Taxco and Cuernavaca Day Tour with Ancient Mine from Mexico City

Cuernavaca, the City of Eternal Spring

About 85 kilometres south of Mexico City and some 700 metres lower, Cuernavaca enjoys a mild climate all year, which has earned it the name City of Eternal Spring. Mexica rulers already came here to rest, and later Spanish nobles, emperors and wealthy families from the capital built gardens and country houses in its valleys. Today it is the capital of the state of Morelos and a popular weekend escape from the city.

The tour makes a sightseeing stop of about 40 minutes in Cuernavaca on the way south. Its historic centre includes the 16th-century Franciscan cathedral complex, part of a UNESCO World Heritage listing of early monasteries on the slopes of the Popocatépetl volcano. Your guide introduces the town's history before the drive of about two hours through the mountains to Taxco.

Taxco, the silver town

Taxco clings to a steep hillside in the state of Guerrero, its white houses, red-tiled roofs and narrow cobblestone lanes forming one of the most picturesque towns in Mexico, officially listed as a Pueblo Mágico. Silver has been mined here since before the Spanish arrived, and great strikes in the 16th and 18th centuries made the town famous; in the 20th century a revival of silversmithing turned it into the silver capital of the country.

With your guide you walk the old centre, see silversmiths at work and visit the jewellery workshops, where you can buy rings, necklaces and bracelets made by local artisans. In total the tour spends about three hours in Taxco. In the default option this includes a traditional lunch at a local restaurant, often with a view over the rooftops. A Taxco day trip from Mexico City is the easiest way to see the town without driving its steep, narrow streets yourself.

Santa Prisca church

Standing above the main square, the church of Santa Prisca is one of the finest examples of Mexican baroque architecture. It was built in the mid-18th century, completed around 1759, and paid for by a wealthy silver miner of French origin who had struck a rich vein of silver here. Its pink stone facade is covered with carved saints, columns and ornaments, and its twin towers and colourful tiled dome dominate the town skyline.

Inside, gilded altarpieces in the elaborate Churrigueresque style rise from floor to ceiling, together with paintings of the period. Your guide explains the symbols carved in the stone and the story of the silver fortune behind the church. Santa Prisca is still an active parish, so modest dress and quiet are appreciated during services. It is included in all guided options of this tour.

The ancient pre-Hispanic mine of Taxco

The most unusual part of the day is the descent into an ancient mine beneath the town, included in the default option. You go down in an authentic mining elevator and walk through a beautifully lit tunnel of about 150 metres, where the walls still sparkle with traces of the precious metals they contain.

Inside, the guide explains how the region's inhabitants worked the mine before the Spanish conquest: the tools they used, the techniques for following the veins and how the metals were extracted. On the way out you see a large mural made with materials from the region by a celebrated Mexican muralist, dedicated to the last Aztec emperor. Many travellers ask whether the Taxco mine tour is worth it: it is the stop that turns a pleasant town visit into a memorable one.