Durango

Under the Plaza de Armas and out to the western film sets

Durango's first day belongs to the centre. From the Plaza de Armas and its bandstand facing the cathedral, descend into the Mining Museum-Tunnel, which explains the city's mining past and surfaces by the archbishop's palace, then walk the grid to the Palacio del Conde de Súchil, the Palacio de Gobierno and the Ricardo Castro and Victoria theatres.

After a lunch of caldillo at a downtown restaurant, take the cable car between the Cerro del Calvario and the Cerro de los Remedios for a view across the city to the Cerro del Mercado, the iron hill that gave Durango its reason to exist. In the evening, stroll the Paseo Constitución, a pedestrian street of cafés and shops under lit facades, and wait for dark to hear the legend of the cathedral nun at the viewpoint.

Day two: the West. Drive or take a taxi about 12 km north on the Parral road to Villa del Oeste, the main set for visitors, with its saloon, church and main street. It opens at 11am, Tuesday to Sunday. Walk on to Chupaderos, about a kilometre away, an old village where film crews built a western town and parts of it still stand, gallows included. Back in the city, dine on asado rojo and finish with a Durango mezcal.

Caldillo duranguense, asado rojo and Durango mezcal

Durango cooks ranch food built on beef, dried chillies and corn, suited to cold winter nights in the high valley. The best-known dish is caldillo duranguense, a brothy beef stew with roasted poblano peppers, tomato and garlic, eaten with tortillas, and asado rojo, meat simmered in thick red chilli, follows close behind.

The best-known dish is caldillo duranguense, a brothy stew of beef with roasted poblano peppers, tomato and garlic, eaten with tortillas. It is warming and simple and turns up on most traditional menus. Asado rojo, chunks of meat simmered in a thick red chilli sauce, is another regional favourite, often served at family celebrations. The local gorditas, thick corn pockets filled with stews, beans or cheese, are what most people eat for a quick lunch.

In the centre, Restaurante La Victoria on Calle Victoria serves regional dishes, gorditas, enchiladas and egg breakfasts in the historic district from morning to late. Restaurante Mendoza on Hidalgo, open for breakfast and lunch, nods to the city's movie-making past.

Durango is also one of Mexico's mezcal states. Producers in the countryside distil spirits from wild and cultivated agave, often more smoky and rustic than the Oaxacan bottles found in bars elsewhere, and bars in the centre stock several local labels.

Then there are the scorpions. Durango's mascot is the alacrán, and you will see it preserved in resin in every craft shop. Some places serve scorpions as a novelty topping, but this is a curiosity, not a local habit.

July's Feria Nacional and the Puente Baluarte drive

The Feria Nacional de Durango, the biggest fair in northern Mexico, runs for several weeks in summer around the city's founding anniversary on 8 July 1563. Concerts, livestock and agricultural shows, rodeos, rides and food stalls fill those weeks, so book accommodation well in advance.

The weather is driven by altitude. From December to February, days are sunny at 21-23C, but nights drop to around 2-3C. March to May is dry and warming, from 27C to 32C, with only a few millimetres of rain, the best time for outdoor sights. The rains come from June to September, peaking in July at about 134 mm, usually as afternoon storms, and the valley turns green. October and November are dry again and pleasant.

A road trip toward the Pacific is the outstanding excursion. Highway 40D climbs into the Sierra Madre west of the city through a long series of tunnels and bridges, crossing the Puente Baluarte, a cable-stayed bridge high above a deep canyon on the Durango and Sinaloa border. In about three hours you descend to Mazatlán on the coast. Drive it in daylight and stop at the viewpoints before the bridge.

Closer to the city, the western film sets north of town are a half-day trip in any season.