Morelia

Seventy-two hours on Morelia's cantera stone

Morelia's first day centres on the Plaza de Armas and its cathedral, which covers more than two city blocks and took most of the 17th and 18th centuries to finish. After coffee under the arcades, walk two blocks west to the Palacio Clavijero, a former Jesuit college with a vast courtyard, and the Mercado de Dulces beside it.

Lunch on regional food near the plaza. In the afternoon visit the Casa Natal de Morelos and the Casa de Morelos, the two museums built around the hero's life. After dark, return to the cathedral; if it is a Saturday, find a spot on the plaza for the illumination.

Day two. Head east along Avenida Madero to the aqueduct and follow the arches to the Fuente de las Tarascas, the fountain of three women carrying a basket of fruit. Turn onto the Calzada Fray Antonio de San Miguel, a shaded promenade, duck into the Callejón del Romance, and finish at the ornate Santuario de Guadalupe. Spend the afternoon in the Bosque Cuauhtémoc or the Museo de Arte Colonial, then hear the boys' choir if the Conservatorio de las Rosas has a concert.

Day three. Take a bus to Pátzcuaro, about an hour away, for its two big plazas, the Basílica and the boat ride across the lake to Janitzio island. Back in Morelia, have supper at Plaza San Agustín.

Corundas, uchepos and sopa tarasca from the Purépecha kitchen

Morelia's cooking is Purépecha at the root. Start with sopa tarasca, a smooth bean soup spiced with dried pasilla chile and swirled with cream, then enchiladas placeras, tortillas dipped in red chile sauce, folded around cheese, fried and buried under chicken, potatoes and carrots, cooked on evening griddles at Plaza San Agustín with pozole and tostadas.

The state's tamales are a study in themselves. Corundas are triangular, wrapped in long corn leaves and eaten with salsa, cream and cheese; uchepos are made from fresh sweet corn and are best at breakfast with a café de olla. Look out too for carnitas, slow-cooked pork that Michoacán claims as its own, sold by weight on weekend mornings.

Sweets get their own market. The Mercado de Dulces y Artesanías beside the Palacio Clavijero sells ate, dense fruit pastes of guava and quince, and morelianas, thin discs of caramelised milk pressed between wafers. On hot afternoons, street carts sell gazpacho moreliano, which here means chopped mango, jícama and pineapple doused in orange juice and sprinkled with chile and grated cheese. To finish an evening, ask for charanda, the sugar-cane spirit distilled in the state. Skip the chain restaurants on the ring road: the family-run places in the centre are better and cost less.

Day of the Dead, monarchs and the rainy months around Morelia

Morelia's weather turns on rain more than heat, since the city sits at about 1,900 m. November to April brings under 20 mm a month and reliably blue skies, with January highs around 24C and nights near 5C; the wet season starts in June, and July and August each bring 170-180 mm, usually in one heavy afternoon storm.

The calendar peaks in autumn. The Morelia International Film Festival, one of the most important in Latin America for Mexican cinema, takes over the theatres and plazas in mid-October. A couple of weeks later comes Day of the Dead. The cathedral hosts the city's own celebration, with choir performances and fireworks after dark, but the most famous candlelit vigils take place on the night of 1 November around Lake Pátzcuaro and on Janitzio island. Book rooms months ahead for that week.

From about November to March, millions of monarch butterflies winter in the fir forests on the eastern border of Michoacán. The sanctuaries, such as El Rosario near Angangueo, are around three hours by road and best done as a long day trip with an early start; the butterflies fly most on warm, sunny afternoons in February. Spring is quieter, apart from Holy Week, when Mexican families fill the hotels. The rainy months bring the lowest prices and the fewest visitors, and the centre's museums make good shelter.