Querétaro: One of Mexico’s Best Kept Secrets
Most recently updated September, 2023
Guest blog by Jorge Hernandez, Querétaro resident and native (I visited Querétaro after this blog was published. You can read about my experience here)
As I was thinking about what to say about Querétaro, one of the things that came to mind to explain to people considering Mexico is that all the Mexican states are divided into municipios, each one having its own presidente municipal. Sometimes the names of the city and the municipios are the same and it causes a little confusion for foreigners.
My home state is Querétaro, a state with 18 municipios. I live in the City of Querétaro. I was born in a municipio called Cadereyta de Montes and raised in another municipio called Ezequiel Montes, about an hours drive from the City of Querétaro. One of the interesting things about Ezequiel Montes are the vineyards, including Finca Sala Vivé or Freixenet Mexico, which you may know as a leading producer of Cava, and a good side trip for visitors. Mexico City is only a three-hour drive away on an excellent toll road.
The City of Querétaro is stratified into zones. The zones tend to be very specific to whether they are colonial, industrial or residential. The Centro Historico looks pretty much like any Mexican colonial downtown except that Querétaro is more organized without stairs to climb and blind alleyways like many downtowns.
Curiously enough, fewer expats live in Quéretaro than in San Miguel de Allende, only an hour away. I can only guess that the Centro Histórico in Querétaro is not as quiet as San Miguel. Perhaps I am biased, but Querétaro has more activity. Quéretaro has been booming for several years as many young professionals are leaving Mexico City. Quéretaro can offer them a booming economy here without the stress, traffic and higher prices of the capital city.
Living in Querétaro as a foreigner
A very high percentage of people in Querétaro speak English, making it a perfect target for an expat/immigration boom. Many expats live in either the Centro Histórico, drawn to famous 17th and 18th-century architecture such as La Casa del Atrio, La Mariposa, Mesón de Santa Rosa, Doña Urraca o Tikua Sur Este. Just steps from the Plaza de Armas, the city’s main plaza, you’ll find the Andador Carranza, a picturesque thoroughfare of art galleries, restaurants, and occasional strolling guitar players. The majority of the city’s population, however, live in the suburbs.
Juriquilla, north of the city, is an upscale neighborhood with a lake, the golf course, a tony shopping mall, Antea, and gaining a great deal of favor from expats from a number of countries. Executives with foreign manufacturing companies often live in this area, as it has a number of good schools.
Querétaro is the most educated city in Mexico. It’s home to Mexico’s most prestigious universities, which has led to huge economic growth. We have many major industries here, such as IT, auto part manufacturers, aerospace, and food processing. It’s served by an international airport (QRO) that has direct flights to major U.S. cities. I’ve heard expats say Querétaro has the best shopping in Mexico. Due to the size of the city (a million people) and its affluence, you can find the whole range of products, including the most upscale.
Sight-seeing in Querétaro
The famous tree of crosses turned into one of the main tourist attractions in the area, and many who visit believe the tree divine.
When you see photo journals of the City of Querétaro, they’ll always include pictures of Peña de Bernal, which is the third tallest monoliths in the world and dominates the vista from Calle Corregidora in the nearby pueblo of Bernal (which is also officially designated as one of Mexico’s Pueblos Magicos), about two hours away.
The second site you will see in many photos is The Templo de la Cruz, built in 1654 and located at the top of the hilltop of Sangremal, the site where the city was founded. The temple has generated many legends,* some quite dark, others inspirational for the religious.
My favorite legend is that of the tree of crosses. Its central character, Antonio Márgl de Jesús, a Franciscan friar, arrived in 1697. The story has it that members of the order would arrive so exhausted from their religious labors throughout the world that they would drive their walking sticks into the garden of the temple, which provoked the sprouting of a tree with needle-like thorns in the shape of crosses instead of flowers or fruit.
Another thing to know, especially for people coming from abroad, and I believe it applies to many Mexican states besides Querétaro, are the two prices when buying products on the street or taking taxis: the one for tourists and the one for locals. If a person looks like they might be more affluent, venders sell their products at a higher price than they would even to Mexican tourists.
The right thing to do in these cases is to buy only in places where the prices are fixed, like in the supermarket or to use Uber if you want to ensure the same price as a local [Editor’s note: It is like this throughout Mexico with everything from taxi fares to rent. With a little experience you will learn the proper prices]
Cuisine of Querétaro
While I am not what you Americans call a foodie, I am still Mexican! I love the barbacoa de res and gorditas con queso de chile that they sell in Ezequiel Montes. For many people, las carnitas in Santa Rosa Jauregui are definitely worth trying when you visit there. The cheese they produce in Tequisquiapan, the wine from the vineyards, the xoconostles en caldo de olla make up some of the best dishes in this part of Mexico. If you want to go more native, try the nopales en penca, which are baby nopales with tomate, onion, and peppers, all of it inside nopal called penca that is baked in an underground oven.
Things to do in Querétaro
A more recent event to Querétaro is the Festival Internacional de Artes Escénicas (International Festival of Performing Arts), now in its second year. The free event in October features ensembles of theater, contemporary dance, folklore, tango, and circus-like performances, totaling close to 70 acts.
In certain seasons in the City of Querétaro you will find it hard to choose which of the many events to attend. You have the Festival de la Ciudad Film Festival (City Film Festival) at Cineteca Rosalia Solanom, and the Festival de Comunidades Extranjeras (Festival of Foreign Communities) opening with a 2-hour parade.
You also can choose to attend the Día Internacional de la Danza (International Day of Dance), or the Amealco artisan festival. During certain week-ends you will find children's events and live entertainment in every plaza, all under huge canopies with chairs set out for the public, and all for free or close to it. The Festival de Mole y Nieves which is held in La Cañada, a town about 5 miles from the City of Querétaro and its oldest, founded by the Spaniards in 1529.
While San Miguel de Allende used to be the most fashionable place to get married, many more weddings are being planned here these days, another sure sign that more people are recognizing Querétaro’s charm.
Related links.
Best areas to live in Querétaro (In Spanish - “Mejores zonas” means “best areas.”) I am sure you can glean what you need from there or copy and paste the short article into Google Translate.
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About the author:
Kerry Baker is the author of several books.
The second book, If Only I Had a Place, is the ultimate guide to renting in Mexico. Don’t be fooled. Renting in Mexico is different. Learn what realtors do not want you to know, and rent luxuriously for less. The Mexico Solution: Saving your money, sanity, and quality of life through part-time life in Mexico, is her most recent book.
This is the only how-to book on Mexico on the market that won’t leave you numb. It’s practical and sure to entertain. The Lazy Expat: Healthy Recipes That Translate in Mexico is a cookbook for expats, snowbirds and travelers trying to maintain a healthy diet in Mexico. (You must cook.)