Attractions

Shopping for jewelry and other items is the major pastime for tourists. Prices for silver jewelry at Taxco's shops are about the best in the world, and everything is available, from $1 (50p) trinkets to artistic pieces that cost hundreds of dollars.

In addition, Taxco is the home of some of Mexico's finest stone sculptors and is a good place to buy masks. However, beware of so-called "antiques" -- there are virtually no real ones for sale.

Special Events & Festivals

January 18 marks the annual celebration in honor of Santa Prisca, with public festivities and fireworks displays. Holy Week in Taxco is one of the most poignant in the country, beginning the Friday a week before Easter with processions daily and nightly. The most riveting, on Thursday evening, lasts almost 4 hours. Villagers from the surrounding area carrying statues of saints, followed by hooded members of a society of self-flagellating penitents, chained at the ankles and carrying huge wooden crosses and bundles of thorny branches. On Saturday morning, the Plaza Borda fills for the Procession of Three Falls, reenacting the three times Christ stumbled and fell while carrying the cross.

Taxco's Silver Fair starts the last week in November and continues through the first week in December. It includes a competition for silver works and sculptures among the top silversmiths. In late April to early May, Jornadas Alarconianas features plays and literary events in honor of Juan Ruiz de Alarcón (1572-1639), a world-famous dramatist who was born in Taxco -- and for whom Taxco de Alarcón is named. Art exhibits, street fairs, and other festivities are part of the dual celebration.

Nearby Attractions

The impressive Grutas de Cacahuamilpa, known as the Cacahuamilpa Caves or Grottoes, lie less than a half-hour north of Taxco. Hourly guided tours run daily at the caverns, which house fascinating stalactite and stalagmite formations. To see them, you can join a tour from Taxco or take a combi from the Flecha Roja terminal in Taxco; one-way is $5 (£2.50), and admission to the caves is $5 (£2.50).