Mexico · Estado de Zacatecas
Where to Stay in Zacatecas, Estado de Zacatecas
Zacatecas is a silver city of north-central Mexico, a steep colonial town of pink stone built on the wealth of its mines below the hill of La Bufa.
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Where to stay in Zacatecas
Each area has its own feel; here's who each one suits.
Where you stay in Zacatecas turns on the old town or the hill. The streets around the cathedral keep the plazas, the museums, and the shops within a walk, and staying downtown suits anyone here for the colonial city. The cathedral rises over the square.
Lanes climb between old houses. Up toward the Bufa and the mines, the town gives way to the rocky hill, the cable car, and the old workings. A room near the hill trades the streets for the views over the ravine, the mine tunnels, and the heights of the Bufa.
The city drops away below. Stay downtown for the cathedral, or by the hill for the views. The old town lies a short way down.
About Zacatecas
Zacatecas is the silver city of the highlands.
What is Zacatecas known for?
High in a narrow ravine of the north-central plateau, it grew rich four centuries ago on the silver dug from its hills, and it keeps a great pink-stone cathedral carved like lace, a steep old town of colonial streets and churches, the Cerro de la Bufa rising over the roofs, and the old silver mines beneath the town. The old town climbs the ravine. The dry hills rise around.
What are the main landmarks in Zacatecas?
The pink cathedral is the pride of Zacatecas. The great church of rose-coloured stone, its facade carved deep like lace in the Mexican Baroque, rises over the old town, the emblem of the city, above the streets. A hill stands over the town.
The Cerro de la Bufa looks down from its rocky height, reached by a cable car, while the silver mines, the old plazas, and the colonial churches mark the ravine around Zacatecas.
What is the history of Zacatecas?
Zacatecas was born of silver. When the Spanish found rich silver in these hills in the sixteenth century, they built a city in the ravine, and its mines poured out silver that filled the treasuries of Spain. Miners dug deep.
The wealth of the mines raised grand churches and mansions of pink stone, and Zacatecas grew into one of the richest cities of the Spanish north. The city clung to its hills. Through the colonial centuries the town spread up the steep ravine around its cathedral, its narrow streets winding between the workings.
Revolution reached the Bufa. In 1914 a great battle was fought on the Cerro de la Bufa above the town, a turning point of the Mexican Revolution, and Zacatecas passed into the new age still rich in silver and stone. The pink cathedral still crowns the town.
Zacatecas keeps its mines and its churches in the ravine.
Where is Zacatecas?
Zacatecas lies in the north-central highlands of Mexico, in a narrow valley on the high plateau. The city fills a steep ravine at over two thousand metres between dry rocky hills, on the great semi-desert tableland of the north, with the Cerro de la Bufa standing above the town. Bare hills close the ravine.
The high plateau runs dry around.
What is the climate of Zacatecas?
Zacatecas has a cool, dry highland climate. Mild days and cold nights hold much of the year at this height, with strong sun, a short summer rainy spell, and frost in the winter. The nights turn cold and clear.
Thin dry air fills the days.
How do you get to Zacatecas?
Zacatecas lies in the north-central highlands, on the road and rail between Mexico City and the north. Buses and the highway run to it up the plateau from Aguascalientes and Durango, and roads climb into the silver hills. Lanes wind up the ravine.
Aguascalientes lies south down the road.
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Updated August 2026