Pátzcuaro boasts some particularly stately colonial architecture, but the  town's major claim to fame is its candlelit Day of the Dead celebrations  on November 2. The local Purépechas' celebrations have an especially magical  quality and notably pre-Hispanic undertones. Graveyards are lit with candles, decorated with altars of marigolds and filled with traditional dancers and musicians.

Pátzcuaro has a handsome core of lovely colonial buildings, churches and fine  plazas, its streets climbing steeply to Our Lady of Good Health in the east of town. Plaza Vasco de Quiroga, the city's beautifully proportioned main plaza, is one of the loveliest in Mexico, flanked by trees and arcaded 17th-century mansions. Several mansions are devoted to the display and sale of the region's notable handicrafts, including copperware , straw goods, musical instruments, gold-leaf lacquer ware, hand-painted ceramics and lace. The town's market is also a good place to pick up local crafts and textiles.

Pátzcuaro is a five-hour bus trip west of Mexico City in the western central highlands. It lies 3.5km (2mi) from the southeast shore of neighboring Lago de Pátzcuaro, which is ringed by traditional artisans' villages and has four  island communities. Isla Janitzio in particular comes alive (so to speak) with its famous Día de los Muertos parade of decorated canoes.