September 2019
Leon, with 1.4 million people, is one of the major cities in Mexico. It is more of a business center than a tourist attraction, but we decided to check it out during our one month stay in Guanajuato.
From Guanajuato Central Bus Terminal, ETN and Primera Plus luxury buses($4-5) make the 50 minute trip 8-10 times a day, but cheaper buses($3) go there every 20 minutes or so. Our slower bus made several stops along the way and got us there in 75 minutes.
The bus terminal in Leon is in the city center. We considered taking a cab to the Historic Center, but, the lady at the tourist information booth at the terminal said we cold walk there in 15-20 minutes. After about 10-15 minutes of seeing nothing much, we came to their Arch of Triumph:
We could see another famous landmark, Templo Expiatorio Diocesano del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús, through the gate. Finally we are in the Historic Center, we thought.
But there was not much else to look at after that for another 10-15 minutes. It was getting hot and our feet were getting tired. When we finally came to Plaza Fundadores, we just wanted to sit down. In the map below, the bus terminal is about where the orange arrow is. The historic center is in the light brown area on the left. [full map]
The Historic Center is compact, and there are enough churches and colonial era buildings to to see. We would have enjoyed walking around the area for an hour or two if we weren’t too tired.
When we left the Cathedral, we walked over to the main boulevard(Lopez Matteo) to get a cab(50 pesos) and got to our lunch spot recommended by the owner of the house we were renting in Guanajuato. Along this road, we noticed city bus stops. If we had known earlier(I did try to find information online about the public transportation in Leon but failed) we could have taken the bus to get to the Historic Center while getting ourselves oriented to the city, saved energy, and walked back toward the bus terminal area where the restaurant was located.
The highlight of this trip was this restaurant. Italian with a local twist, their Caesar salad was one of the best I’ve had anywhere around the world. Clam chowder: excellent. Pat had a crab and shrimp ravioli: to die for. Their drinks were top notch.
We have to try their dessert, Pat said. We settled on the most expensive item on their dessert menu(105 pesos), strawberries Jubilee, and watched them make it for us table side. Final bill? With a generous tip, the whole lunch was about $40.
Another place recommended by our landlady was Guanajuato Art History Museum(free) in Leon Culture Forum, which was within walking distance from the restaurant. This was a nice surprise also. The architecture of the museum was impressive, and their multimedia exhibit was very interesting even though everything was in Spanish. It was clear that city of Leon was not expecting a lot of foreign visitors, though: their tourism office website is only in Spanish.
Leon’s foremost industry is production of leather goods. Right around the bus terminal, there are lots of shops selling leather shoes, boots, purses and so on. We were tempted by $30 cowboy boots, but, when will we ever wear them!
Leon was certainly not a place that we would go out of our way to visit, but there seemed to be enough to see and do for a day or two. If we were nearby, we would go there to check out other restaurants.
Small Wide World 