17 Great Things to Do with Kids in Guadalajara, Mexico
Playgrounds, parks, & attractions that children adore across Mexico’s second city
One of our favorite things about Mexican culture is their adoration of little people - kids are universally loved and welcomed, with none of the uppity expectations for silence, stillness, and compliance were used to from our European heritage cultures.
As such, Guadalajara (or “GDL”) has an almost infinite number of places kids love - they’re just a little harder to find if you’re not a local (and especially without Spanish) as many of them aren’t advertised as well as one might see in the US. Luckily, we’ve been doing our homework for more than a year now and wanted to share our favorite play and adventures spots, hopefully helping other GDL-bound grown ups (and their littles) in future!
This article covers indoor and outdoor playgrounds, parks, and attractions including the zoo, aquariums, and children museum. Most of the links below lead to Google Maps pages for ease of planning.
Using the Map
Yellow - attractions kids adore (think: zoo, amusement parks, aquariums)
Blue - parks and playgrounds for good weather days (which is most of the time in GDL!)
Purple - indoor play places for sweltering or rainy days (or when parents need to remotely work on their wifi!)
Clicking the “box corners” icon in the upper right corner of the map will take you to the full screen version in Google Maps (and is compatible with the Google Maps app on your phone)!
Great Parks & Playgrounds
These are all free-entry public parks, or playgrounds at shopping malls that are open to all:
Parque de las Ninas y los Ninos (Zapopan) - truly worth a visit, with 7 separate huge play structures, singing fountains, a skate park, in-ground foosball set-ups, and many other cool things + free activities all geared specifically for kids. Take bikes, skateboards, roller skates, soccer &/or basketballs, and even a swimsuit - there is enough to do to stay all day.
Área Recreativa Estación Zapopan Centro (Zapopan) - two cute playgrounds tucked under the Zapopan metro station; a nice and easy addition to a walk through Zapopan Centro - see our post here.
Centro Deportivo Enrique Ladron de Guevara (Providencia) - a nice shady neighborhood park in Providencia. Often there is a station set up for children to paint (for a small fee)
Bosque los Colomos (Providencia) - A HUGE park in the middle of the city. The Japanese Garden is a big hit, as are the little kiosks outside where you can buy ceramic or wooden figurines for the kids to paint. You can also go horseback riding through the park - there are ponies and horses of all sizes, and the caballeros will lead ponies for less experienced riders. Bring cash + a carrot to reward your trusty equine friend! We bring bike helmets for our kids to wear.
Parque Mirador Independencia (northern GDL) overlooks the canyon (“barranca”) at the north of the city; don’t miss going all the way back and down past the “amphitheater” into the park for the best views (and photos!)
Modern mall playgrounds - some of the fancier malls have great play structures within them (what a great idea, for kids and parents!):
Andares: 3 different outdoor playgrounds set up in the middle of the main mall (as well as some other interesting points like a maze of mirrors and fish ponds)
Landmark: an awesome, huge outdoor play structure that’s especially good for bigger kids, with a lovely view over the city. Its on the top (4th) floor.
FYI: Parque Metropolitano often features on recommendation lists; we don’t recommend it over those above because its dusty and the play structures are old (and hot), even in rainy season.
Our Favorite Indoor Play Places
These are especially awesome for:
Rainy or boiling hot days (Mum calls March-June in Guadalajara “Oven Season”…).
When you need to work remotely from a spot with wifi while the kids are kept busy, like on school holidays.
Dropping the kids somewhere fun and supervised so you can grocery (or otherwise) shop in peace!
Just Jump
Climbing structures, trampolines + (location dependent) elevated obstacle course, bouncy castle/bouncehouse, and/or bumper cars. Locations:
Land4Fun
Climbing structures, trampolines, and (at least at Gallerias) a “princess” dress up and make-up zone. Locations:
Gallerias Mall (Northwestern GDL, near Zapopan)
Valle Real (Northwestern GDL, near Zapopan)
Plaza Independencia Mall (Northern GDL, near the GDL Zoo!)
Tonala (Western GDL, near Tlaquepaque)
Climbing structure + trampolines. Locations:
Landmark Mall (Northwestern GDL, near Zapopan): probably the largest (and fanciest/most expensive) but worth it if you’re looking to keep kids busy for hours. {Don’t miss the playground on the top floor of the Mall if you’re there!}
A different chain of play places paired with a CHAI cafe. Its awesome to get a wonderful cappuccino (or meal) delivered while your munchkins have a blast. You pay by the hour here. Locations:
Tlaquepaque - in Forum Tlaquepaque mall
General Tips on Indoor Play Places:
All require socks to play, and sell them onsite - Land4fun accepts plain socks; JustJump insists on their grippy/sticky socks; Kido Kids will accept any grippy socks. You can buy them there if you didn’t bring any!
You will need to register your kids if its your first time at that particular chain, but its quick and the staff will do their best to help you!
Prices vary depending on the location and how much time (from 30 mins to an all day pass) you are buying.
All have adults supervising the kids at play, and at least a little shop inside where you can buy snacks and drinks. Some of them allow the kids and adults to come and go, some only allow adults to leave and return on the same pass. Some require that at least one adult stays on the premises with their kids (Kido Kids); some let you leave your kids there if you need to run an errand (Land4Fun).
Kido and Just Jump have free wi-fi for clients. All except Mockocity have protected spaces dedicated to really little ones (babies and toddlers).
FYI: Kidzania was recommended to us but we found our kids could not do most of the activities without being fluent in Spanish. It is expensive and there aren’t many activities for littler kids (our youngest kid was 5).
Awesome Attractions for the Whole Family
Guadalajara Zoo (Zoologico Guadalajara)
Hands down the best zoo we have ever been to, and we go back regularly. Its huge - we dare you to try see everything in a day! There’s an aquarium, round-the-park train, cable car (“teleferico), and a safari truck ride - and much more. The ticket choices vary considerably depending on what you want to do. Children under 4 enter for free. Each little kid must be accompanied by an adult on the teleferico, so take that into account as you choose your tickets!
You’ll only be able to get off the train and/or teleferico once, so its up to you if you want to do the full loop or if you want to get off at a station. The northern end of the Zoo borders the Barranca (canyon, mentioned above) - we recommend eating lunch at the cafe at the end of the train loop/cable car to enjoy the wonderful view! If you’re doing the Safari (its really great), go there first - the line gets longer as the day progresses.
In case you’re curious/need a way to decide what to see, our favorite things to see/do are:
Near the top of the zoo (by the entrance):
Aquarium - the kids adore putting their hands in the “nibble fish” pool; feeding the koi and the manatees; and the Finding Nemo tank.
Penguins - “penguinos” may be Mum’s favorite Spanish word, and watching them zoom around like tiny submarines underwater is so cool.
Lemurs - they are the naughtiest, so watching the zookeepers try to keep them in line is amazing!
Cable car (teleferico) and train - show me kids who wouldn’t love this! You get new & different views of the various enclosures (and this is usually the best way to see the bear!)
Near the middle of the zoo:
Safari trip - other than the odd squirrel and bamboo grove, a pretty authentic-feeling African safari (especially in Mexico’s heartland!) with buck, zebra, crocodiles, hippos, rhinos, elephants, lions, and more
Meerkats, wolves, bears
Large pyramid-shaped bird aviaries - especially the parrot who says “hola!”
(Train can be caught here too)
Near the bottom of the zoo (by the canyon):
Tigers, lions
Feeding the giraffes
(Train and teleferico can be caught from here too)
FYI Selva Magica is an amusement park right next door to the zoo (it shares the same parking lot). Many people like it, but we didn’t enjoy it much and were a little worried about ride maintenance, so we don’t recommend it.
JAPI (Jalisco Paseo Interactivo): GDL’s Children’s Museum
Pronounced in Spanish as “happy”, this children’s center was formerly called Trompo Magico and was renamed after its lengthy but now complete renovation in celebration of Jalisco' state’s 201st independence anniversary. JAPI has 4 immersive spaces celebrating Jalisco’s natural beauty, rich history, vibrant art, and sports heritage. There is also a specific protected zone for very little ones. The nature space has an immersive cloud forest where visitors can interactively identify plants and animals, plant virtual seeds, and hop across virtual flower paths and streams. The sports space introduces sports heroes from Jalisco and transforms into a training arena where visitors can play soccer, basketball, or boxing. The historical space includes a virtual boat ride on Lake Chapala, Mexico’s largest lake (which we cover in our Guadalajara Day Trips post here!) with a narrative history retelling. In the art space, visitors can create and scan their own artwork, contributing to unique daily masterpieces.
We were a bit concerned that JAPI would be entirely screens and so held off going for a while, but we were really impressed by the wide array of tech-enabled and just normal awesome activities they have - our kids loved it and ask to go back all the time. It is also very affordable.
Fun Mountain
Located (brilliantly) on the top of a shopping mall in southwest Guadalajara, Fun Mountain is an affordable all day theme park including 3 playgrounds, go karts, mini-golf, a kids train ride, a mechanical bull, and more. There are magnificent views of the city, and parking at the mall is free. You buy “points” for Fun Mountain with your entry ticket and then most of the attractions cost points (not the playgrounds … which honestly are cool enough that just paying entry for use of them for a few hours is also well worth it), which they mark with punches on your ticket. For context we bought a 100-point pass for $MXN 800 (~$USD 40) and the 5 of us spent 4 hours there. We definitely advise that you bring hats and/or sunscreen as, being on a roof, there is a lot of sun.
FYI: In the same mall as Fun Mountain is a nice and very affordable bowling alley, Bolerama Bugambilias, which was only about $USD 3 per person for 2 rounds and is connected to and serviced by a tasty restaurant, Mockers, serving American and Italian food.
Michin Aquarium (Acuario Michin)
Acuario Michin is located in Centro GDL, unlike many of the places I have highlighted in this post. Organized into sections representing Mexico’s varied ecosystems, it also has a non-aquarium outdoor section with 2 great playground structures, a cafeteria, and a number of animals you can buy special tickets to interact with including lemurs (one of Mum’s favorite animals - and honestly so much fun!), capibaras, goats, birds, and more.
Michin is more expensive than the Zoo (above), and other than the lemur interaction opportunity, we wouldn’t necessarily recommend it over the aquarium at the Zoo - we’d already been to the zoo so many times that we decided to give it a go. Michin also has a sort of entertainment zone you hit on the way out which includes a kids trampoline/obstacle area, BB gun target shooting, axe throwing, and bubble zone - definitely not what we’d expect from an aquarium but interesting no less!
Lastly, a note that it seems they are building a Nuevo (New) Michin here; as of Nov., 2024, I’m not yet sure if they’re moving or opening a second location but please do check their website before you go.
Sealand Aquarium Guadalajara
Writing this all up has made me realize that GDL has more aquariums than I’d expect for a non-coastal city! Sealand opened in Guadalajara in 2022 with a different take on the aquarium experience focused on themed immersion and storytelling. Visitors become crew of the submarine “Sealand” to explore distinct and mysterious habitats: the seabed of the Bermuda Triangle, Easter Island, the Amazon’s City of Z, and Antarctica. The aquarium boasts 10,000 animals comprising 60 different species and other attractions including slides, bridges, snow play, and virtual reality activities. The different ticket levels (and what is included) are explained here.
Other posts you may enjoy & helpful resources for families visiting Guadalajara:
For the top cultural and historic spots for visitors to Guadalajara, with routes kids can enjoy, see our post here!
For restaurants in Guadalajara that kids love with play places and/or acitivities so grown ups can enjoy a relaxing meal and conversation, go here!
Interested in venturing a little further afield? Our post about great family day trips & activities within about an hour’s drive from Guadalajara is here!
For variable and seasonal events in GDL, go to This Week in Guadalajara (TWIG).