What to do in Dolores Hidalgo

As you might imagine, most of the activities in the town of Dolores Hidalgo focus around Mexico’s independence but I promise there’s more too…

Independence Day, by the way, is 16th September, not 5th May. Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of the Battle of Puebla and is really only celebrated in Puebla and the USA.

Explore around town

Be sure to talk a walk around town admiring the colonial architecture, the lovely plazas, and the excellent markets. There are lots of churches to check out if you’re into churches. The main one is the Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores. 

➕ If you get the chance, do check out the Sanctuary of Atotonilco, on the road between Dolores Hidalgo and San Miguel de Allende – this is considered to be Mexico’s answer to the Sistine Chapel and is apparently extremely beautiful. Sadly, it was closed when we stopped by.

The plaza principal (main square) is called el Jardín del Grande Hidalgo and is a delightful plaza where you’ll find locals busily going about their daily lives. On the plaza you’ll find

📣 A large statue of the father of Mexican independence, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla

🌳 Hijo del arbol de la noche triste (Child of the tree of the sad night) – this tree is apparently a true sapling of the legendary tree under which the Conquistador Hernán Cortés sat and mourned his defeat by the Mexica in 1520. It was planted here on the plaza in 1972 to honour the 100 years independence of Mexico in 1921. 

🍦 Also on the plaza are plenty of ice cream vendors but we’ll get to that shortly. 

Souvenir shopping

🛍 Stop in the Mercado de Artesanías, as well as the numerous souvenir and artisan shops and markets to buy local products that include the fabulous and local talavera ceramics (my favorite coffee mug comes from here).

Museums in Dolores Hidalgo

Casa de Visitas – This is a house linked to the insurgents and Dolores. Today it is used to house dignitaries who come to town to hear the Grito on 16th September. It’s rarely open to the public.

Museo Casa de Hidalgo – here you will find plenty of information about Hidalgo and the early independence movement.

Museo de la Independencia (the National Independence Museum) – a small but excellent museum dedicated to the War of Independence.  

Casa Museo José Alfredo Jiménez – this is the birthplace of the famous Mexican singer, the “Rey de las Rancheras”. In this small museum you can learn about him, his family and his musical career. 

You can also visit his fantastically colourful tomb just outside of town and even if you have no idea who he is, I highly recommend going to visit the weirdest tomb you’ll ever see: it’s in the shape of a traditional Mexican hat and is extremely colourful. Don’t miss it!

Visit the Wine Museum (Museo de Vino de Guanajuato) and even taste some local wines. 

Eat ice cream

Not only is the local food excellent but this small town is brilliantly famous for weird ice cream flavours. 

🍽 We ate lunch at El Fruty Restaurante and it was as excellent as every said it would be. Highly recommended.

My family is extremely happy to try weird stuff so we were in our element and actually left disappointed that we only had space and time for two ice creams each. As you wander around the town, just look out for ice cream stands and shops. They are everywhere. Be brave, talk to the vendors, see what they recommend, try the weirdest flavours you can find. 

🍦 We began at Helados Los Garcas and between us, we tried:  lavender, bubble gum, borracha (a type of cactus ice cream) and dulce de leche with nuts. We found ourselves in a long happy icecreamy conversation with the owner who then brought out a very strong and delicious mezcal ice cream for us to try. 

🍦 After a little pause, we headed to Helados el More on the plaza to try: prawn and octopus, avocado, more lavender and strawberry. We would have added red wine and carrot had we had more space (we had a taste of the carrot and it was amazing).  

I highly recommend trying out the wild flavours as some of them you’ll never see anywhere else.