Guided Michoacán Tours

Our friend Miguel Angel offers affordable private tours. Guided tours are an excellent way to explore the nearby area with an expert. Miguel Angel Núñez is a local anthropologist, author, and licensed tour guide for the Tourism Ministry of México. His tours are recommended by Lonely Planet, Fodor’s and National Geographic guide books. 

The people (artists, musicians, farmers, etc) that Miguel Angel visits during his tours are his friends, most of whom have known him for over 20 years. During the tour, participants can feel comfortable asking questions, taking photos, and learning about local lifestyles. Miguel Angel helps his friends and our visitors feel comfortable to exchange ideas and impressions.

Guided tours are focused on the people, history, archaeology, folk art, gastronomy, and biodiversity of Michoacán. For visitors who want an incredibly informative experience touring around Lake Pátzcuaro with a friendly, intelligent guide, consider taking a tour with Miguel Angel.

Itineraries include:

1. Pátzcuaro colonial downtown walking tour. (3hrs.)
2. Tzintzuntzan and Tupátaro, (4 hrs.)
3. Santa Clara del Cobre and Lake Zirahuén. ( 4 hrs.)
4. Ihuatzio, la Pacanda island (4 hrs.)
5. Lake Pátzcuaro Western Shore: Tócuaro, Uricho, Erongarícuaro, Puácuaro, Oponguio. (6 hrs.)
6. Lake Pátzcuaro Eastern shore: Tzintzuntzan, Santa Fé, San Andrés, Oponguio. (6 hrs.)
7. The Tarascan highlands I: Paricutín volcano and Angahuan. (8 hrs.)
8. The Tarascan highlands II: Paracho and Auiran. ( 8 hrs.)
9. The Tarascan highlands III: Ocumicho and Patamban. (8 hrs.)
10. The Tarascan highlands IV: Ruta don Vasco. (8 hrs.)
11. Uruapan and Tingambato. (8 hrs.)
12. Morelia colonial downtown walking tour. (3 hrs.)
13. Monarch Butterflies Sanctuaries. (12 hrs.)
14. Pelican Sanctuary. (8 hrs.)
15. Bird watching tours. (4 hrs.)
16. Celebrations and traditional festivals: Christmas cycle (Dec) Candelaria and Tarascan New Year (Feb 2), Easter (Mar-Apr), Corpus Christy (May-Jun), Day of the Dead (Nov 2).

All tours are designed to give participants a wide variety of information though people with specific interests can arrange for a more focused tour.

Tours by Interest

1. Mask making: Tocuaro, Sevina, Uruapan, Comachuen, Charapan. 
2. Ceramics and pottery: Tzintzuntzan, Santa Fe de la Laguna, Capula, Morelia, Tlalpujahua, San José de Gracia, Patamban, Cocucho, Ocumicho, Zipiajo. 
3. Wooden furniture and carvings: Pátzcuaro, Tzintzuntzan, Cuanajo, Pichátaro, Paracho. 
4. Chuspata/reed weaving and furniture: Ihuatzio,Puacuaro, Ichupio. 
5. Silver traditional jewelry: Pátzcuaro, Cherán. 
6. Copper: Santa Clara del cobre. 
7. Guitars and other string instruments: Paracho. 
8. Monarch Butterflies: 3 sanctuaries. 
9. Archaeological sites: Tzintzuntzan, Ihuatzio, Tingambato, Huandacareo, Tres Cerritos. 
10. Birding: various villages and sites around lake Pátzcuaro and others. 
11. Feather art: Tiripetío, Morelia. 
12. Lacquerwork: Pátzcuaro, Uruapan. 
13. Textiles: Pátzcuaro, Tocuaro, Auiran, San Felipe de los Herreros, Cocucho, Cuanajo, Tarecuato, Angahuan.

Cost

Walking tours cost $200 pesos MXN per person per hour.
Tours with transportation cost $300 pesos MXN per hour. Tours include guide and transportation only. 
Group rates are available.

About Miguel Angel Núñez

Miguel Angel was born in Mexico City in 1949. An anthropologist, he graduated from the Nacional Museum of Anthropology (ENAH) in Mexico City with a master’s degree in Social Anthropology from the National University of México (UNAM). He has lived in the Lake Pátzcuaro area since 1978, where he built his home Casa de Tierra. 

Author, traveler, and researcher, Miguel Angel is currently retired from working at the University. He has published several books and articles on a variety of topics on Michoacán. His favorite topics include: traditional agriculture, natural resources, sustainable technologies, ethnobotany and nature.  He is interested in researching the regional indigenous agriculture and regional flora and fauna. Currently he is compiling an inventory of endangered native plants and birds around Lake Pátzcuaro.

Miguel Angel has been a licensed federal tour guide (SECTUR) since 2002. His tours are recommended by the Lonely Planet, National Geographic, and Fodor's travel guides. His strong interests in history, anthropology and ethnobotony is reflected when he talks about the Lake Pátzcuaro area. People who take a tour from Miguel Angel are not just hiring a guide; they get an opportunity to spend some time with a passionate historian who truly loves discussing this region of México.

For 30 years his home, Casa de Tierra, has been a meeting place for travelers from around the world interested in the history, art, culture and ecology of the indigenous people (primarily the Tarascan, or Purépecha people) of México. Casa de Tierra sits in a recovered piece of land that was the town’s old garbage dump site. Today it is an incredible landscape with a nursery and seed bank of endangered native plants from Michoacán.