Mercado Hidalgo: Guanajuato Travel Guide (4.5★)

Iron, glass and a clock tower

Look up before you look at the stalls. Mercado Hidalgo is a single long hall of riveted iron columns and trusses under a high roof. Light falls through the glass onto the aisles. A stone facade with a clock tower faces Avenida Juárez. The market opened in 1910, in time for the centenary of Mexican independence.

A popular local story says the building was first meant to be a train station. Historians treat that as legend, but the scale does feel like a railway hall. The ground floor holds food and produce. A gallery runs around the upper level, and from its railing you can see the whole floor below.

Eating your way down the aisles

The ground floor is for eating. Fondas line the hall with counters and stools, and the cooks work right in front of you. Stalls nearby sell fruit, chiles, cheese and sweets. Look for these:

• Enchiladas mineras, Guanajuato’s own dish: red-chile tortillas with potatoes, carrots and crumbled cheese
• Guacamayas, a bolillo roll stuffed with chicharrón, salsa and lime, a snack from the region
• Charamuscas, twisted candy, sometimes shaped like the city’s famous mummies
• Cajeta, goat’s-milk caramel from the state, sold in jars and boxed sweets

The upstairs gallery is mostly crafts. You will find woven straw hats and baskets, ceramics, embroidered textiles, leather goods and souvenir mummies. Prices are not posted on much of it. Ask at the stall.

Shopping and ordering at the market

This is one of the most-visited stops in town, so treat it as busy, not secret. Doors open at 8am every day of the week. Coming soon after opening, before the day’s walking tours reach Juárez, gives you calmer aisles while the fondas are serving breakfast. The market closes at 8pm, including weekends.

• Carry pesos in small notes. Many food counters and craft stalls work in cash. Card readers are less common.
• Sit and order at the counter. At a fonda, take a stool and ask what is on today. Staff usually call out the dishes. You pay when you finish.
• Ask for a taste. “¿Me da una probadita?” works at cheese and sweet stalls.
• Bargain gently upstairs only. Asking for a little off on several items is normal in the craft gallery. Do not haggle over food.
• Ask before photographing a vendor. The building is fair game, but stallholders are working.

Getting there and what’s around it

Guanajuato’s centre is a knot of steep, narrow streets, and walking is the easiest way in. From Jardín de la Unión, follow Avenida Juárez west for about 15 minutes. You pass Teatro Juárez and Plaza de la Paz on the way. The market is where the avenue widens near the bottom of the old town.

Templo de Belén stands almost opposite the main entrance. The Alhóndiga de Granaditas is a short uphill walk north. It is the fortified granary where the first major battle of the 1810 independence war was fought. You can see both in one morning with the market.

Give the market an hour to eat and look around, or more if you are shopping upstairs. Plenty of visitors come for lunch and then walk on to the Alhóndiga. The street-level tunnels under the city also come out near here, so taxis and buses pass close to the market.