Guanajuato was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988. Nestled in a narrow canyon between huge mountains, the town is a photographer's delight with its quaint plazas, colonial buildings, winding cobblestone streets, hidden alleyways and underground passageways.

When the Spanish arrived, they discovered the mountains here were rich in silver and a mining town flourished that soon became the richest city in Mexico, producing more than a third of the world's silver by the turn of the 18th century.

Guanajuato played an important role in Mexico's War of Independence. In 1810 it was invaded by Father Miguel Hidalgo - a rebel priest and leader of Mexico's independence movement - and his ragtag army of farmers and mine workers. The wealthy mine owners fled to the town's granary, barricading themselves and their treasures behind its thick walls, until a brave young miner nicknamed El Pipila immortalized himself by breaking down the door and allowing the revolutionaries to defeat their enemies and seize the city. A hilltop monument honoring Pipila is also the site of a lookout that offers a magnificent view of the town and its mazelike layout.