Is it safe?

The short answer

Guanajuato City is one of the more relaxed places you can walk in central Mexico, day or night. The tourist and university center stays busy and lit well into the evening, and the main risks here are ordinary ones, not the cartel headlines people worry about.

Day and night

By day you can walk the whole center freely: the plazas, the callejones, the market, the funicular up to Pipila. At night the area around Jardin de la Union, Plaza de la Paz and the connected alleys stays lively and feels fine to walk, especially where there are people and open bars. The usual sense applies: the emptier and darker an alley gets as you climb the hillside, the more you should stick to routes you know or grab a taxi.

The real risks

• Petty theft. Pickpocketing in crowds, at the Mercado Hidalgo, and during big events like Cervantino, when the city is packed. Keep your phone and wallet zipped away.
• The terrain. This is the thing that actually hurts people. Steep staircases, uneven cobbles and steep alleys are slick when it rains. Wear real shoes and watch your footing after storms.
• The tunnels. They are for cars, narrow, dim and short on sidewalks. Do not use them as pedestrian shortcuts; stay on the surface streets.

What a local would tell you

Do not walk in the road inside the tunnels, do not flash valuables in the crush at big festivals, and if you have had a few drinks, take a cab back to your hotel instead of navigating unfamiliar staircases in the dark.