# Leon, Morelia, and Tepic



## trinnyman (Jan 30, 2015)

I am from Trinidad and Tobago and I want to come and spend some time in Mexico. I have three cities in mind actually. Leon; Morelia; Tepic. Which one of these cities would be the most interesting in the area of the actual beauty of the city, and the security situation at this time? Also, which one of these cities has the most friendly and open residents? That for me is important. Last time I was in Mexico 7 years ago, in monterry, it was not so nice. So nice for your answer.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

trinnyman said:


> I am from Trinidad and Tobago and I want to come and spend some time in Mexico. I have three cities in mind actually. Leon; Morelia; Tepic. Which one of these cities would be the most interesting in the area of the actual beauty of the city, and the security situation at this time? Also, which one of these cities has the most friendly and open residents? That for me is important. Last time I was in Mexico 7 years ago, in monterry, it was not so nice. So nice for your answer.


Curious choice of cities, and similar to another thread started recently asking about Morelia and Leon. Why these three? 

Morelia is the most attractive. Leon is famous for its leatherworks and not much else. Tepic is closest to the coast, maybe an hour and a half from San Blas, a popular surfing spot I have heard.

I think all of them will have friendly and open residents. Every place I have been in Mexico has that.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

TundraGreen said:


> ...
> 
> I think all of them will have friendly and open residents. Every place I have been in Mexico has that.


Have you ever spent time in Monterrey? That's where the OP didn't find friendly. open people.


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

Monterrey has friendly people, depending on who you are
Being a Chilango, sometimes I find not so nice welcomes within my own Country

Regios, as they call themselves, might have some attitude sometimes


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## trinnyman (Jan 30, 2015)

TundraGreen said:


> Curious choice of cities, and similar to another thread started recently asking about Morelia and Leon. Why these three?
> 
> Morelia is the most attractive. Leon is famous for its leatherworks and not much else. Tepic is closest to the coast, maybe an hour and a half from San Blas, a popular surfing spot I have heard.
> 
> I think all of them will have friendly and open residents. Every place I have been in Mexico has that.


Good reply. Why would you feel that Morelia is the most attractive? is it attractive for the city being beautiful? is it attractive for the friendliness of the people more than the other towns? what about the security problems in both morelia and the wider michoacan?


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

A friendly city is a silly thing to look for. It all depends on the people you will meet and on your personality. 
Being near nice places does not make a city nice, why not more to the nice places instead of a place tha is near nice places..
If Guanajuato is a nice place move to Guanajuato not Leon because it is near.

I do not care for any of the cities you mentioned so I would not moved to any of the 3 but everyone is different.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

trinnyman said:


> Good reply. Why would you feel that Morelia is the most attractive? is it attractive for the city being beautiful? is it attractive for the friendliness of the people more than the other towns? what about the security problems in both morelia and the wider michoacan?


Morelia is attractive in that it has a traditional center with a cathedral built 350 years ago. The other two are more modern cities.

I can't comment on the security of Morelia or Michoacan in general. I visited both several years ago, before the current problems started. However, I have visited lots of other so-called hot spots (Ciudad Juarez, Sinaloa, the golden triangle) without incident. 600,000 people live in Morelia, most without any issues, I suspect.

As far as friendly people, my experience is that, in general, Mexicans are more outgoing toward strangers than people in other countries I have visited. I can compare it to the US, Eastern and Western Europe and lots of Asia. I haven't noticed that it varies much across Mexico. I have been to about three-quarters of the Mexican States and have not seen much difference in friendliness. I have never been to Monterrey.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Note: The name of this thread was changed to make it a little more informative.


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## coondawg (May 1, 2014)

trinnyman said:


> I am from Trinidad and Tobago and I want to come and spend some time in Mexico. I have three cities in mind actually. Leon; Morelia; Tepic. Which one of these cities would be the most interesting in the area of the actual beauty of the city, and the security situation at this time? Also, which one of these cities has the most friendly and open residents? That for me is important. Last time I was in Mexico 7 years ago, in monterry, it was not so nice. So nice for your answer.


I think of those 3, Morelia is the prettiest. The most secure is probably Leon (but secure is a relative term), and Tepic may be the friendliest (surfing, younger crowd). I would be VERY interested in hearing your reasons (please be specific) why Monterrey was not "so nice". What EXACTLY happened that gave you a "bad" impression. If you will respond in detail, people here can help you. Please do not be so vague. TIA.


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

Morelia


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

yes that is the center, different story in the neighborhoods outside of the center. Morelia has awful traffice and I have never fallen in love with any neighborhodd outside of the center.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

citlali said:


> yes that is the center, different story in the neighborhoods outside of the center. Morelia has awful traffice and I have never fallen in love with any neighborhodd outside of the center.


A few years ago I spent a few days in Morelia and had a lovely time, but all of it was spent in the historic center. I have no idea what the rest of the city is like.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

I lokk into the various areas of the cities. The area the hotel Montana seems nice enough but I was not impressed with the various neighbrhood we looed at. I like Guadalajara a whole lot more when it comes to living in nice aras or in the center for that manor. It has much more diverse areas.


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## Anonimo (Apr 8, 2012)

Morelia is 35 or so miles from where we live. The city is, indeed often traffic jammed, especially in Centro.. There are frequent demonstrations that disrupt traffic and commerce. The historic center is very attractive. The area of Centro along Avenida Madero is reminiscent of a central or western Spanish city.

Morelia has better restaurants, theaters, concerts, art galleries and show and outstanding medical facilities.. On the peripheral roads are modern shopping plazas with stores like Wal Mart, Sam's Club, Home Depot, and Costco. 

The north side of the city, especially along the northern peripheral highway (now under reconstruction changing it into a high volume viaduct) tends toward sleazy "nihgth" clubs and motels renting rooms for short stays. It's not an attractive area overall. But there are some unattractive neighborhoods with the city as well. (I'm not implying that they are dangerous.) The intercity bus station is on the north side. The MLM Airport is over 25 miles northeast near the town of Álvaro Obregón.

We have a good friend who lives up on the ridge to the south in Colonia Sta. María de guido. That's an attractive area in which several old time, upscale hotels such as the Villa Montana are located. East of Sta. María is the new, modern development of Altozano, The Paseo Altozano shopping mall is very large, and oddly attractive in an alien sort of way.

Some expats I know live in the Centro and love it. Traffic jams and demonstrations 
Are no obstacle to them. They just walk around the blockages. For those of us with vehicles, it's another story. When my wife and I drive to Morelia we try to avoid driving in Centro. One ploy is to park our vehicle on the outskirts, like at Wal-Mart Plaza La Huerta or more often at Costco, and take an inexpensive taxi.

The southern peripheral street, Av. Camelinas is relatively attractive. For us, it's our main arterial street. It also has traffic problems at peak hours, but it's not as severe as in Centro.

So in conclusion, Morelia can't be defined by the Historic Center alone. It has diverse neighborhoods, some attractive, others unattractive. We prefer to live in tranquility, with fresh air and open spaces in the countryside between Pátzcuaro and Tzintzuntzan. We go to Morelia to shop, about medical matters, better dining, and visiting friends. It can be quite pleasant, but nevertheless, we are always glad to leave it and get home.

Here are some Morelia scenes photos taken in 2011.


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## HolyMole (Jan 3, 2009)

trinnyman said:


> I am from Trinidad and Tobago and I want to come and spend some time in Mexico. I have three cities in mind actually. Leon; Morelia; Tepic. Which one of these cities would be the most interesting in the area of the actual beauty of the city, and the security situation at this time? Also, which one of these cities has the most friendly and open residents? That for me is important. Last time I was in Mexico 7 years ago, in monterry, it was not so nice. So nice for your answer.


Haven't been to Leon, and have only spent time in Centro/zocalo areas of Tepic and Morelia, but these two latter cities seemed very different from each other. We found Tepic to be rather unattractive, while Morelia has a classically beautiful Centro/zocalo area. Another major consideration is that Morelia's population is double Tepic's. Weather would also be quite different, with Tepic at 900 meters elevation and close enough to the coast for some humidity, while Morelia, at 1900 meters elevation, has much cooler nights and less humidity.
As for security, I doubt there's a major city or town in Mexico that has not experienced at least some of the problems plaguing the country. Michoacan (and Guerrero) are in the news now, but Nayarit has had their share as well.


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