If you are into food, I think you will like Guadalajara. As a big city it offers a huge variety, from best Mexican cuisine to all kinds of international dishes! And no matter if it´s a simple taco stand or an upper-class restaurant, in Guadalajara you´ll get an unbeaten value for money. I would even say the city would be worth a visit JUST for the food! During my time there I aimed to try every recommendation I got and, as an outcome, here are - only and exclusively - my absolute favorites.
The city of Guadalajara has its own unique charm and loads of places to discover while tourism is pretty low. Because it´s one of the destinations not everyone visits, you won´t have a hard time avoiding the masses to discover a very authentic modern Mexico.
Chiapas is one of the greenest areas in Mexico. It comes with amazing turquoise waterfalls, pre-hispanic ruins and the very authentic city of San Cristobal. In my opinion it's one of the completely underestimated locations in Mexico, already a famous travel destination among mexicans but still not really discovered by international tourists. Therefore it's probably one of the cheapest places you'll visit in Mexico and I think as well one of the most beautiful.
Baja California is one of the most popular destinations in Mexico among tourists from the United States for two main reasons: its location close to the border and its warm temperatures. Although in some parts it´s hard to avoid the masses, besides beach resorts and party destinations in the very south of the peninsula, there are as well some hidden gems. In fact, I found two of my favorite places of the country in Baja California: Valle Guadalupe in the north and Isla Espiritu Santo in the south.
Lago Chapala is the biggest lake in Mexico and as it is really warm there and you cannot see the other end of the lake, for me it felt more like the ocean (maybe as well because most lakes in Austria are really small). Lago Chapala is one of the most popular leisure time go-to places close to Guadalajara.
Tlaquepaque is an artistic, colourful city that was surrounded by Guadalajara when it grew, so that now it seems more like a part of the city. It is one of Guadalajara´s "must sees" and there are some things you should not miss when you´re there!
