Planning a trip to Taxco
Visitor Information
The State of Guerrero Dirección de Turismo (tel./fax 762/622-2274; www.guerrero.gob.mx) has offices at the arches on the main highway at the north end of town (Av. de los Plateros 1), which is useful if you're driving into town. The office is open Monday to Saturday, 9am to 8pm, and Sunday till 6pm. To get there from the Plaza Borda, take a ZOCALO-ARCOS combi and get off at the arch over the highway. As you face the arches, the tourism office is on your right.
City Layout
The center of town is the tiny Plaza Borda, shaded by perfectly manicured Indian laurel trees. On one side is the imposing twin-towered, pink-stone Santa Prisca Church; whitewashed, red-tile buildings housing the famous silver shops and a restaurant or two line the other sides. Beside the church, deep in a crevice of the mountain, is the wholesale silver market -- the best place to begin your silver shopping, to get an idea of prices for more standard designs. It's open daily from 9am to 7pm. You'll be amazed at the low prices. Buying just one piece is perfectly acceptable, and buying in bulk can lower the per-piece price. One of the beauties of Taxco is that its brick and cobblestone streets are completely asymmetrical, zigzagging up and down the hillsides. The plaza buzzes with vendors of everything from hammocks and cotton candy to bark paintings and balloons.
New Dangers in Guerrero
For the most part, the ongoing violence of the drug trade has been sequestered to border towns in the north of the country. However, it has also affected states that contain valuable trafficking routes for the narcos. Sadly, some of these unseemly activities have spilled over into parts of the state of Guerrero, including Taxco. In June 2010 there was a shootout between suspected drug traffickers and police. No bystanders were killed or injured in the incident, but it was just one of several reports of activity in or around town in 2010. So far the violence hasn't directly affected tourists in Taxco and visitors continue to come and enjoy the beautiful hills and the array of silver jewelry for sale. However, longtime residents lament the changes. Use caution when traveling on local highways, especially at night, and heed warnings from hotel staff and tourism officials.
Special-Interest Vacations
The Taxco campus of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM; tel. 762/622-0124; www.cepetaxco.unam.mx) houses the Center of Instruction for Foreign Students on the grounds of the Hacienda del Chorrillo, formerly part of the Cortez land grant. Here, students can learn folkloric dancing, Spanish, drawing, composition, and history. Classes are small, and courses generally last 3 months. The school provides a list of accommodations that consist primarily of hotels. More reasonable accommodations for a lengthy stay are available but are best arranged once you're there. At many locations all over town, you'll find notices of furnished apartments or rooms for rent. For information about the school, either contact the Dirección de Turismo (tourist office) in Taxco or write the school directly, at Hacienda del Chorrillo, 40200 Taxco, Gro.
Getting There
By Car
From Mexico City, take Paseo de la Reforma to Chapultepec Park and merge with the Periférico, which will take you to Hwy. 95D on the south end of town. From the Periférico, take the Insurgentes exit and merge until you come to the sign for CUERNAVACA/TLALPAN. Choose either Cuernavaca cuota (toll) or Cuernavaca libre (free). Continue south around Cuernavaca to the Amacuzac interchange, and proceed straight ahead for Taxco. The drive from Mexico City takes about 3 1/2 hours.
From Acapulco, you have two options: Hwy. 95D is the toll road through Iguala to Taxco, or you can take the old two-lane road (Hwy. 95) that winds more slowly through villages; it's in good condition.
By Bus
From Mexico City, buses depart from the Central de Autobuses del Sur station (Metro: Taxqueña) and take 2 to 3 hours, with frequent departures.
Taxco has two bus stations. Estrella de Oro buses arrive at their own station on the southern edge of town. Estrella Blanca service, including Futura executive-class buses, and Flecha Roja buses arrive at the station on the northeastern edge of town on Avenida Los Plateros ("Avenue of the Silversmiths," formerly Av. Kennedy). Taxis to the zócalo cost around 20 pesos.
Fast Facts
The telephone area code is 762. The main post office, Benito Juárez 6, at the City Hall building (tel. 762/627-3503), is open Monday through Saturday from 8:30am to 3:30pm. The older branch of the post office (tel. 762/622-0501), open Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 4:30pm, is on the outskirts, on the highway to Acapulco. It's in a row of shops with a black-and-white CORREO sign.
When to Go
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 Friday of the week before Easter with processions daily and nightly. The most riveting, on Thursday evening, lasts almost 4 hours. Villagers from the surrounding area carry 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.
