Patzcuaro is a town of about 55,000 on a lake in the highlands of Michoacan, at roughly 2,140 metres, and it is the heart of the Purepecha world. It is also a destination with an unusual status in travel advice, which this post deals with properly rather than in a footnote: the FCDO advises against all but essential travel to most of Michoacan AND NAMES PATZCUARO AS AN EXCEPTION, reached by two specific roads. Read the Getting There and the safety sections before you book anything.
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What Is Here
THE LAKE AND THE ISLAND ARE THE IMAGE EVERYONE KNOWS. Lake Patzcuaro holds several inhabited islands, and Janitzio, the nearest and steepest, is a cone of houses climbing to an enormous statue of Jose Maria Morelos with a spiral staircase inside it. Launches run from the muelle general through the day, the crossing takes about half an hour, and the climb up through the island's single stepped street is the visit. The image at the top of this post is the lake with Janitzio and the monument behind.
THE BUTTERFLY NETS ARE REAL AND THEY ARE ALSO A PERFORMANCE NOW, AND IT IS BETTER TO KNOW THAT. The Purepecha fishermen of this lake used large butterfly-shaped nets, the mariposa, and the photograph of several canoes raising them in silhouette is the single most reproduced image of Michoacan. The fishery collapsed as the lake deteriorated, and the net display you are shown from a launch today is largely staged for visitors by men who are paid for it. The second image is those nets. They are not a fraud and they are not quite a working fishery either, and a visitor is better off understanding that than being told a story.
THE LAKE HAS SHRUNK AND THAT IS THE HONEST HEADLINE ABOUT IT. Drought, extraction and sedimentation have dropped the water level substantially in recent years, with shorelines retreating, jetties left dry and the fishery in poor condition. It is still a large and beautiful lake in a ring of hills. It is not the lake in the older photographs, and local reporting on its state is worth a look before you arrive expecting one.
DAY OF THE DEAD HERE IS THE MOST FAMOUS OBSERVANCE IN MEXICO AND IT IS NOT A SHOW. On the night of 1 to 2 November the island and lakeside cemeteries, above all Tzintzuntzan and Janitzio, fill with candles and marigolds and families who sit with their dead until dawn. It is genuinely moving and it is genuinely a religious family occasion that has become a tourist event, which creates obligations: do not photograph people or graves without asking, do not step over or on a grave, do not treat a vigil as a party, and expect the town to be at several times its normal population with every bed booked months ahead and the roads and launches overwhelmed. The third image is a dance performance from the surrounding celebrations.
THE TOWN ITSELF IS ONE OF THE BEST PRESERVED IN MEXICO. Red-tiled roofs, whitewash and dark timber, with the enormous Plaza Vasco de Quiroga, which is among the largest squares in the country and has ash trees and a fountain rather than a cathedral on it, and the smaller Plaza Gertrudis Bocanegra with the market along one side.
VASCO DE QUIROGA IS WHY EVERY VILLAGE HERE MAKES SOMETHING DIFFERENT. The first bishop of Michoacan, in the 1530s and 40s, organised the lake communities so that each specialised in one craft, and the pattern survives: Santa Clara del Cobre beats copper, Tzintzuntzan makes pottery and straw, Ihuatzio weaves reed, Paracho makes guitars. His remains are in the Basilica de Nuestra Senora de la Salud in the town, which holds a sixteenth century figure of the Virgin made of corn paste and is a serious pilgrimage destination in its own right.
The Casa de los Once Patios is a former convent broken into craft workshops, and it is the place to see the regional work before buying it.
Tzintzuntzan is fifteen minutes away and has the yacatas, the five round stepped platforms of the Purepecha capital, which are unlike any other pyramid form in Mesoamerica, plus a sixteenth century Franciscan convent with ancient olive trees.
When to Go
October to May is the dry season, with warm days and genuinely cold nights.
Late October and early November is Day of the Dead, which is the reason most visitors come and is the hardest time to arrange. Book months ahead, expect crowds and traffic, and be prepared for very cold night hours in a cemetery.
June to September is the rainy season, with afternoon storms, green hills and far fewer visitors.
IT IS COLD AT NIGHT ALL YEAR AND THIS IS THE MOST COMMON PACKING MISTAKE HERE. At 2,140 metres, nights in the dry season drop into the single figures and December and January can approach freezing before dawn. People come to Mexico, pack for Mexico, and then spend a November night outdoors in a cemetery at 2,140 metres in a cotton shirt.
Getting There
THE ROUTE IS NOT A MATTER OF CONVENIENCE HERE AND THIS SECTION IS THE IMPORTANT ONE. The FCDO's exception for Patzcuaro is written in terms of access, and the words it uses are "the town of Patzcuaro accessed by federal toll roads 14D and 15 from Morelia". So the compliant approach is: fly or travel to MORELIA, the Michoacan state capital, which is itself excepted, and then take the FEDERAL TOLL ROADS 14D AND 15 south west to Patzcuaro, which is about an hour. THAT IS THE ROUTE TO USE.
OTHER APPROACHES LEAVE THE EXCEPTION, AND THAT HAS CONSEQUENCES BEYOND SAFETY. Driving up from the Michoacan coast, coming across from Uruapan or Lazaro Cardenas, or taking secondary roads through the state means travelling in territory the FCDO advises against all but essential travel to, and travelling against official advice can invalidate travel insurance. A reader who books a flight to Guadalajara and drives through Michoacan has left the excepted corridor without noticing.
BOAT TRIPS ON THE LAKE ARE INSIDE THE EXCEPTION AND THE ADVISORY SAYS SO EXPLICITLY, naming "boat trips out to islands on Lake Patzcuaro". So Janitzio and the other islands are covered and do not need hedging about.
By air, Morelia has domestic flights and is the airport to use. Mexico City is about four and a half hours by road, on toll highways through Toluca and Morelia.
By bus, first-class services run from Mexico City and Guadalajara to Morelia and on to Patzcuaro, and the Morelia to Patzcuaro leg takes about an hour.
In town, the centre is walkable and the lake shore is a couple of kilometres north, reached by combi or taxi, and combis run out to Tzintzuntzan and Santa Clara del Cobre.
Is Patzcuaro Safe for Women?
The FCDO does publish advised-against areas for Mexico, and being precise about them matters more here than almost anywhere, because the country is large and the restrictions are specific rather than general. It advises against all but essential travel to the cities of Tijuana and Tecate in Baja California, to the areas of Guanajuato south-west of road 45D, to most of the state of Michoacan with named exceptions for Morelia and Patzcuaro reached by toll road, to the parts of Jalisco south and south-west of Lake Chapala and eleven northern municipalities, to the state of Colima except Manzanillo reached by air or sea, to the state of Guerrero except Zihuatanejo and Ixtapa reached by air, to a 40km strip of the Guatemalan border in Chiapas, to one stretch of Federal Highway 199, and to the city of Acapulco. That last one appears on the safety and security subpage rather than in the landing page list, which is exactly why you should read both. None of those areas includes this destination. Read the current advice yourself before you travel, because the list is revised regularly.
THE MICHOACAN POSITION NEEDS STATING IN FULL, BECAUSE BOTH HALVES OF IT MATTER. The FCDO advises against all but essential travel to most of the state of Michoacan. IT EXCEPTS, BY NAME, the city of Morelia and the town of Patzcuaro accessed by federal toll roads 14D and 15 from Morelia, together with boat trips out to islands on Lake Patzcuaro. So Patzcuaro reached that way is not a place you are being advised away from, and that is a deliberate and specific carve-out rather than an oversight. AT THE SAME TIME the advisory records illegal roadblocks on Michoacan roads, and notes that the Michoacan state government itself recommends that foreign nationals avoid the region. That is the context the exception sits inside, and it is why the route matters more here than almost anywhere in this library.
What that means in practice. Travel to and from Patzcuaro on 14D and 15 from Morelia, in daylight, by first-class bus or a reputable driver. Do not drive Michoacan's secondary roads, do not travel at night between towns, and do not improvise a route because a map shows one shorter. Keep your itinerary inside the excepted corridor and the lake.
IN THE TOWN ITSELF THE ATMOSPHERE IS CALM AND ORDINARY. Patzcuaro is a Pueblo Magico with a long-standing domestic tourist trade, the centre is busy and well policed, and walking the plazas in the evening is unremarkable. The crime a visitor is realistically exposed to is pickpocketing in the Day of the Dead crowds and theft from vehicles.
ALTITUDE AND COLD ARE THE PHYSICAL RISKS. 2,140 metres makes the sun strong and the nights cold, and a night-long cemetery vigil in early November is a genuine exposure situation that people arrive unprepared for.
The lake boats are open launches and the crossing can be choppy in wind. Confirm life jackets are aboard, and on 1 November the launches are overloaded and the queues long, which is the one night to be patient rather than to push.
Janitzio's street is a continuous steep stair at altitude, and it is the hardest physical thing in this post.
The Patzcuaro Packing List
Strong highland sun, genuinely cold nights, steep stone and possibly a night outdoors.
Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron, and a long sleeve merino wool base layer for women is close to the ideal garment for this destination, which is not something we say often: the day and night swing at 2,140 metres is large, you will be out in the cold for hours rather than minutes if you come for Day of the Dead, and wool holds warmth without bulk and keeps working when you are damp from the lake air. For the November nights add a heavyweight merino base layer and Smartwool merino base layer bottoms, because sitting still outdoors from midnight to dawn at this altitude is a different problem from walking around in the cold.
A Columbia Powder Lite insulated jacket for the nights, which in December and January are near freezing before dawn, and a merino beanie, because most of what you lose on a cold night you lose off your head.
Walking shoes with grip: the town is cobbled, Janitzio's single street is a long steep stair, and the yacatas at Tzintzuntzan are uneven stone.
A rechargeable headlamp for the cemetery vigils and for streets that are dimly lit, where a phone torch will be flat by two in the morning.
Not linked and worth packing: A WIDE BRIM HAT for the lake and the daytime sun, which at 2,140 metres is stronger than the temperature suggests; CASH IN PESOS, because the markets, the launches and the craft workshops largely expect it; A REFILLABLE BOTTLE, since tap water is not drinkable and purified water is everywhere; A FOLDING BAG for the copper from Santa Clara and the pottery from Tzintzuntzan, which are the real reasons to come back with a heavier suitcase; and A SMALL BLANKET OR SIT MAT if you are spending the night of 1 November in a cemetery, which locals do and visitors forget.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
Essential Resources for Women in Patzcuaro
Emergency numbers: 911 for police, ambulance and fire, the single national number, free from any phone. English-speaking operators are available in the tourist states but are not guaranteed everywhere.
The single most important thing on this page is the route, because the FCDO's exception for Patzcuaro is written in terms of access: it excepts "the town of Patzcuaro accessed by federal toll roads 14D and 15 from Morelia, and boat trips out to islands on Lake Patzcuaro", while advising against all but essential travel to most of the rest of Michoacan. TRAVEL VIA MORELIA ON 14D AND 15, in daylight, by first-class bus or a reputable driver, and understand that approaching from the coast, from Uruapan or on secondary roads leaves the excepted corridor, which can also invalidate travel insurance. THE LAKE BOATS TO JANITZIO AND THE OTHER ISLANDS ARE EXPLICITLY INSIDE THE EXCEPTION. THE ADVISORY ALSO RECORDS ILLEGAL ROADBLOCKS IN MICHOACAN and notes that the state government itself recommends foreign nationals avoid the region, which is the context the carve-out sits in. IT IS COLD AT NIGHT ALL YEAR at 2,140 metres and near freezing before dawn in December and January, which is the commonest packing mistake here. DAY OF THE DEAD ON 1 AND 2 NOVEMBER books out months ahead, overwhelms the roads and launches, and is a family religious vigil: ask before photographing anyone or any grave, and do not step on a grave. THE LAKE LEVEL HAS DROPPED SUBSTANTIALLY in recent years. CONFIRM LIFE JACKETS before a launch leaves. CARRY PESOS.
US State Department travel advisory: the Mexico advisory. Read the current level there directly rather than relying on a figure printed in any guide.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/mexico, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits.
Main hospital or clinic: Patzcuaro has a general hospital and clinics adequate for routine problems and minor emergencies. ANYTHING SERIOUS MEANS MORELIA, about an hour away on 14D and 15, which has the state's best public and private hospitals, and that journey is on the excepted road, which is worth knowing in advance. Private facilities expect payment or a direct insurance guarantee up front. Dial 911, and note that an evening medical journey is one of the few reasons you would be on the road after dark here, so your accommodation's help in arranging transport matters. Private hospitals in the large Mexican cities are good and expect payment or a direct insurance guarantee up front, so carry your policy number where you can reach it rather than in the bottom of a bag. Public clinics will treat an emergency. Tap water is not drinkable anywhere in the country: drink bottled or purified water, which every hotel and restaurant supplies as a matter of course, and take the same care with ice and raw salad that you would with the water itself.
Official health authority: the Secretaria de Salud, Mexico's federal health ministry, covers the Michoacan state health services
US Embassy: the United States Embassy in Mexico City.
Official tourism authority: the Secretaria de Turismo, Mexico's federal tourism ministry, with state information from the Michoacan tourism secretariat, which publishes the Day of the Dead programme, the launch timetables and the craft village fairs
Takeaways
Go via Morelia on 14D and 15. The advisory names those roads and the route matters.
The boat trips to the islands are inside the exception. The advisory says so.
Pack for cold. It is 2,140 metres and the nights are near freezing in winter.
Day of the Dead is a family vigil before it is an event. Ask before you photograph.
Solo women safety assessment: Patzcuaro is a calm, conservative, well-policed highland town where a woman travelling alone attracts no particular attention, and the centre, the plazas and the market are ordinary to walk in the evening. What makes this destination different from everything else in this batch is not the town but the route to it. The FCDO advises against all but essential travel to most of Michoacan and then excepts, by name, the city of Morelia and the town of Patzcuaro reached by federal toll roads 14D and 15 from Morelia, together with boat trips out to the islands on the lake. That is a deliberate and narrow carve-out, and it is only protection if you stay inside it: travel via Morelia on those two roads, in daylight, by first-class bus or a driver arranged through your accommodation, and do not improvise a shorter route through the state, come up from the coast, or cross from Uruapan. Travelling against official advice can also invalidate your insurance, which turns a map decision into a financial one. The advisory separately records illegal roadblocks on Michoacan roads and notes that the state government itself recommends foreign nationals avoid the region, so the honest summary is that the town is fine and the state around it is not, and the corridor is the whole of the difference. 911 IS THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY NUMBER, Patzcuaro has a general hospital for routine matters, and anything serious means Morelia an hour away on the excepted road. WITHIN THE TOWN the realistic crime is pickpocketing in the Day of the Dead crowds and theft from parked vehicles, answered by a closed bag and nothing left in a car. THE PHYSICAL RISKS ARE ALTITUDE AND COLD, and they catch people out because this is Mexico: at 2,140 metres the sun is strong enough to burn in an hour and the nights fall into single figures year round and close to freezing before dawn in winter, and if you come for the vigil on 1 November you will be sitting still outdoors for most of a night. Dress for that properly rather than optimistically. Janitzio's one street is a long steep stair at altitude, the launches are open boats that get choppy in wind and overloaded on 1 November, so confirm the life jackets and be willing to wait for the next one.
Reading On
Patzcuaro's compliant approach runs through Morelia, so the Morelia packing list is the companion piece to this one and covers the other Michoacan town the advisory excepts. East on the same highland route, the Mexico City packing list and Puebla packing list cover the capital and the colonial city beyond it, with the Cholula packing list and Atlixco packing list under the volcanoes. North, the Guanajuato packing list, San Miguel de Allende packing list, Queretaro packing list and Bernal packing list cover the colonial Bajio. West, the Guadalajara packing list and Puerto Vallarta packing list cover Jalisco and its coast. South, the Oaxaca packing list, Monte Alban packing list and Hierve el Agua packing list cover the other great indigenous region of Mexico. For the country, the Mexico travel guide for women and the Mexico packing list carry the transport and the advisory geography in full. For why wool is the right answer to a large day and night swing, read the guide to merino wool base layers for women. Every destination we cover is indexed at the travel packing guide for women, and the base layers are at the Roman Trail collection.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
