Leon is the largest city in Guanajuato state and one of the largest in central Mexico, with around 1.7 million people in its metropolitan area, and it is not a tourist town. It is an industrial city that makes shoes: something like two thirds of Mexico's footwear comes from here and the surrounding Rincon towns, and the leather trade has been the local economy since the nineteenth century. If you want to understand why that matters to a visitor, it is because Leon is the one city in Mexico where buying boots is a legitimate reason to go.
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The other reason is the Festival Internacional del Globo, held every November at the Parque Metropolitano, which launches several hundred hot air balloons over four days and is among the largest balloon festivals in the world. Beyond those two things Leon has a genuinely striking neo-Gothic church, a good historic centre of a few blocks, and the practical advantage of the state's international airport, which is how most visitors to San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato city actually arrive without noticing the city attached to it.
What Makes Leon Different to Pack For
Altitude, at 1,815 metres
High enough for cool nights year round. Days run 24°C to 31°C for most of the year, nights drop to 8°C to 13°C, and December and January nights can approach 5°C. The air is dry and dusty.
A merino wool base layer for women covers the evening drop, and at a dawn balloon launch in November it is the difference between enjoying it and standing in a field wishing you had left.
The balloon festival is one weekend and it books out
The festival runs over four days in mid November and launches are at dawn, which means arriving in the dark at about 5am in near freezing air. Hotels across Leon fill months ahead and prices rise sharply.
It is a walking-and-driving city, not a walking city
The historic centre is compact and pedestrianised in parts, and everything else is spread across a large flat industrial grid. The Zona Piel leather district and the Poliforum are separate trips.
The rainy season is an afternoon event
June to September brings heavy late-afternoon storms that flood streets briefly. The rest of the year is dry to the point of dusty, and the spring months before the rains are hazy.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
The Leon Packing List
Footwear
Comfortable flat shoes for the centre, which is paved and level by Guanajuato standards: after the stair-climbing of Guanajuato city this is a relief.
Bring shoes you are willing to replace, because this is the place to buy leather ones. For the Sierra de Lobos hills north of the city or a trip out to the Cristo Rey monument on the Cubilete, waterproof hiking shoes are useful, though nothing here is demanding.
Clothing
Light layers for the day with a warm one for the evening, every day of the year. For a November festival dawn: base layer, fleece, a windproof jacket, hat and gloves, because you will be standing still in a field in the cold for two hours before the sun arrives.
A packable rain jacket from June to September.
Covered shoulders and knees for the Expiatory Temple and the cathedral, both working churches. Leon is a working industrial city and dresses practically and modestly; it sees very few foreign tourists, so plain clothing draws less attention.
For sun
A wide brim sun hat, sunscreen and sunglasses. At 1,815 metres in dry air the UV is stronger than the temperature suggests, and the festival grounds and the Cubilete hilltop have no shade at all.
Practical
Cash in pesos for markets and the smaller leather workshops, though the shopping centres and hotels take cards. A refillable bottle; tap water is not drinkable. Space in your luggage for boots. A torch for the pre-dawn festival walk. And a zipped crossbody for the markets and the buses.
What to Wear at Key Sites
The Templo Expiatorio Diocesano
A neo-Gothic church begun in 1921 and still not finished, with a carved facade, crypt catacombs beneath and stained glass throughout. It is the one building in Leon that stops people.
Practically: shoulders and knees covered. The crypt is open and holds the tombs of local bishops and benefactors, and it is cool and dim, so take a layer even on a hot afternoon. Free to enter. The tower can be climbed at limited times.
The Zona Piel and the leather trade
The leather district, a concentration of shops, workshops and the Plaza del Zapato, selling boots, jackets, belts and saddlery at factory prices.
Practically: this is a genuine industry rather than a tourist market, so quality varies from excellent to poor and the best value is in the workshops rather than the malls. Bargaining is normal in the small shops and not in the plazas. Try things on properly, because sizing is Mexican and inconsistent. Leather smells strongly and some visitors find the tanneries unpleasant to be near, which is a fair reaction to what tanning involves.
The Festival Internacional del Globo
Four days in November at the Parque Metropolitano, with hundreds of balloons launching at dawn, night glows where tethered balloons are lit in place, and concerts.
Practically: dress for 6°C standing still, not for the 28°C afternoon that follows. Gates open in the dark, the ground is grass and dust, and you will walk a long way from parking. Buy tickets in advance, take cash, take a torch, and expect very large crowds. The night glow is easier and warmer than the dawn launch if you only do one.
The historic centre
The Plaza Principal with the cathedral basilica, the Arco de la Calzada, a triumphal arch at the end of a tree lined avenue, the Teatro Doblado and the Casa de la Cultura.
Practically: a couple of hours on foot, flat and easy. The arch is the city's symbol and is lit at night. The Sunday atmosphere in the plaza, with families and vendors, is the most pleasant hour to be here.
Cristo Rey on the Cubilete
A twenty metre bronze Christ on a hill at 2,700 metres, roughly the geographic centre of Mexico, about an hour from the city and a major pilgrimage site.
Practically: significantly colder and windier than Leon, so take a jacket whatever the city is doing. Shoulders and knees. The road up is winding and the last stretch is steep; go with a driver or a tour rather than in a hire car if you are not confident. Full sun at the top.
Day trips, which are the real reason to base here
Guanajuato city is 45 minutes away, San Miguel de Allende about an hour and a half, Dolores Hidalgo an hour and a quarter.
Practically: all three are more interesting than Leon and all three are easy from its airport, which is the honest case for this city as a base. Travel in daylight, which is the standing rule for this state.
What Not to Bring
Leave the expectation of a colonial jewel, because Leon is an industrial city with two good sights and excellent shoes.
Leave a light jacket for a November dawn. Leave a full suitcase if you intend to buy leather. Leave the plan to drive between towns after dark. And leave valuables visible in a parked car anywhere in the Bajio.
Essential Resources for Women in Leon
Emergency numbers in Mexico: 911 is the national emergency number for police, ambulance and fire. 088 reaches the Guardia Nacional. English speaking operators are not reliable here, so have your Spanish or your hotel ready.
Tourist police: Leon has a municipal police presence in the historic centre and the state Secretaria de Turismo operates a visitor assistance service. 078 is the national tourist assistance line and is staffed in English. During the balloon festival there is a large dedicated policing and medical operation on the site.
US Embassy: the US Consulate General in Guadalajara and the consulate in San Miguel de Allende, about an hour and a half away, cover this region, with the embassy in Mexico City at mx.usembassy.gov. Enrol in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program at step.state.gov before you travel.
Main hospital or clinic: Hospital Angeles Leon and Star Medica Leon are the private hospitals used by foreign visitors and insurers, both with 24 hour emergency departments and some English speaking staff, and the Hospital Regional de Alta Especialidad del Bajio is the large public specialist hospital. Leon is in fact the regional medical centre for this part of Guanajuato, which makes it the best equipped city in the area for anything serious. Private care expects payment or an insurance guarantee up front.
Official health authority: the Secretaria de Salud at gob.mx/salud, with COFEPRIS for water and food advisories. Air quality in Leon is poor by Mexican standards because of the industry and the dry season dust, which is worth knowing if you have asthma.
US State Department travel advisory for Mexico: current advisory level and detail, issued state by state. Guanajuato state carries a reconsider travel level and the advisory identifies the southern part of the state as the concern. Read it directly rather than relying on this page.
UK FCDO travel advice for Mexico: entry requirements, safety and health guidance, with a region by region breakdown. The detail matters here and is worth being precise about: the FCDO advises against all but essential travel to the areas of Guanajuato state south-west of the road 45D, and it names the municipalities it means, including Celaya, Irapuato, Salamanca, Silao de la Victoria, Romita, San Francisco del Rincon and Purisima del Rincon. Leon itself is not on that list. Four of the municipalities that are on it border Leon directly, so this is a city on the edge of the advised-against area rather than comfortably clear of it. Check the current wording yourself before travelling, because both the line and the level move.
Official tourism authority: Visit Mexico at visitmexico.com, with the Guanajuato state tourism board and the Festival Internacional del Globo's own site for dates, tickets and the launch schedule.
Solo women safety assessment: Leon is a normal large Mexican industrial city and is manageable alone, with the honest caveat that it has less of a visitor infrastructure than anywhere else in this batch and sits closer to the state's real problems than Guanajuato city does. The violence behind Guanajuato's homicide figures is a fuel theft and cartel conflict concentrated in the corridor south-east of here, around Celaya, Irapuato and Salamanca, and in the smaller Rincon municipalities. It is not directed at visitors and does not reach the historic centre, the Zona Piel or the festival grounds, but Leon is not as insulated from it as a tourist town would be, and that is the reason this page is specific about the 45D list above. Practical crime is ordinary urban crime: phone and bag snatching around the central market and the bus station, card skimming at standalone ATMs, and occasional express kidnapping associated with hailed street taxis. Use bank lobby ATMs in daylight, use Uber or Didi rather than hailing, never take a ride from someone who approaches you, and keep a zipped bag in front of you. By day the centre is fine to walk. After dark stay in the centre and around the Zona Piel and Campestre district where there are people and lighting, and take a ride app between neighbourhoods rather than walking the long industrial blocks in between; the area around the old bus station and the eastern colonias are not evening walking routes. Street harassment exists and is the ordinary Mexican urban version, mostly verbal, and less persistent than on the coast. Because so few foreign women visit, you will be noticed, which is curiosity rather than threat but does mean plain clothing is more comfortable. At the balloon festival the crowd is the main hazard: it is very large, the site is dark before dawn, phone signal fails, and pickpocketing is common, so agree a meeting point and carry little. Do not drive the intercity highways at night, which is the single most consistent advice for this state, and stay north-east of 45D. Tap water is not drinkable and the altitude makes alcohol stronger than expected.
Reading On
Leon has the region's international airport and is the practical gateway to the Bajio, which is the best argument for spending a night here. The Mexico travel guide for women is the parent for the country and the Mexico packing list for women covers a trip across it. Next door, the Guanajuato packing list for women covers the silver city in its ravine 45 minutes away, and it is the reason most people are in this state. West, the Guadalajara packing list for women covers Jalisco and the tequila country. South-east, the Mexico City travel guide for women and the Mexico City packing list for women cover the capital, with the Oaxaca packing list for women and the Huatulco packing list for women further south. On the coasts, the Mazatlan packing list for women, the Cabo San Lucas packing list for women, the Merida packing list for women, the Campeche packing list for women, the Tulum packing list for women and the Cancun packing list for women cover the Pacific and the Yucatan. The travel packing guide for women is the parent for all destinations. For why a thin wool layer suits a 30°C afternoon and a 6°C dawn in the same field, the best merino wool base layers for women explains the fibre, and the Roman Trail collection is where the tops themselves live.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
