Events & Entertainment
There is not a great deal of nightlife in Taxco, only a few restaurant/cantinas on the Plaza Borda offering live music late at night. The Hotel Monte disco has a disco open to all where most of the foreign visitors go. Cover is $7.
Town Vista
A short cable car ride up from Los Arcos (on the JFK highway) to the resort Monte Taxco. Open from 8 am to around 7 pm. Return by Taxi if you miss the last car. $3 for a roundtrip ticket. Tel. (762) 2-13-01.
Once on the hill, several outdoor activities are available like horseback rides ($2 for 20 min), pool swimming ($4), tennis and golfing.
There are also a few handicraft shops on the hill, and the Hotel Monte Taxco has a good all-you-can-eat buffet for breakfast ($12.00), lunch ($13.00), or dinner ($15.00), and a disco ($7 cover).
Archeological Excursions
Several nearby archeological sites are worth a visit.
Top of the list is the mountainside archeological site of Xochicalco. Located about 20 miles southwest of Cuernavaca, Xochicalco is an important Pre-Hispanic site, which played a major role during 700 to 900 AD, when it was an important commercial and religious center. Especially noteworthy are the well-preserved and intricately carved friezes decorating the Pyramid of the Plumed Serpents, Quetzalcoatl. Xochicalco is also notable for its fairly large ballcourts.
While there, drop by the museum of Xochicalco with several fascinating miniature models of pyramids depicting what the site was looking like at its peak. Also on display are original artifacts, intricate vessels, carved ballcourt markers.
Another worthwhile visit is the Caves of Cacahuamilpa, one of the world's greatest cavern complexes. Forests of stalagmites and stalactites festoon a serie of gigantic limestone chambers. Once there, you can hire guides for a two-hour tour of caves ($3.00), 10-5 daily; wear tennis shoes for the slippery paths. To get there, you can take a regular bas from the Líneas Unidas toward Ixtapan and Toluca that will let you off at the crossroads. $2. Then, you'll need to walk 1 km or take a combi "Las Grutas".
Malasia Tours, offers daily tours to the Cacahuamilpa Caves and the ruins of Xochicalco for $59, including transportation, ticket, and the services of a guide.
Plazuela San Juan 5, left of La Hamburguesa. Tel. ++52 (762) 622-7983 or 622-3808. 10am to 2pm and 4 to 7pm
Turismo Garlum, next to the Santa Prisca Church, offers similar services, plus daily tours to the Cacahuamilpa Caves. 10am to 2pm and 4 to 7pm. Tel. ++52 (762) 622-3021 or 622-3037.
Other Excursions
From Taxco, combis leave fro Ixcateopan de Cuauhtemoc, a tiny village built out of marble whose claim to fame is as the birthplace of Cuauhtemoc, the last Aztec emperor executed by Cortes. A massive sculpture of Cuauhtemoc stands outside the village, and a small museum inside the old church depicts the emperor's life and death. The museum contains copies of the codices in which the Aztecs described the coming of the Spanish. Ixcateopan is also famous for its local tortillas, based on a traditional Aztecs recipe.
Other possible daytrips include the Malinalco archeological sites, Ixtapan de la Sal, and Cuernavaca.
Museums
Museo Plateria
Taxco's silver museum, Museo Plateria, opened recently. It is located next door to Hotel Posada Los Castillo. This is the place to learn about silver-making and to see some classic pieces, including some of those by William Spratling, although more of these are on display - and some can be purchased - at Spratling's workshop.
Museo William Spratling
This museum is dedicated to William Spratling, the American who revived Taxco’s silver industry through superb craftsmanship. The entrance floor of this museum and the one above display a collection of pre-Columbian statues and implements in clay, stone, and jade. The lower floor has changing exhibits.
Tues-Sat 9am-6pm; Sun 9am-3pm. $4. Free on Sundays.
Calle Porfirio A. Delgado 1, downhill from the Zócalo. Tel. Tel. ++52 (762) 622-1660
Casa de la Cultura (Casa Borda)
On the Zócalo, opposite from the Santa Prisca Church, stands the former home of Silver baron José de la Borda, built around 1759, concurrently with the church and with the same architectural style. It now houses the Guerrero State Cultural Center, home to several exhibitions featuring local artists and ancient handicraft like carved woods, pre-Hispanic paintings, jade statuettes or Olmec ceramics
Casa Humboldt / Museo de Arte Virreinal
Also one block from the Zócalo is the richly decorated façade of the Humboldt House, where the renowned German scientist and explorer Baron Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) spent a night in 1803.
This small museum next door to the Museo Plateria boasts a permanent collection of colonial-era memorabilia, sculpture and paintings, including items from the famous Manila Galleons. Many artifacts on display came from a secret room discovered during the recent restoration of the Santa Prisca Church, among them two huge and very rare tumelos (three-tiered funerary paintings), decorated with the armory of Charles III of Spain.
Another section is devoted to historical information about Don Miguel Cabrera, Mexico's foremost 18th-century artist. Fine examples of clerical garments decorated with gold and silver thread hang in glass cases. A small room is devoted to Humboldt and his journeys throughout the continent.
Festivities
Taxco's Silver Fair starts the last week in November and continues through the first week in December. It includes a competition for silver works and sculptures among the top silversmiths. At the same time, Jornadas Alarconianas features plays and literary events in honor of Juan Ruíz de Alarcón (1572-1639), a world-famous dramatist born in Taxco. Art exhibits, street fairs, and other festivities also take place during the dual celebration.
January 18 marks the annual celebration in honor of Santa Prisca, the patroness of the church on the Zócalo. On the initial day, locals bring their pets to the church for blessing. The next day is marked by a dawn mass ("mananitas") with traditional dances and fireworks.
Religious fiesta in Taxco climax during the Easter Week (Semana Santa), one of the most animated in the country, starting on the last Friday before Easter with daily and nightly processions. The most riveting procession, on Thursday evening, lasts almost 4 hours and includes villagers from the surrounding area carrying statues of saints, followed by hooded members of a society of self-flagellating penitents, chained at the ankles and carrying huge wooden crosses and bundles of penetrating thorny branches. On Saturday morning, the Plaza Borda fills for the Procession of Three Falls, reenacting the three times Christ stumbled and fell while carrying the cross. More Info 
Spanish Classes
The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) offers Spanish and Art Classes. Located on the grounds of the Hacienda del Chorrillo, formerly part of the Cortez land grant, its curriculum includes silversmithing classes, Spanish, drawing, composition, and history. Classes are small, and courses generally last 3 months. The school provides a list of prospective town accommodations that consist primarily of hotels--more reasonable accommodations for a lengthy stay are available, but best arranged once you're there. At many locations all over town, you'll find notices of furnished apartments or rooms for rent
UNAM, Hacienda del Chorrillo, 40200 Taxco. Tel. 762 622 0124 or 762 622 3690.
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