Real De Catorce Anyone?

[peddler665]

Advise from any who may have been here.
Reading about this supposedly Ghost Town turning into an artist colony.
While planning a side trip to San Louis Potosi this in year I saw this town in Lonely Planet.
Any ideas/suggestions or thoughts about either place welcomed & appreciated.

[Lisa Andrews]

One of my favourite mexican towns, where the mexican has scenes filmed (not that I have seen the movie). I went there about 5 years ago and loved it, it just had such a nice feel, we went on a horse ride tour and there were less people then horses so they flipped a coin to see who got to take the tourists, only spent a day there but I remember it being beautiful.
San Luis Potosi I'm not as much of a fan, just a big city, lots of traffic, I would stay close tot the centre so you don't have to drive around there, they also have speed cameras.

[WRT]

We recently filmed some unique scenes in that area. There are some places to stay in Real but we always stay at Las Palmas in Matehuala which is about 45 mins away from Real de 14. Safe parking for our race rigs, with the best cabrito dish, swimming pool and great staff. Been staying at Las Palmas for many years and not one complaint.

They have great info for a day excursion to Real.

So this could be an option for you staying while exploring Real de 14. Check out their website.
http://laspalmasmidwayinn.com/en/

[peddler665]

Thank you both. It looks like it is worth the effort to get there.

[laconstance]

I visited Real de Catorce about 5 years ago, in early April. I stayed at Las Palmas motel in Matahuala the night before, and that was not my first time there. Their restaurant is open late at night, a plus. Be aware that to drive to Real de Catorce, there is a cobblestone (yes, cobblestone) road that stretches across the desert for about 18 - 20 miles! That is before you get to the dirt road switchbacks that take you to the mouth of the one-lane one-way tunnel that the town lies beyond. You wait to enter the tunnel, which is regulated by men with radios at each end. As an alternative, there are buses that go from Matahuala. The town itself is interesting. Lots of picturesque old stone ruins. The main hotel which was right in the middle of town was full (a tour group), so we stayed in a nice new hotel (built in an old ruin) just behind that hotel on a parallel street. Most of the better restaurants seemed to be closed, so we ended up eating in the main hotel. I seem to recall that the museum was also closed, but the people at the visitor's center were very nice. There's not much to do but wander around absorbing the atmosphere, which I did and enjoyed, hiking from end to end in the town. Not to be missed is the old cock-fighting ring. Sorry, can't remember the names of the hotels.

[The Duck]

Beyond RdC's seemingly large Swiss/Italian hotel/restaurant atmosphere one very popular 'alternative' reason to go to there is Peyote.

From Rough Guides: http://www.roughguides.com/article/picki...in-mexico/

Re Hotels in Matehuala - las Palmas Stayed there once and found it: Over-rated / dated / expensive for what it offers and full of newbie AAA GRINGOS on TripTiks -plus- Matehuala is no longer a must-stop on the trip north or south as roads are better, faster and the libramiento now bypasses it. Do some research as there are much better alternatives in town. Or in RdC.

All that said Mat is a nice unassuming town in the Altiplano once you’re accustomed to it.

[DML]

We visited there in April with our 14 year old daughter for part of the Semana Santa holidays. it was an all day affair to get there via bus: GTO -- Leon -- San Luis Potosi city -- matehuala __ Real de Catorce. But it was well worth it. We stayed for 4 days and explored the town at a leisurely pace. We did a jeep tour out into the desert and a horse ride to the nearby ghost town. We also wandered the picturesque town on foot. The city museum and cemetary should not be missed.

It was a nice place to kick back and relax. We also stayed at this lovely 3-room hotel which had lots of open public spaces to relax in so we never felt cooped up in our hotel room:

http://www.refugioromano.net/hotel/index.php/en/

[peddler665]

Wish to thank all for the great responses. Linda & I will be going sometime in February.
DML the hotel looks great!
Duck A most interesting article, however as you probably know I can hallucinate all on my own with no aid from outside stimulates. Smile!

[DonaldW]

I stopped there on my first ever "drive in" to Mexico (of course after hitting a DosXX brewery tour in Monterrey LOL). It was overwhelmingly impressive but that was actually my first silver mining city experience. (First times are hard to duplicate.)

I would now make the following observations/comments .... it's been long enough that I would enjoy going back... I was driving a Land Cruiser and many of the wires literally shook down out from under my dash due to the road and this has never happened before or since in the 270K miles of it .... I LOVED the horseback ride into the mountains and photo ops shot back down onto the city from above .... I have watched the really bad movie "The Mexican" several times (some of the locals are in it, including the hotel owner at Real) and I enjoy the movie just to see the city scenes in it, plus my girlfriend Julia of course .... the hotels I found started at around $85 US (double ouch) ..... didn't try the peyote but Tony from the Sopranos episode at least leaves a curiosity about it ... otherwise it's mostly what it's advertised to be, a dusty and plain looking brown building ghost town (of course with growing Gringo infrastructure).

The hills are near unmanageable on foot for a newbie but Guanajuato will be an excellent training ground for your city walk there. If you don't ride horses, you will miss half the fun. You can probably see the city in a day if you are limber, but lingering and chilling around is fun as well. If you have the budget for the expensive hotels there it's nice to fire up the pot belly stove in the crisp mornings if your hotel provides one. Note also it may be daunting to some if you stay in a hotel with a nice restaurant and are requested to order your dinner before noon, and you decide on the cabrito, and later while looking out your window you see the proprietor arrive early afternoon with a live baby goat tied in the back of his truck, knowing you are watching the beginning of your meal. But as Frank says - That's Life! You're ridin' high in April and shot down in May ... Enjoy the city - very unique.