Yel Kaye – Travel Blog, Writing and Photography

Guadalajara’s answer to Mexico City’s Coyoacan is Tlaquepaque. It’s a pretty colonial suburb, complete with brightly coloured houses, cobblestone streets and overpriced cafes. It’s a strong artisan community, and showrooms of art and kitschy ceramics are everywhere.

It’s apparently also tourism central in Guadalajara. My friends and I had to put our rousing game of “spot the foreigner” on hold because there were just too many.

But, you know, I’ve spent enough time “off the beaten track” to know how to enjoy myself when I’m on it. There is seriously no point in griping about all the tourists when you’re visiting somewhere so touristy.

The only antidote to travel snobbery is to throw away all your pretensions and just do the silly tourist thing. Take photos with statues. Pose in front of taco stands. If a neighborhood’s built for that kind of thing, why not?

A visit to Tlaquepaque is a definite must for anyone in Guadalajara. Though Guadalajara’s certainly a very nice place, it doesn’t actually seem like the most accessible destination. (I’ve found it easier to crack into Mexico City, despite it’s overwhelming size.) Tlaquepaque is therefore a good place to relax for a bit and have the prettiest aspects of Mexico handed to you on a platter.