Real de Catorce

This old ghost town is very popular with tourists from Texas especially the Austin area. Many of the old Haciendas are being restored to former glory. The surrounding high desert area is becoming a popular area for horseback riding. Overall, Real de Catorce is benefiting from the renaissance that is sweeping across many of the forgotten colonial gems of the northern deserts.

Real de Catorce is a city in San Luis Potosí.

Get in

By plane

The nearest airport is San Luis Potosí (SLP IATA). From the airport the "Central de autobuses" is a 15-20 minute drive. A bus ride from San Luis Potosí to Matehuala took 2.5 hours and was $265MXN (~US$ 15) as of 2017. Buses leave from Matehuala to Real de Catorce at 7:45, 9:45, 11:45, 13:45, 17:45.

By car

In order to get to Real de Catorce you have to go through a very narrow 11 km tunnel. At the high tourist seasons (Oct. and Apr.) you will have to leave your car outside the tunnel and take a horse and carriage in to the pueblito.

A driver offered direct service for $9 MXN per km. From San Luis Potosí it is about ~250 km which would be around $2,250 MXN (~US$ 125) which may make sense for groups.

Get around

Once in Real de Catorce you get around by walking mostly. Cars are not allowed to drive in the city. To get to one of the far away tourist destinations you travel by horse, donkey or mule.

See

  • Quemado hill (Cerro el Quemado).
  • The graveyard
  • Purisima Concepcion Church
  • Ogarrio Tunnel
  • Palenque
  • Coin House
  • Old Silver Mines

Do

Walking, hiking, mountain biking, equestrian riding, camping, peyote with a shaman.

Buy

Home made crafts... made with minerals found in caves

Eat

  • Gorditas from street vendors
  • Many Italian restaurants

Drink

Sleep

Houses can be rented in the surrounding small ghost towns (without electricity or running water) for about US$100 monthly, its a popular option for artists and craftsmen.

Connect

Go next

gollark: Anyway, further suggestions on ¬<:bees:724389994663247974> languages may be forwarded to my direct messages, ApioTelephone™, my email inbox, or osmarks.tk comments.
gollark: This is clearly due to bees in the brains of all modern language designers.
gollark: Well, many modern languages are uncool and lack it.
gollark: Ooo, pattern matching apparently.
gollark: Anyway, I'll investigate Elixir, but I fully expect it to be horrible in some other way and then ææææ.
This article is issued from Wikivoyage. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.