Quiroga is famous for slow cooked pork so we had to go for the carnitas. It’s 30 minutes by bus around Lake Patzcuaro [2] and named after Vaco de Quiroga (first Bishop of Michoacán).
Tzintzuntzan (Place of Humming Birds) was a major pre-Hispanic indigenous capital. From here the Franciscans set out to Christianise Michoacán in the 16th century. The oldest olive trees in the Americas still thrive in the Monastery grounds.
Isla Janitzio on the lake near Patzcuaro is the single most famous place for witnessing the Day of the Dead commemoration. The white fish from the lake makes a nice lunch.
Further south, Santa Clara del Cobre (another Pueblo Magico) has been a center of copper making since before the Spanish. There are dozens of small shops selling wonderful hand beaten copper items from jewellery to huge vats. Tortas de tostadas, warm sandwiches with a filling of ham, salad, salsa and a fried tortilla are the street food of choice here. People line up waiting for the stall to open.
Uruapan [3] is a drab country town an hour west of Patzcuaro, but it does have a great trout restaurant overlooking the river in the National Park, in the city center.
Our 2011 blog from Patzcuaro – here.