Chihuahua the quintessential northern Mexico destination with its magnificent Copper Canyon
Chihuahua has it all from spectacular mountains, culture and is a paradise for adventure-seekers. It is the largest state in Mexico with almost 250,000 km2. Located in the North of Mexico it offers a wide range of tourist attractions from its landscapes of the Copper Canyon to the Chihuahua’s Magical Towns.
Julio Chavez Ventura, General Director at the ¡Ah, Chihuahua! Tourism Promotion Trust says that the main attraction is the Copper Canyon, the rail route to and from Chihuahua. “It is the largest complex of canyons in the world and we can visit it on the only passenger train in the country, the Chihuahua Pacific train known as Chepe, it is a journey of nature and spirituality”.
For the adventurous, the Barrancas Park offers the largest cable car in the world with about two kilometres in length, a circuit of 7 zip lines, the suspension bridges and the Vía Ferrata which includes abseiling, rock climbing and mountain bike trails. “The Barrancas are the main attraction in Chihuahua,” says Chavez Ventura.
During the World Travel Market 5-7 November at Excel, London, Chihuahua is promoting a news programme “From the Sea to the mountains” where British and European tourists can visit the canyons in Chihuahua and combine it with the sunny beaches across Mexico, for instance Cancun in the Riviera Maya is very popular as a destination to visit and travelling back to Europe.
The connectivity is from Frankfurt, London, and Munich via Mexico City or Cancun. “Mainly you can travel to Mexico City from major European cities and from there you take a flight to Chihuahua for an hour and a half. From London you can fly to Cancun and take a plane to Chihuahua”, explains Chavez Ventura.
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The gastronomy is also top notch in Chihuahua, it is very well known for its “burritos”, but not many people know that Chihuahuan cuisine also includes blue corn tortillas and fine cuts of meat.
“It is a very rustic cuisine because the territory is desert and mountains where survival is not easy, so the cuisine grew around meat in a cattle-raising state. It is the best meat in Mexico, the only state where cattle can be brought to the United States. They make it dry, in a barbecue or the traditional discada, which was invented by Mexican cowboys”.
Chihuahua offers magical towns like Creel, Casas Grandes, Batopilas, Guachochi and Parral. Batopilas offers a semi-tropical climate with 30 degrees celsius. It was a mining town with a variety of tropical fruits, in the north you find Casas Grandes with its archaeological ruins of the ancient nomadic people the Paquimeitas. Hidalgo del Parral is a colonial mining town known because it was there that Pancho Villa, one of the best known Mexicans abroad, was assassinated, “there the conspiracy of the Mexican Revolution ended” explains Chavez Ventura.
August to March is the best season to visit Chihuahua. In August it rains and the Sierra Tarahumara is transformed with waterfalls and lakes. In December it starts to snow and the canyon is completely white and temperatures can drop to -10 degrees Celsius.
If you think of Chihuahua, think of spectacular mountains, culture, craftsmanship and the famous Chepe Road which stretches 653 kilometres, with 37 bridges and 86 tunnels from Chihuahua to Los Mochis.