• Mexico
• Guanajuato
• Merida
• Playa del Carmen
• Puerto Vallarta
• Oaxaca

"Guanajuato is the ideal spot in Mexico to study Spanish, being a small and quiet university city (comparable to Granada and Salamanca in Spain) and far from the tourist cities (such as Cancún or Cuernavaca). Declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO, you will be charmed by its wealth in architecture and culture. The international airport, less than half an hour away, provides the city with excellent connections with all the other cities in Mexico and with the rest of the world. As regards your personal safety, please do not worry. Guanajuato is 99,9% safe!" PEDRO RODRÍGUEZ Head of Studies, don Quijote Guanajuato

Our School

don Quijote Guanajuato operates in full co-ordination with the other schools in terms of courses, teaching methods, accommodation and services.

This means you have further options to combine your studies in different cities. Obviously, this school is also located in the city centre. The school has 15 classrooms, student's office, multimedia classroom, and patio!

In class

The courtyard

The School

Guanajuato (1990 pop. 113,580). Capital of the Guanajuato State, with an altitude of 6,583 ft (2,008 m), is a historical and picturesque town of agreeable little plazas, streets lined with stairs and houses of pastel-coloured facades and balconies trimmed with iron work, and flower-filled window boxes. Guanajuato is located about a five-hour drive northwest of Mexico City. The town is a maze of cobblestone streets and alleys that wind around steep hillsides upon a small ravine, opening into vistas of beautiful churches and small plazas. Most of these passageways are largely pedestrians only, since modern traffic circumvents the narrow streets underground, in massive stone tunnels and upon the riverbed, past the basements of the core city. During centuries, a major mining centre, its mines pouring out silver for the Spanish crown, now a government seat and college town. Since 1988, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Guanajuato has no traffic lights or neon signs, creating an extremely enjoyable place to walk, peaceful, yet with plenty of life in the streets, and plenty to see.

Spanish Courses in Guanajuato

• Intensive and Super intensive Spanish
• One to One
• Spanish for life
• Premium Spanish classes
• Spanish talk
• DELE preparation course
• Volunteer programs
• Cooking course
• Course for teachers of Spanish
• Medical Spanish
• Christmas course
• Study groups

Fiestas and celebrations in Guanajuato

- Festival Cervantino, a major international art fiesta on the streets and theatres in October (4th to 22nd in 2006). This festival is named after Miguel de Cervantes, author of "Don Quixote," whose plays are performed by college students on a small and picturesque plaza.

- Hot Air Balloon Festival, runs in November.

- Alfenique Fair, Fair that takes place the last days of October until November 1st and 2nd, at San Fernando Square. Many vendors roam the streets with almond candies in a variety of shapes, and traditional skulls labelled on foreheads with proper names. Prizes given to best works.

- The Festival de la Presa marks the start of the rainy season, and it officially begins on June 24th.

Other Fiestas

No nation on earth is quite as good at enjoying itself as Spain. There are so many fiestas that even if you could attend more than one a day you would not be able to see them all.

Reasons to study Spanish in Guanajuato

THE CITY:
• The city of Guanajuato is the state capital and is one of the most important historical and cultural colonial cities in Mexico.
• Guanajuato is located in the central part of Mexico, south of the high Mexican plateau.
• In 1988, the UNESCO declared Guanajuato and the surrounding silver mines a “World Heritage Site”.
• The state possesses an international airport, 40 kilometres from the city centre.

CULTURAL/RECREATIONAL:
• Although a small city, Guanajuato has a great deal to offer: from the beautiful colonial buildings to modern museums, from the silver mines to the university.
• Guanajuato astonishes the visitor with the charm of its relaxed atmosphere. Its paved streets and picturesque squares.
• The Festival International Cervantino, or FIC, is a very prestigious and famous festival of culture, music, theatre and dance. It is held annually from the 15th of October to the 2nd of November and attracts intellectuals, artists and tourists from all over the world.
• The famous Underground Street, officially known as Calle Miguel Hidalgo has an amazing charm. Following the course of the old Guanajuato River, it runs nearly 3 kilometres beneath the city.
• Practically the entire state of Guanajuato has a pleasant climate with temperatures between 12ºC and 24º C.

CRITICAL COMMENT:
• The majority of flights to the airport at Guanajuato stop first at Ciudad de Mexico.