Mexico

Aguascalientes

Macabre

Artsy

Braised

Jardín de San Marcos ❘ FERNANDO MACIAS ROMO/Shutterstock

Train at Railroad Museum, Plaza de las Tres Centurias ❘ Schoening/Alamy

Sculpture between Aguascalientes and Calvillo ❘ sunandmoonags/Shutterstock

Station at Railroad Museum, Plaza de las Tres Centurias ❘ Glow Images/Getty Images

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Birria with a side of art galleries, in Mexico’s small, creative hub.

It would be easy to spend a week in Aguascalientes just exploring its museums, all of which are in the city’s historic center.

Each April, up to 10 million people descend on the Mexican city of Aguascalientes—the capital of its eponymous state—for a three-week festival, the Feria Nacional de San Marcos. It’s one of the country’s biggest events, and takes over for nearly a month with musical performances, equestrian demonstrations, and livestock fairs. But the rest of the year, Aguascalientes is a quiet, elegant city of colonial architecture, fountains, and ample greenery.

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It would be easy to spend a week in Aguascalientes just exploring its museums, all of which are in the city’s historic center. A small railway museum sits inside the Plaza de las Tres Centurias, a historic railroad complex that includes a beautiful station built in the late 19th century. Nearby is the Museo José Guadalupe Posada, dedicated to the artist who designed the Calavera Catrina, the now-iconic skeleton head smiling under an enormous hat. Posada began his career making lithographs for newspapers, but after a flood in 1882 killed hundreds of the city’s residents and left more than a thousand missing, his subjects turned morbid. Fittingly, El Museo Nacional de la Muerte (National Museum of Death), housed in a former convent, is a quick walk from the Posada museum. Its extensive collection explores the iconography of death in Mexican culture, from the pre-Columbian era to modern times.

Aguascalientes Cathedral ❘ Jeremy Woodhouse/Getty Images

Aguascalientes is also home to an impressive collection of art that isn’t explicitly related to the afterlife. Explore contemporary industrial art at the Museo Espacio, housed in a long-unused railway workshop flooded with natural light and surrounded by landscaped gardens. The Aguascalientes Museum is a smaller, more historically inclined art museum that highlights the work of artists from the area. Even smaller, though just as delightful, is the Museo del Juguete Tradicional Mexicano (Museum of Traditional Mexican Toys), which houses a collection of old, mostly wooden playthings.

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One cannot live on museums alone, of course. Luckily Aguascalientes is just as rich in birria, a spiced stew made with lamb or goat that’s cooked, often overnight, in a rich chile broth. Get some at the Mercado Juárez, also known as Mercado de la Birria, which is packed with stalls selling foods as well as locally made huaraches.

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As the state of Aguascalientes is relatively small, the city makes an excellent jumping off point for the rest of the lowlands region. Wineries abound, as do opportunities for eco- and adventure-tourism. The nearby town of Cavillo is home to ancient cave paintings as well as mountain biking trails, and nearby is La Ciénega de Quijas, a verdant stretch of lakes, waterfalls, and hiking trails. Or just stay in Aguascalientes and take a soak in the city’s Thermal Baths.