Before this, I thought Guanajuato, Mexico would be the pinnacle of colonial architectural beauty within Mexico. I was wrong. Taxco is right up there for an amazingly intricate, complex, and beautiful town built right into the lush green mountainsides.
The marvel of Taxco from just one angle. When arriving by bus, I didn’t have enough time to take a photo from the other side, which shows how Taxco scales up the mountainside
Taxco at dusk, around 5-6pm. You can see how the town climbs up along the mountain
Taxco de Alarcón, Guerrero, Mexico
Taking a bus from Taxco involves a quick 20 minute Uber ride to the southern Mexico City bus station, and then a roughly 3 hour bus ride to Taxco Bus terminal.
Mexico City To Taxco
Taxco Adventures
For some quick history, the original Taxco was originally called “Tlachco” which means “The place of the ball game” in the indigenous Nahuatl language. “De Alarcón” was appended in honor of a famous writer from this same town. The original town of Taxco (now called “Taxco El Viejo – Old Taxco”) was actually located 10km south of the new Taxco but was eventually relocated by the Spanish conquistadores for the purpose of mining the mountains which were rich in silver.
Walking through the downtown of Taxco
Locals sell their goods in Taxco
Starting the slow climb up the mountainside of Taxco
Walking up one of the main market boulevards in Taxco
A woman sells her vegetables in the marketplace
Walking through the Taxco markets
Walking through the Taxco markets
All sorts of interesting foods from deep within mexico
Going deeper into the labyrinth of buildings in Taxco
Deep within Taxco market
Surrounded on all sides
Ordering some Pozole, a delicious Mexican soup
Pozole, a delicious mexican dish, served hot
A nice view, deep within the city of Taxco
Back outside from the market, wandering around, found a very old fountain in a dead-end.
An assortment of trinkets and souvenirs are for sale in Taxco
The Town of Taxco climbs up the steep hillside
A Taxco dog relaxes in the sunshine
Leonidas in Taxco
Santa Prisca de Taxco – Parroquia de Santa Prisca y San Sebastián. Google: “Soaring, majestic 1758 church & town landmark with an opulent facade & a legendary past.”
A boy plays on his phone in the main center of Taxco
The beautiful architecture deep within Taxco central
Tepoznieves – Icecream store, with a typical Volkswagen beetle Taxi in Taxco
Santa Prisca de Taxco towers above the town
As is fairly obvious, most building in Taxco are painted white to maintain its colonial feel.
Santa Prisca de Taxco, in front commemorating the day of the dead 2020
A van acts as the local bus system within the greater Taxco area
A restaurant within the center of Taxco
Multi-layered palatial hotels decorate the center of Taxco
Leonidas in Taxco
On the left is a narrow path out of Taxco designated for vehicles, and on the right is a steep street with various shops that sell silver jewelry
The narrow streets of Taxco
In celebration of the “day of the dead” in Mexico
Oxxo (on the right), is your typical convenience store, but it blends right into the town center
Restaurants and hotels line the streets of Taxco, with overhanging greenery
Wikipedia: Juan Ruiz de Alarcón (c. 1581 – 4 August 1639) was a New Spain-born Spanish writer of the Golden Age who cultivated different variants of dramaturgy. His works include the comedy La verdad sospechosa (es), which is considered a masterpiece of Latin American Baroque theater.
Walking back towards the center of Taxco
The Santa Prisca de Taxco church towers into the sky
The facade of the Santa Prisca de Taxco
Starting the slow climb to the top of Taxco hillside
A higher level view of Santa Prisca de Taxco and central Taxco
A street most likely built in the 1600’s, and recently renovated for tourism in Taxco
The levels of historic architecture in Taxco. The right side leads to a deadend, but the mix of red, white and green is beautiful
Centuries of families slowly built up the city, level by level.
Climbing up Taxco through the narrow streets
Santa Prisca de Taxco towers in the distance
A family of children play next to their home in Taxco
The town of Taxco continues to climb into the sky
The “Parroquia de Guadalupe” sits higher on the mountainside for visitors
A view of Taxco from higher up the mountainside
Leonidas on the hills of Taxco
The narrow pathways crisscross on all levels of Taxco, both for cars, and for people
Small narrow streets called “Callecitos” (Ka-yeh-see-tos”) take pedestrians up and down the hills of Taxco
Homes that were built decades ago climb up the mountainsides of Taxco
The steep climb up towards to the top of Taxco
A fountain adorns a round-about further up the mountain
Another church near the top
Dogs run freely in Taxco
City-planning was not a major concern when first establishing Taxco
The narrow streets and stairs continue to scale up the mountain, higher and higher
Homes, once alone and tranquil, now sit by the main tourist paths for people to look in
At the very top of Taxco stands the “Chapel of Cristo de la Cima”, overlooking the town
The town of Taxco in full panorama
The red rooftops and white facades contrast with the intense green of nature
An ear-wig climbs my leg
A boy asking for money to support a puppy
A souvenir salesman at the top of Taxco
Various metal trinkets for sale for tourists in Taxco. I bought myself one
A Mini Break to Try Some Mezcal
At the hill where the Jesus statue is, you can continue even further up, and then make a left turn into one of the main roads. At the intersection was a man selling his ‘Mezcals’ which means ‘oven-cooked agave’ in the indigenous language of Nahuatl. It is a traditional drink of around 38-55% alcohol.
This particular mezcal was mixed with honey during the fermentation process, but typically mezcal is clear like vodka.
Various replicas of ancient indigenous artifacts (or they might be real, who knows).
A stuffed coyote adorns the wall
After having a couple of shots of mezcal, and feeling slightly tipsy, it was time to continue to the waterfall of Taxco
Continuing Along The Outskirts of Central Taxco
Leaving the central area of Taxco leads to a couple of winding paths that are mostly traversed by cars, buses, or motorcycles. Feeling tipsy, I decided it was best to enjoy the novelty of simply walking a few kilometers on this warm clear sunny day.
Once again, the Volkswagen beetles act as taxis within Taxco (and many other cities in Mexico).
A man stares longingly onto the street from his 3-story home
The winding streets traverse up and down the hillsides of Taxco
Many vehicles in Mexico are still actively used, even beyond their date of expiration. For many people, utility is more important than safety or novelty.
A mini-van that was disassembled, sits sunbaked on the side of the main artery in Taxco
The lush green hills and mountains of Taxco. They are MUCH bigger than they look
The outer streets of Taxco feature narrow homes that were built more recently
A dog enjoys some sunshine on the side of the road
Newer construction projects on the outskirts of Taxco
Typical Taxco homes
The grey cement buildings contrast with the vivid green nature
At this point, it was best to jump into a mini-bus and take the long 20-minute bus ride to the local waterfall.
Volkswagen beetle taxis come and go
A woman creates delicious ‘micheladas’ for those thirsty for some flavoured sweet beer in the hot mexican weather
A delicious ‘Micheladas’ includes beer, and ‘chamoya’ a sweet, sour and sticky candy-like substance
Visitors come to the tail-end of the waterfall (“Cascada De Cacalotenango”)
The tail-end of the “Cascada De Cacalotenango”
You can see the head of the “Cascada De Cacalotenango” at the top of the mountain
At this point, it was time to start climbing up towards the head of the waterfall
A small shed features a painting of Taxco
A painting of Taxco featuring the red and white and green contrasts
The view from just a bit higher up. If you exclude all buildings, this is what Mexico would look like without civilization.
Unfortunately, due to some circumstances, I wasn’t able to make it to the top of the waterfall. Instead of getting lost in the jungle (and not taking photos).
From Dusk Till Dawn
Because of getting lost in the jungle, it took some time to get back out, and once out, I simply wanted to get back into the central part of Taxco to catch my bus out of the city.
Returning back to the town of Taxco by mini-bus
The sun continues to set on the town of Taxco, until it eventually becomes much darker than typical life in a big city
Conclusion
I would have loved to traverse even higher up the waterfall, as well as staying an extra day in the town of Taxco to make more incredible photos. Unfortunately, I underestimated the amount of intrigue and beauty of the town, and scheduled this as a same-day trip.
Will I come back here in the future? I would like to plan that one day for sure. Would I recommend Taxco, Guerrero for a visit? Most definitely. The red rooftops with white facades contrasting with the vivid green nature of the surrounding Mexican landscape is breathtaking – especially after living in the concrete jungle of Mexico city.
Highly recommended, and it’s a mere 3 hours by bus. A+
Since 2010, Leonidas has been an incredible Web Developer, and amazing Digital Marketer. He is the author of various exciting case studies in digital marketing, most notably in Pay Per Call Marketing.
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