This article is jammed packed with information all about Tequila, Jalisco: the tours and everything else on offer here. Tequila is a stunningly beautiful pueblo magico (magical town) in the west of Mexico, it’s a great place to visit with friends or with family.

Tequila is emphatically not somewhere to see as a party town, somewhere to go specifically to get drunk (although, yes, this is definitely possible). There is so so much to see, learn, and enjoy in this small town.

While I stand by my claim that Tequila, Jalisco is not a party town, I definitely decided to leave my husband and kids at home for the first trip I took to this gorgeous town. Instead of my family, I took seven good friends along for the fun instead. I did eventually cave and take my husband and two children with me for a second trip. I can now confidently confirm that Tequila with children and partners also is a lot of fun. I’ll leave it to you to decide which is MORE fun.

Let’s take a look now at some of the best things to do in Tequila, Jalisco.

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Where Is Tequila, Jalisco and How Do You Get There?

Tequila is a small town in the state of Jalisco. It has a population of around 25,000. The nearest city to Tequila is Guadalajara, which is one of the biggest cities in Mexico. The state of Jalisco is also home to the popular Lago Chapala and the coastal city of Puerto Vallarta. I found it similar in vibe to Cholula, in Puebla state.

The easiest way to reach Tequila is from the city of Guadalajara. My friends and I arrived by air into Guadalajara airport so made our way from there. (By the way, it’s a seven-hour drive from Mexico City to Tequila so, while doable, not a fun drive).

Options for reaching Tequila from Guadalajara include:

🚕 Taxi/Uber. From the airport to Tequila cost under $1,000 pesos, which, split between the four of us in the car, wasn’t too bad. There is one toll to pay along the way. It takes around one hour to drive to Tequila from Guadalajara. If you do take a cab to Tequila, be sure to know how to arrange one for your return journey. The taxi rank in Tequila is on Calle Juárez at the corner with Sixto Gorjón.

🚗 Rent a car and drive yourself. The roads were in good repair and seemed safe. We spoke to our various drivers about safety and they felt that the roads are definitely fine in the daylight. You don’t really need a car once you’re in Tequila so it’s less of a drink-driving worry than you might think. Check rental prices here.

☂️ Tour from Guadalajara. If you don’t want to stay in Tequila then a day tour from Guadalajara would be an excellent option. Check tour options now.

🚆 Tequila Train. On the weekends the Jose Cuervo Express Train runs between Guadalajara and Tequila, taking visitors to see Tequila and the distilleries. You drink tequila and listen to mariachi music on the train, and tour distilleries.

🚌 Public Transportation. Local buses go from the old bus station (Angtigua Central Camionera). It takes around one hour and buses go approximately every thirty minutes.

History of Tequila, Jalisco

🍹 The town of Tequila is named after the volcano in whose foothills it was founded. It is best known as being where the drink, tequila was first made. The village of Tequila was founded in 1530 by monks.

🍹 Native Mexicans had long made a fermented drink out of the heart of blue agave plants. It was apparently the Spanish who decided that distillation was what was needed to improve on the original. Whatever our views on Spain’s history in Mexico, I think it’d be hard to find someone who didn’t acknowledge that tequila was a welcome addition to the world!

🍹 When we spent time in Oaxaca we took a tour of a mezcal factory and learned that tequila is officially a type of mezcal. It used to be called vino de mezcal but in order to differentiate it from the mezcal made in the Oaxaca region it was decided to call the drink made in Tequila, tequila.

Good call.

🍹 Indeed, the drink’s popularity and fascinating history is the reason for the region being declared a UNESCO world heritage site. For over 2000 years the blue agave has been used to make fermented drinks and since the 16th century, it has been distilled into a drink that could be said to be a true symbol of Mexican identity and culture.

🍹 Tourism in Tequila is a relatively new phenomenon and should certainly be described as ’emerging’. Tequila is also a pueblo magico (read my article about the pueblos magicos in Yucatán here)

Did you know that Jalisco is also home to some of Mexico’s best beaches?

What To Do In Tequila

Day Trip or Long Weekend?

⏱You’re probably wondering what tours to take in Tequila and what you should do while in Tequila. You may also wonder if you should take a day trip from Guadalajara or whether you’d be better off making a base in Tequila for a few days.

⏱ I’ve been to Tequila twice and both times I opted to stay a few nights. You absolutely can go for a day trip but you will be rushing around trying to fit everything in. If you don’t have much time or really only want to see a tequila distillery then a day is fine. If you want to visit the museums, eat in the market, and enjoy the plaza, I really recommend spending a few days in Tequila.

⭐️ Wherever you’re going in Mexico with kids, our packing list for Mexico with kids will come in handy.

Tequila Tours

Clearly, most people who go to Tequila, Jalisco, will want to take a tour of a distillery or two. There are a number of distilleries in town that offer this option so you can book a tour, rock up to a distillery, or you can take one of the 16 silly-shaped buses that drive visitors around the town.

Bus Tour of Tequila

Ride around in a novelty tour bus. We saw a chile and numerous bottles and barrels. The tour prices don’t seem to be listed anywhere so you’ll have to ask before you board. We didn’t try to bargain as the prices were reasonable so I have no idea if you can or not. The buses go from the side of the square opposite the church.

TOP TIP: Pay attention to what’s being offered. When we spoke to touts early in the day we were told we’d get drinks thrown in and entry into some distilleries. However, we ended up going on the last bus of the day and that was only a tour of the town (plus drinks). We decided we were fine with this as we were already a little drunk and we had a distillery plan for the next day.

Distillery Tours, Tequila

If you walk around the main square, you’ll likely be approached by touts wanting to sell you a tour of a distillery. If you have an opinion as to which distillery you want to visit you can just walk up sort it out, some can also be booked online, in advance. You’ll learn how tequila is made, see the tequila barrels and many piñas – the large agave hearts – you may even get to pick on up!

The most common distilleries to visit are:

• La Rojeña – Jose Cuervo distillery.
• Casa Herradura – tours in English and Spanish at different times during the day. Preference for prebooking.
• La Cofradía – a number of different tour options are offered, there is a fabulous restaurant on-site as well as a hotel and the famous barrel rooms.
• La Casa Orendain – tequila is Orendain, Ollitas, Cantinero. Regular tours throughout the day from 10.30am until 5pm.
• La Fortaleza / Los Abuelos. It is recommended to book your visit here in advance.
• La Perserverancia – one of the oldest and most prestigious distilleries in Tequila. Sauza brand. The basic tour costs $170 pesos per person.
• Casa Noble – the only hotel with a tequila factory.

Learn to Make Tequila at La Cofradia

La Cofradia is a thirty-minute walk from town and it’s surrounded by agave fields. It is also home to the world-famous Las Matices ‘tequila barrel hotel’. I’d have loved to have stayed there but it was booked up by the time I got around to sorting out our accommodation.

On this tour you learn how to make tequila but honestly I can’t tell you too much except that we measured volumes of alcohol. Predictably I got drunk doing all the important trying of the various tequilas. What I do know is that it was super fun and our one-and-a-half-hour learning session turned into a four-hour fun session.

Museums In Tequila

Museo de los Abuelos

This is the Sauza family museum. The family sold the Sauza name to a Japanese company and opened Los Abuelos.

Open daily, 10 am – 5 pm.

Top Tip: The best tequila I have ever had is called ‘Los Abuelos’ and this is about the only place you can buy it. I bought four bottles and lugged them all the way home. It was worth it.

The tour around this authentic Tequila home is fascinating and is available in English or Spanish.

Museo Nacional De Tequila (National Tequila Museum)

Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am – 5pm.

The history museum is very small and won’t take long to walk around. I’m always a sucker for a small local museum.

Museo La Cofradía

History of tequila making in Cofradia

Open daily 10am – 5pm.

Palacio Municipal (Municipal Palace)

Like all towns and cities in Mexico, the working home of the government is also always open to the public who are entitled to enter to view the historical murals. Strolling around the Palacio Municipales is one of my favourite activities in a new town.

Not far from Tequila is another pueblo magico, Comala, which I highly recommend visiting if you’re in the region.

Other Activities Around Tequila

📌 Stroll around Tequila

Tequila is a gorgeous little city with cute cobblestone streets and colonial architecture. Be sure to explore and definitely have your camera at the ready as you wander around the picturesque streets. Note the informational plaques on the walls in both English and Spanish,

📌 Snap your photo with the Tequila sign on the main plaza

You can’t visit anywhere in Mexico and not get your photo taken with the city sign. It just wouldn’t do.

📌 Visit the Market and Cleofas Mota

Cleofas Mota is a market food court with wonderful small restaurants and a communal eating area. Do not miss this. There is often live music performed throughout the day.

📌 Los Azules And La Toma Canyon

The one activity that we had planned on doing but failed to find time for was a trek to the Blue Waterfalls (Los Azules in Spanish). Originally we’d hoped to just wing it and march ourselves there but we were advised by various people that this wasn’t a great plan since it’s around a 40-minute un-signposted walk along dirt roads, and through agave fields and jungle. The best option is to ask around in town to try and find a guided tour. There are some instructions given that I eventually found in a local online paper. These instructions will probably work if you are desperate to do it alone.

I heard from locals that the waterfalls can get busy at the weekend when many townspeople head that way for a swim and a cool off.

I seriously regret that we had so little time that this fell off our radar. La Toma Canyon is a canyon just on the outside of Tequila yet it is 600m deep. At its base, it is as hot and sweaty as you might imagine.

📌 The Volcan de Tequila

Visiting the (dormant) Tequila volcano and visiting or climbing it makes for a great day trip from Tequila if you can find someone to take you. Its peak is almost 3000 metres above sea level.

We asked around in town, talking to all the guides on the square and to a very kind woman in the tourist information office. In the end I found two people who were willing to take us up the volcano, although no one was very sure why we’d want to do it (maybe this should have told us something?).

If you do want to climb the volcano too then get in touch with Ramon on 33 1922 4321 or Christian 33 2179 8636. Ramon was the guy we met on the square, he found Christian for us. Both were happy for me to share their numbers.

We paid $2000 pesos (which isn’t cheap but no one else was offering anything!) for Christian, a driver and a 4WD. While the road is simple to find, even the 4WD wasn’t that happy with the potholes. We drove for an hour to a point where we got and walked for forty minutes to the crater.

During the climb we passed through a number of microclimates and the views were really quite stunning until we entered a cloud that didn’t lift!

It was so beautiful and calm to walk in the mist. We truly loved every second of the trip to the top. The crater, however, was a bit of a disappointment. There are a few crumbling buildings and a very large antenna there. And the mist was so thick we couldn’t see a single thing.

This is what it looks like when there’s no mist, Christian kindly gave me some of his photos to share

Where To Drink In Tequila

Obviously, Tequila is tequila town. Just as you can walk around Oaxaca and try mezcal until you fall over, you can walk around and try tequila in many of the shops in Tequila. The main square also has a couple of permanent tequila stalls if you feel the need for more tequila as you explore.

La Capilla – Luis, the master tequila maker with whom we spent four hours talking all things tequila, recommended it as his favourite cantina in Tequila. At one time it was on the ‘Top 50 Bars’ in the world list.

La Antigua Casona – This is technically a restaurant but we had such wonderful cocktails with our meal (which was also delicious) that I have to recommend it as a great place to enjoy tequila. Try the passion-fruit margarita here.

Where To Eat In Tequila

La Antigua Casona – The food here is excellent but not cheap.

La Cofradia – we were pretty drunk by the time we arrived here, having spent four hours tequila tasting with Luis. However, we were extremely surprised by how good the food was. There are no photos. I refer you back to the fact that I was drunk.

Cafeteria De Rossi – we stopped in here for a delicious breakfast (particularly fabulous fresh bread) when El Palomar (next door) was full. If Mexican breakfast dishes confuse you, I recommend reading my article about how to order breakfast in Mexico.

Cleofas Mota – this is essentially a market food court. I’ve eaten at both Aqui Es Con Martha and Mariscos El Culichi, both were served delicious and cheap plates. I imagine all the stalls are equally as good.

Street Food – If you’re in Tequila on a budget or just love street food then you won’t be disappointed. There are plenty of great options around the city. We particularly enjoyed the taco stands outside Cleofas Mota, both for breakfast tacos and for post-drinking tacos. At around $10 pesos a taco (depending on what you order), you can’t go wrong.

Market for fruit – opposite Cleofas Mota is the market where you can get fresh fruit. We also stumbled across a guy selling berries, which was very exciting to us as they’re hard to come by in Yucatan.

Where To Stay In Tequila

We chose to stay in an Airbnb because we were a big group but I did find some ” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener nofollow”>decent hotels that we would have been very happy to have used.

Of course, if you can, my favourite three recommendations would be:

1 Hotel Solar de las Animas: a boutique hotel that belongs to the Jose Cuervo brand and is right on the main square. It looks wonderful.

2. Hotel Matices De Barricas: At La Cofradia, the famous barrel hotel

3. Hotel Villa Tequila: This was right next to our Airbnb and made us a little sad every time we walked by as it looked so nice.

Tequila Jalisco Frequently Asked Questions

Where to Visit Next?

If you’re exploring around this part of Mexico then you are in for a treat as there’s so much to see and do:

🚗 Guadalajara, the capital city of Jalisco is full of history, culture and incredible museums

🚗 Tapalpa, is a pueblo magico up in the hills of Jalisco. It is a great place to visit if you love small towns and nature

🚗 Gauchimotones ruins are just a few hours away and are some of my favourites in the whole of Mexico.

🚗 Comala volcano, in the rarely visited Colima State is easily reached from Tequila. Comala pueblo is a peaceful little town with good food and incredible nature.

🚗 Sayulita, Nayarit is a very cool beach town with a laid-back atmosphere and stunning beaches.

And there you have it, one comprehensive guide to Tequila, Jalisco. I hope you have as much fun there as we did.