This summer I spent almost a month exploring around Guadalajara with my kids just so I could write the very best series of articles about things to do in Guadalajara with kids.

That´s clearly not true at all. We went to Guadalajara, in Jalisco (and Colima) because I wanted to be in a big city with tons of fun kid and family-friendly activities while still having access to great outdoor fun. Guadalajara ticked all my boxes on paper and even more in reality.

The sheer number of museums in Guadalajara meant we knew we would have a fabulous time exploring and learning. This article is entitled ‘things to do in Guadalajara with kids’ but actually the vast majority of the museums in this article are great for everyone. Please don’t be put off by the title if you’re gloriously kid-free.

Read on to find out which Guadalajara museums to visit with, or without, kids whilst on vacation in Mexico.

NOTE: I refer, in this article, to Guadalajara the metropolis, rather than the actual city. This means I include Tlaquepaque and Zapopan in the article.

Truth is, Mexico is chock-a-block full of A-Mazing musems and art galleries. I wouldn’t dream of going to a new place in Mexico without making sure I knew exactly what my museum options are.

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

Museums In Guadalajara

There are two museums specifically aimed at children in Guadalajara

Museo Trompo Magico

Ave Central Guillermo Gonzalez Camarena 750, Poniente
Open Tues – Fri 9am – 6pm and Sat-Sun 11am – 7pm
Cost: $40 pesos per person (Free on Thursdays)

My kids absolutely adored this museum, as much as they did the kids’ museum in Mexico City. It may look a little underwhelming when you first enter as all the cool stuff is out the back in a separate building. For us, coming from Merida, part of the utter joy of being here was that we could play outside on grass, in playgrounds in the middle of the day. The outside spaces here are nice, there are separate play spaces for kids of different ages.

We spent the entire day in the museum and still didn’t get to explore everything. My kids are five and seven and there was a perfect range of activities to entertain them, kids far younger and far older won’t be bored, though. Many of the hands-on science activities were far too advanced for my children and there is a lot for smaller kids too. The staff were incredibly kind and helpful and really took their time to try and help kids understand the experiments.

There is nowhere to purchase food on site so either take a picnic or get a pass to leave. There are perfectly decent food options if you walk out of the museum, cross the road and walk left for about ten minutes. If you walk another five-ten minutes you’ll apparently also find smarter options but we stopped at a small cafe that was perfectly nice.

Globo Museo de la Niñez

Av 5 de Febrero, Las Conchas
Open Thurs – Sun 12 – 6 pm
Cost – I don’t know

This museum was recently renovated and came highly recommended by the people in tourist information. Sadly we didn’t make it because google told us it was open on Wednesdays, which is emphatically not correct. (We recommended an edit but it hasn’t been accepted). It looks great and when we go back to Guadalajara we will definitely return.

There are so many fabulous day trips to take from Guadalajara, too. Don’t forget to consider what’s just outside the city.

Nuestros Dulces Factory

16 de Septiembre x Herrera Y Cairo, Tlaquepaque
Free

This is an interactive museum/factory tour around a traditional sweets factory. It takes around 40 minutes to visit all the rooms, hear the chat and try the sweets. I believe some of the staff speak English and they told me they can always accommodate and provide a tour in English. Our kids adored this place, obviously because they were allowed to eat sweets but also because the staff were very enthusiastic and spoke to them like real human beings. They really listened when our kids wanted to tell them what they knew about chocolate (because they’ve been to the chocolate museum at Uxmal a few times now!).

There are many, many other museums in Guadalajara. I made my family visit most of them with me.

Related: Flying with children during a pandemic

Things To Do In Guadalajara: History Museums

Museo de Paleontologia

Av Dr. Roberto Michel 520, La Aurora
Open Tues – Fri 9.30am – 5 pm Sat 10am – 5pm and Sun 11am – 3.30pm
Cost: Free

This is a very small yet well-designed museum. All the information was in Spanish yet most of it doesn’t require much reading.

If you need a break from all this wonderful culture, why not drive a few hours out to Tapalpa for some great fun running and exploring?

Museo Regional de Guadalajara

Calle Liceo 60, Zona Centro
Open Tues – Sun 9am – 5.30pm
Cost: $60 pesos except on Sundays when free (says only for residents but no one asked for our residency cards)

My kids enjoyed this museum way more than I expected them too. I found it to be confusing and full of random (yet interesting) bits and pieces. The kids loved the mammoth skeleton and spent ages (aaaaages) playing giant chess and giant naughts and crosses (tic tac toe).

Palacio de Gobierno del Estado de Jalisco

Av Ramón Corona 31, Zona Centro
Open Mon – Fri 9am – 7pm
Cost: Free

Anyone who has ever read anything I’ve written about Mexico will probably know how much I love a Palacio de Gobierno or Palacio Municipal. I’m completely addicted to checking out the murals that 99% of them seem to have. I find them absolutely captivating and so quintessentially Mexican. I feel like I getting a peek at the (officially sanctioned) heart of Mexico every time I find a new one. (I finally saw the Tequila mural this summer too when I dragged my family back there – it being one of my favourite places in the whole of Mexico.)

The Palacio de Gobierno was AMAZING. Wow. I loved it. Not only was there my required overwhelming mural to stare at for hours but there was also an entire museum about the history of Jalisco (Nuevo Galacia). I seem to remember that pretty much everything was in Spanish but I’d think it was still well worth exploring even if you don’t speak Spanish.

Every room had panels for children too (simpler Spanish if that helps) and my kids really enjoyed playing with the games. I have no doubt at all, that they learned absolutely nothing but the loved jabbing at screens and spinning spinny things.

The main staircase mural was painted by the famous José Clemente Orozco and depicts Miguel Hidalgo (who, it turns out declared an end to slavery in Mexico in this building in 1810). Apparently it is possible to head up to see more murals by Orozco but we didn’t find them (another reason to return to Guadalajara).

For more outdoor excitement, seeing the Volcan de Colima is a great adventure.

The Palacio Municipal de Guadalajara is also home to murals worth checking out.

Guadalajara is now one of my kids’ favourite cities in Mexico: there’s just so much for kids to do in in Gudalajara.

Things to Do In Guadalajara: Art

Museo Cabañas

Calle Cabañas 8, Zona Centro
Open Tues – Sun 10am – 6pm
Cost: Adults $70 pesos ($45 with Mexican ID), children $20 pesos. Tues free. Sun two kids can enter for free with a paying adult

Once we’d seen the mural by Orozco in the Palacio I was determined we were going to get to Museo Cabañas, a UNESCO World Heritage site, to see his other works here. And wow. THIS is possibly my favourite museum in Mexico.

Orozco isn’t particularly known outside of Mexico but he truly should be. He is considered to be one of the greats, along with Diego Rivera. He uses deep colours and painted to express his anger at social injustice

First of all, I highly recommend walking here from the cathedral. It’s a great stroll through the centre of Guadalajara and gives you a chance to really take in the central district (use google to figure out the route, it isn’t hard). I do recommend walking via Plaza Fundadores to see the monument to where Guadalajara was founded. Definitely turn onto Paseo Degollado and then Rincon del Diablo because fuente de los niños traviesos is fun.

Once you arrive at the museum, be prepared to be wowed by the sculptures by Alejandro Colunga out the front. We were completely blown away by them.

There is far more here than the Orozco murals but we headed straight to see them. Grab a bench and just sit and look up and be awed. I believe there are 57 paintings, all depicting Orozco’s anger at individuals or showing history as bloody and violent.

And if it’s possible to have your fill here, leave and explore the other rooms with your kids. We really enjoyed the confusing but very hands’ on kids room and my two were in awe of the aboriginal art display from Australia. Col and I felt similarly about the traditional art room and couldn’t stop taking photos and expressing our delight at what we were seeing.

Guanajuato, the world’s ‘most colourful city’ is another great option for a family vacation. in Mexico

Museo de Arte de Zapopan

Prol. 20 De Noviembre 166, Zapopan
Tues – Sun 10am – 6pm (Thurs 10-10)
Free

In the lovely Zapopan we found the most fabulous small art gallery with just one focus: the Salón and the riots of 1968. It was a fascinating place. They handed the kids an exercise sheet and crayons as we walked in so we took it in turns to look around whilst the other looked after the kids. They loved the gallery because they could sit and colour, to be fair, but they also enjoyed the quick look they had at the installations.

If you find other museums in Guadalajara then, well, you’ve done well! We love museum-ing and took the challenge of finding them all pretty seriously! I’d love to know where we missed.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be writing other articles about Guadalajara, Jalisco and Colima so do sign up to follow the blog if you’re interested in knowing more about the region (and the rest of Mexico, obviously).