hyped by the locals in Morelia that we felt to obligation to see what their carnitas were all about. IT DELIVERED!
If you watch the Netflix series “Taco Chronicles,” they actually feature Quiroga. Carnitas are about #5 on my list of tacos…however, these carnitas were nothing short of phenomenal. I would drive there again just to have them! Yes…they are that good. My wife, who is not a big meat eater, got to taste the pozole batido which is corn-based and she loved it! We sat down at the market, and enjoyed our meal around the other locals.
Stop 5: Tzintzuntzan
What a day we’ve had so far! We woke up in Morelia, shopped in Capula, had a great lunch in Quiroga, and now we make another pit stop in Tzintzuntzan, Pueblo mágico (about a 15 minute drive from Quiroga).
This, too, is a very tiny town that has a punch. Some of its streets are made of stone. We visited the Convento de Santa Ana, its mercado, the archeological zone (fairly deteriorated, but good to check off the bucket list), and its old cemetery. A truly magical way to spend our early and late evening.
Stop 6: Patzcuaro
This was our favorite stop of the entire trip (about a 30 minute drive from Tzintzuntzan). This was a charming, cobble-stoned, postcard pueblo mágico close to Lake Patzcuaro. The evenings were a bit chillier here, but you could actually feel the magic in the air. I would go back to Michoacán just to experience Patzcuaro again. I will let the pictures do the talking…
While in Patzcuaro we tried the nieve de pasta which was some type of caramelized milk ice cream. It was so delicious! A must try! In fact, it was so good I had two of them even though it was winter time. They sell it in little carts around the square.
We also tried the mezcal which was recommended as one of the local alcoholic beverages to try in Patzcuaro. Mezcal is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from agave. It is very similar to another popular Mexican drink, tequila, although there are some differences. Tequila is produced from a specific agave plant and can technically only be produced in the state of Jalisco. Mezcal also has a smoky flavor and tents to taste a bit sweeter. Well, at least that’s what I’ve been told, I personally had a hot chocolate!
The island of Janitzio, located in Lake Patzcuaro is a must visit. You rent a boat to get to the island. At the island, you will taste the best ever pescado blanco (white fish). I’m not a fan of fish, and this was a very tasty meal. The restaurant was towards the top of the hill near the monument. It had a second floor with a beautiful overview of the lake. I highly recommend this restaurant, unfortunately I cannot recall the name.
The traditional fishermen will perform the fishing routine for you. We spotted one of the performing fishermen coming to the coast. We approached him and asked him if we could take a picture on his boat. People are very nice here, and he allowed us to take the picture!
Stop 7: Santa Clara del Cobre
This is a copper crafts town. It’s a neat place to see all of the copper craftsmanship. It’s a 30 minute drive from Patzcuaro.
Stop 8: Uruapan
Uruapan is a larger town about an hour and half drive from Santa Clara del Cobre. It has a mercado with very tasty atoles (corn meal that is cooked and eaten as mush or that is drunk as a thin gruel), and a beautifully adorned square as well during the holidays. We had some good food here, some rest, and headed out the next day to our next destination.
Stop 9: San Juan Parangaricutiro
The following morning, we took the backroads from Uruapan over to San Juan Parangaricutiro (about an hour and half drive). This is the site of a church that half-ways survived the eruption of nearby Paricutin volcano in 1943. We arrived early, not knowing there were locals giving out the tours, so we started out on our own Later on, a kind local person approached us and asked if we needed help. We took his help, and he showed us the surviving alter from the eruption. This was an amazing experience!
Below is another picture of the church. This was not the entrance. This was one of the windows…only the top part of the church survived. You can see parts of the door if you look down. It was quite the hike. We managed, even with our 2-year-old daughter!
Stop 10: Paracho
We got to pick-up on the Coco theme on our next stop. Paracho (about an hour drive from the church) is known for its guitars. There are a few notable Mexican musicians who have gotten their guitars here.
The day we got there, there was a guitar exhibition contest at the Casa de la Cultura. We met a family that was helping run it. The father of the family was one of the craftsmen that builds guitars (he was honored during this annual event). His name is Marco Antonio Alfaro Jimenez, and you can find him on Facebook. We bought a guitar from him for my dad, and he loved it!
By they way, the mercado right across the Casa de la Cultura had really good food.
Stop 11: Tangamandapio
This was just a pit stop, since a very famous, fictitious character, Don Jaimito el Cartero, was from this town. Here we are next to an actual monument erected in his honor. This place is about two hours from Paracho.
Stop 12: Jiquilpan
Our last stop in Michoacán is this Pueblo mágico that carries the charm of a small town. It’s about an hour drive from Tangamandapio. The main square was quite lively at night, where we had an outdoor meal while watching people walk by. Its library hosted some murals by famous Mexican muralist Jose Clemente Orozco. This was an unexpected treat!
Back to Guadalajara
We managed to get back to Guadalajara with a day left in our trip which gave us some time to explore the city.
We miss you, Michoacán!
I hope you were able to get a taste of what you can see and do in the beautiful state of Michoacán. If you are ready to make this trip your own, click the button below to get the full itinerary and trip details. If you are looking for other travel destinations check out our list of itineraries.
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Hi, I’m Iván García—I love to travel and photography. I’m big on road trips, just about anywhere in the world. I share information for people to reach truly great places. My goal is to inspire you to visit these places for yourself.
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How many town did you visited on this trip and how many days it took you?
Hola Marisol! We visited at least 12 towns in Michoacan. It sounds like a lot, but they were so close to each other that it was fairly easy and relaxing to visit 2-3 per day. We spent about a week in Michoacan. Make sure to check out the Itinerary page with the details. If you have any questions at all, please let me know and I’d be happy to share more information! Saludos.
Do you recommend to use the public transportation or did you rented a car??
Very good question. Public transportation will work visiting the medium or large cities. Visiting towns like Capula will be difficult. Also, having a car, you can make decisions such as “lets eat carnitas at Quiroga” on the way to your next destination. The roads were super safe, and the flexibility of having your own car is priceless! We love stopping along the way when we see something that catches our eyes.
Do you have a hotel recommendation guide? Too often not knowing safe areas prevent travelers from exploring beyond the larger cities. Great photos. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Betsy, thank you for your question. For each place visited I am uploading the logistics behind it, including the hotels we stayed in as well as the way we got around. For Michoacan specifically, take a look at this link:
https://travelwithivan.com/itineraries/michoacan-itinerary/
There I show where we stayed each night, and my pros-cons for each hotel. Fortunately, we’ve had good luck with locations so I can recommend most of the hotels we’ve stayed at. Take a look, and don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any questions! Happy travels!
Gracias por enseñarnos los tesoros que guarda michoacan, hermosas fotos, dan ganas de ir
Gracias a ti por visitar el blog. Avísanos si hay algo más con lo que te podamos ayudar. Saludos!
We love visiting Michoacán and have visited all of these places but three. We were hoping to make it to Capula this year but just ran out of time in that area so it will be a visit for another time. We also have never stopped in at Jiquilpan or Tangamandapio just driven by so we will have to make the effort next time. Uruapan has a absolutely beautiful little national park right in the city city itself that is a must see. Pátzcuaro, is one of our favourite little cities, we spent a week there in January. There is also another beautiful little national park called Parque Nacional del Lago de Camécuaro that by the town of Tangancícuaro which is near Zamora. Very happy to see that you were able to see some many of these pretty little places that most people never take the time to see.
Ruth
Ruth, thank you for visiting our blog. Great to hear from fellow bloggers.
We missed out on the national park near Uruapan. We’ll have to consider it on our next visit there. We definitely plan to go back one day. Tangamandapio will like be interesting only if you watched “El Chavo del 8.” I recommend a short stop in Jiquilpan, though. It’s a charming, peaceful town.
We didn’t get to explore Parque Nacional del Lago de Comécuaro. We did hear great things about the lakes and other parks in the area. A lot of opportunities for camping.
Thank you for sharing your experiences!
Michoacán has lot of places where to go. For your next tour you might want to add Zirahuen, Tlalpujahua, camecuaro and el santuario de la mariposa monarca into your checklist.
About Morelia I guess you forgot to mention the cathedral and El Jardín de la Rosas but I honestly hope you did visit them. During the weekends in downtown, lot of theatrical companies offer leyendas tours. This is also a very good opportunity to know about the very well known leyendas about the old Morelia.
Uruapan is another small city where you can add some other spots to your agenda, El parque nacional is a MUST, el Mercado de antojitos where you need to try pulque de papa, is not to most delicious thing in the world but it has a very unique taste. Uruapan is also well known for the atole de grano which I guess you did try.
Did you go to the Old San Juan Parangaricutiro with a toddler? Wow, that is brave. I won’t even think about going there with mine. He is a small tornado.
And finally, you are absolutely right, the best part of living in Morelia is to have the opportunity of visiting Patzcuaro every weekend. Patzcuaro is something else.
Please let me know if you or someone you know is planning to visit my beloved state, I will be glad to give you or them some advices and tips.
Regards
Ricardo
Thank you for the note, Ricardo! We did absolutely visit several of those places. We tried the atole and tamales at the Mercado de antojitos. The atole had several flavors–that was the first time I tried tamarind.
Our baby did well in Old San Juan Parangaricutiro. I did have to carry her quite a bit, though 🙂 I think she enjoyed it.
We got to visit the cathedral in Morelia. I’ll have to add a few pictures.
Thank you so much for the suggestions and for visiting our page!
Me encantaron tus espectaculares fotos!!
¡Me da gusto que las hayas disfrutado!
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