Calvillo - Guava Country and Pueblo Magico

Calvillo lies roughly 50 to 59 km southwest of Aguascalientes city in the state of Aguascalientes, Mexico, reached in about an hour by car on Federal Highway 70 or in 1 to 1.5 hours on the regional buses that leave the Central de Autobuses de Aguascalientes several times a day. Driving is the more flexible option because the guava orchards, the reservoir and the canyon country all sit outside the town proper and are awkward to reach without a vehicle; travellers without a car can still see the historic centre comfortably on foot from the bus terminal, which is a short walk from the plaza.\n\nThe town has been a Pueblo Magico since 2012, recognised for a colonial core built around a wide main plaza shaded by enormous laurel trees. The Templo del Senor del Salitre and the parish church of Nuestra Senora del Rosario anchor the square, and the surrounding streets hold shops selling the town's two signature crafts: deshilado drawn-thread embroidery, worked by hand on white cotton, and guava sweets in every form, including ate de guayaba paste, cajeta-filled rolls, dried slices and preserves. Calvillo grows the majority of Mexico's guava crop, and the orchard valleys that ring the town turn the whole area fragrant during harvest.\n\nA workable one-day arc starts with a morning departure from Aguascalientes to arrive around 10am, when the plaza is active and the sweet shops have opened but the midday sun has not yet built. Mornings suit the historic centre, the churches and the craft shops. Afternoons are better spent outside town at the Presa de Malpaso reservoir or on the walking and rappelling routes in the Boca de Tunel canyon, both within a 20 to 30 minute drive. Travellers heading back to the capital before dark should leave Calvillo by about 6pm, since Highway 70 has unlit stretches.\n\nFor food, small fondas around the plaza serve comida corrida sets for roughly MXN 90 to 140, and gorditas and birria stands operate near the market in the morning. Several roadside restaurants along Highway 70 near Malpaso do trout and carnitas. October and November bring the Feria de la Guayaba, the guava harvest festival, when the town is busiest and the produce is at its peak; the rest of the year the town stays quiet and pleasant, with spring and autumn the most comfortable for walking.