My husband and I travelled to Queretaro recently for a friend’s wedding, and took advantage of a three day weekend to spend some time sightseeing. Queretaro is about a two and a half hour drive from Mexico City – close enough for an easy weekend trip or even a day trip if you’re feeling ambitious. The city was founded in 1531, although the area was first settled long before that, and the historical center is full of cobbled streets, colonial architecture, and tree-lined plazas.
We enjoyed exploring Queretaro’s historical streets on foot. In addition to traditional Mexican restaurants, candy stores, ice cream shops and stalls selling everything from blouses to jewelry to paintings, the city center has beautiful architecture. If art and architecture are your thing, you can’t skip a visit to the Museo de Arte de Queretaro (Queretaro’s Museum of Art), located in the former Monastery of San Augustin. The building is one of the best examples of Barroque architecture in Mexico and just as stunning as any of the pieces you’ll find in the galleries. Another important tourist site is the aqueduct, which was built in the 18th century to bring water to the city from La Cañada. If you’re looking for some local sweets to try, the city’s specialty is pedos de monja (literally, this translates to nun’s farts – eeew – though I think the actual ingredients include chocolate and marshmallow), but we preferred to stock up on queso de almendra (like very sweet marzipan) and glorias (candies made from pure cajeta) instead.
In addition to being a colonial city and tourist destination, Queretaro is a center for industry and is growing rapidly. It is one of the safest cities in Mexico, and offers residents cleaner air and less traffic than Mexico City. So, while the center of the city is characterized by narrow cobbled streets and traditional architecture, outside the old center you’ll find that Queretaro is a modern city with highways and high-rises.
While the center of Queretaro has plenty to keep a visitor busy for a couple of days, the area outside of the city offers even more – we spent a day visiting Finca Sala Vivé (the Mexican location of Spanish winery, Freixenet) which is part of a wine and cheese route connecting local vineyards and dairies, and the Peña de Bernal, the third largest stone monolith in the world after Gibraltar and the Sugar Loaf in Rio de Janeiro.
We got up early to make the hike up the Peña de Bernal before it got too hot, but of course, stopped for breakfast beforehand and got terrible sunburns walking up at noon. Unfortunately, you can’t walk all the way to the top, but you can get pretty close, and you’ll still find a beautiful view of the surrounding countryside. In the town of Bernal you’ll find shops selling gorditas on every other corner – the town is famous for these pockets of corn dough filled with anything from chicken to cheese to mushrooms. The cheese bread (pan de queso) is another local treat – it’s a yeast bread filled with sweet cream cheese, plus some other additions such as fruit or cajeta.
The weekend we were there happened to be the Bubbles Fest at Finca Sala Vivé – an event celebrating sparking wine which includes tastings, entertainment, tours and tapas. I think I can safely assert that while everything else was fun, our favorite part were the tastings. We left the event more than a little buzzed and with about 3 bottles of sparkling wine in the trunk. The place was packed, and because we spent so much time there we weren’t able to try out any of the other wineries on the route, but I’d definitely go back to visit some of the smaller spots and enjoy Finca Sala Vivé with a little less company on a quieter weekend.
We definitely didn’t have time to see – and taste – everything we’d have liked, but since Queretaro is a relatively short drive, I’m sure we’ll have another chance soon!
Highlights: Where to stay and eat
The highlight of our trip was absolutely the hotel – we stayed at the Hotel Criol, which is a modern hotel in a remodeled casona in the historical center of Queretaro, just a couple of blocks from the Plaza de Armas – the oldest part of Queretaro where you’ll find monuments, restaurants and the state government buildings. The hotel is reasonably priced, and has beautiful public spaces, including a small swimming pool beneath a huge jacaranda tree – which happened to be in bloom during our visit -, a library, and a small restaurant where they serve breakfast.
The morning we ate at the hotel, we enjoyed fresh fruit, sweet bread, and a selection of typical breakfast options including eggs, chilaquiles and pancakes – the green chilaquiles were my favorite. Another point in favor of the hotel was that our room had an outdoor jacuzzi tub with more than enough space for both of us, and we enjoyed a soak every single day of our stay.
Just a few blocks away from the hotel in the Plaza de Armas is the Mesón de Chucho el Roto, where we had some traditional Mexican food on the first night. We had guacamole made at the table with an unexpected ingredient – peanuts. I’d never have thought of it, but they were actually a pretty good addition to the usual avocado, cilantro, onion, lemon, and spicy peppers. I also thought the bone marrow and escamoles (ant eggs, these are a traditional delicacy, kind of like Mexico’s version of caviar) were good.
Locations: Museo de Arte de Queretaro: Ignacio Allende 24, Centro, 76000 Santiago de Querétaro // Finca Sala Vivé: Carretera San Juan del Río – Cadereyta Km. 40.5 Ezequiel Montes, Querétaro // Hotel Criol: RÍO DE LA LOZA NORTE NO. 6, COL. CENTRO // Mesón de Chucho el Roto: Pasteur Sur #16 Col. Centro Histórico