Things to Do

San José del Cabo Art Walk: I'd Cross Town for It Once

By Cabo Wander

The San José Art Walk is 45 minutes to an hour from Cabo San Lucas at that time of day, and it's worth the trip. I'd cross town for it once, on a Thursday between November and June, with a dinner table I booked ahead.

The Art Walk is a street party that happens to have galleries along it. What I love is everything around the art. The main gallery street is closed to cars, there are lights and paper flags strung overhead, the plaza is full of stalls and kids and somebody playing music, and a good dinner is a block away. The art itself is a mixed bag. Some of it is serious work, and some of it is souvenirs in a nicer room.

So go for the evening and you'll have a great one. Go for a quiet look at paintings and you've picked the hardest night of the week to do it.

Where you're staying changes the math. From a hotel in San José it's a walk or a US$5 ride, and I'd go every Thursday you're in town. From Cabo San Lucas it's about US$70 in rides and about an hour and a half in a car, round trip, which is why I say once. The rest of the old town, and what it's like on the other six nights, is in my San José del Cabo guide.

When It Runs

Thursdays, roughly November through June, from about 5pm until about 9. It's free. There's no ticket and nothing to book except dinner.

The edges of that season are soft. The gallery owners who run it publish very little, and the first and last weeks can move from year to year. If your Thursday falls in early November or late June, check before you plan the night around it.

Holiday Thursdays are the other ones I can't confirm for you either way, especially around Christmas and New Year's. Look at the Gallery District's social pages that week, or ask your hotel to find out. I also can't tell you what happens if it rains, though it almost never does in those months.

From July through October the gallery night is off. How the rest of the trip changes by month is in the best time to visit Cabo.

How I'd Do the Evening

This is my running order for a winter Thursday, coming from Cabo San Lucas. If you're staying in San José, skip the first line and enjoy your extra hour.

• By about 4: leave Cabo San Lucas. Traffic into San José builds all evening, and the last stretch into the center crawls.
• Around 5: get dropped on the boulevard at or just south of Plaza Mijares, since Obregón is closed. Walk the last block in.
• 5 to 6: galleries first. This is the hour when there's room to stand in front of something and the owners have time to talk.
• 6 to 7: the lights come on and so does the squeeze. I leave the gallery street to the crowd and go back to the plaza for the stalls, a bag of churros and whoever is performing. One Thursday it was a kids' ballet class on the bandstand, with every parent in town filming it.
• Around 7: a beer in the garden at Baja Brewing.
• 7:30 or 8: dinner, at the table you booked.
• About 9: you come out to the galleries closing and the stalls folding up. Walk a block or two away from the closed street before you open the ride app.

From April on, I shift it later. It's still light and hot at 5, and the street doesn't really fill until 6:30 or 7, so I aim to start walking nearer 6. I still leave Cabo San Lucas by 4 because of the traffic, and I spend the extra time in the shade with that beer.

For the spring version, remember that a later walk means a later dinner, and some kitchens around here close not long after the galleries do. Check the closing time when you book, and don't take an 8:45 table at a place that shuts at 9:30.

The Galleries, Honestly

There are a dozen or so galleries, plus jewelers and craft shops, in the few blocks behind and beside the church. Three are worth going into on purpose.

Ivan Guaderrama, on Obregón, is the one that's fun whether or not the work is your taste. The paintings are bright and devotional, with a lot of angels, and you're told to put your hand on the canvas. It plays music. Everybody films it, me included. If you have kids with you, this is the gallery they'll talk about afterward.

Sillvermoon, right on the plaza near the church, is where I'd go for something to carry home in a tote bag. It sells Mexican folk art and jewelry, so there's pottery, Oaxacan woodcarving, beadwork and opals. Nobody leans on you to buy, the prices seemed fair to me, and the owner will resize a ring while you wait. It stays open a little later than the rest on Thursdays.

Frank Arnold, around the corner on Comonfort, is the best room in town. It's a house built as a gallery and studio, full of big abstract paintings and bronzes by one American artist. He's often sitting right there and happy to talk, and I've been handed a tequila on my way in. I'd confirm it's open the week you go.

The rest I'll describe more generally, because the lineup shifts. A few rooms hold serious contemporary Mexican painting and sculpture, priced the way serious work is priced. There's a bigger middle of pleasant, decorative paintings that would look nice over a sofa, along with some good folk art shops. And then there's the plaza, where the stalls sell craft, jewelry, photographs and jars of honey.

For a town this size, I think that's a fair mix. It's less than the words "Gallery District" promise if you live in a city that has one. The owners aren't pushy, and I've never felt any pressure to buy.

You'll read that every gallery pours free wine. Some pour something, and many don't. I've had Thursdays when a gallery handed me a plastic cup at the door and Thursdays when nobody did, so don't plan your drinks around it.

Buying Something

I go to look, and most of what I see people carrying out is jewelry and small things. If you do fall for something, here's the little I'd pass on.

• Galleries don't bargain. The price on the card is the price. At the stalls on the plaza there's a little room, and not a lot.
• Ask about shipping and tax before you fall for something big. The galleries can arrange packing, shipping and insurance. Get that quote in writing before you pay for the piece, ask whether the price includes tax, and keep the receipt.
• Ask who made it. Pieces sold as Huichol beadwork or Mata Ortiz pottery vary a lot in quality. I'd buy from a gallery that can tell you the maker's name, and I'd pass on anything from a tray that comes with no name at all.
• Bring pesos for the stalls. The galleries take cards. If the terminal offers to charge you in dollars, pick pesos.

I'm not going to give you a price range for the art, because I don't have one I trust.

If you're a serious buyer, use Thursday to see whose work you like and come back on a weekday morning. That's when you get the room and the owner to yourself.

Where to Eat and Drink

Dinner is half the reason to come, and on this one night you can't wing it. By 7 the good tables are gone, and I've watched people walk the boulevard reading menus and being offered 10pm. I book about a week ahead, and two weeks or more from Christmas through Easter.

These are the three I'd pick from:

• Don Sanchez. On the boulevard just south of the plaza, modern Mexican, and the best dinner you can walk to. It's the one I book for this night. Plan on US$100 to $150 a head.
• La Lupita Taco & Mezcal. Tacos, mezcal and a band in a courtyard, a block off Obregón. It's the fun one, at about US$30 to $50 a head, and the duck with mole is the taco to get. Without a booking the wait can be an hour on an Art Walk night. The kitchen closes earlier than the others, so take an early table here.
• Los Tres Gallos. Traditional Mexican in a courtyard with a trio playing, right on Obregón, so you step off the Art Walk and into your chair. I'd book it for where it is. The food has been really good for me on one visit and just okay on another, and the service can be slow.

What to order, and the rest of my list for this town, is in the best restaurants in San José del Cabo.

For a drink with no reservation, it's Baja Brewing, next door to La Lupita. It has a beer garden, pizza and live music, and it's open late. It's where I sit down when my feet have had enough.

There's also a small hotel in the center called Drift that advertises a Thursday night party with tacos, cocktails and live music, open to people who aren't staying there. I haven't been, so check that it's on.

And you can do the whole night for a few dollars. Get the churros first. They come out hot and crisp, and they're the best thing I've eaten standing up on that plaza. The tamale cart sets up there most evenings, at about 40 pesos a tamale, and it keeps its own hours. If you want a real meal for very little, walk fifteen minutes toward the highway to Taquería El Fogón for beef off the charcoal. Tacos there start around 40 pesos, it's cash only and it's open until about midnight. Nobody from the Art Walk is competing with you for a seat. It's in my list of the best tacos in Cabo.

A farm restaurant and the Art Walk don't fit into the same evening. They're ten or fifteen minutes and a dirt road apart, and they both want the same two hours, so pick one for the night. If you're trying to choose, I compare the farms in Flora Farms vs Acre vs Los Tamarindos.

Getting There and Back

Don't drive. Parking in the center on a Thursday is close to impossible, one of you would have to skip the wine, and it's 40 minutes home in the dark.

From Cabo San Lucas, take an Uber and leave by about 4. It's about 550 to 650 pesos, a little over thirty dollars, and at that hour I allow 45 minutes to an hour. Ask to be dropped at or just south of Plaza Mijares.

From the San José hotel zone, it's an Uber of about US$5 each way. Take it home too. I wouldn't walk back along the hotel road at 9:30.

From a Corridor resort, it's roughly US$15 to $30 by Uber from the middle of the highway. Check whether your hotel lets the car come to the lobby.

The bus between the towns won't help you much here. It stays out on the highway and doesn't come into the old town, and by the time dinner is over it has stopped for the night.

Think about the ride home before you sit down to eat. The whole charm of the evening is that cars can't get in, and that includes yours. So when you're ready, walk a block or more away from the closed street and request the car from there. When I've done that, it has reached me in a few minutes.

If you're going back to Cabo San Lucas, don't leave it too late. I've gotten an Uber home at 10 with no trouble. Past that I wouldn't count on one for a 40-minute ride to the other town, so have a sure thing as well. That's a taxi at a price you agreed on first, which usually opens at US$50 to $70, or a driver your hotel set up.

If there are four to six of you, look at a driver who waits. It's about US$275 to $300 for four hours in a Suburban, which is around US$50 a head for six, door to door, with nobody hunting for a car at 9:30. For two people it costs far more than Ubers do. All of that is compared in getting around Cabo.

You'll also see packaged Art Walk tours, with a guide and transportation. It's a free street event that needs no guide, and I wouldn't pay for one.

For two people from Cabo San Lucas, the rides come to about US$65 to $75 round trip by Uber and US$100 to $140 by taxi. Where that sits in a whole trip's budget is in how much Cabo costs.

With Kids, in the Heat, on Cobblestones

Kids. This is a good one for them. The street is closed, it's well lit, there are churros and ice cream and performers, and the plaza gives them room to run. I'd go from 5 to about 7:30 and eat from the stalls, then leave before the tightest part of the crowd.

Strollers. The gallery streets are cobbled and the sidewalks are narrow, with curbs. It's doable early. By 7, a carrier is easier.

Limited mobility. The closed street is flat and manageable if you go early and take it slowly, cobbles and all. The galleries vary, and I can't promise you a ramp at any of them. The area is only a couple of blocks each way on a map. It feels bigger than that in a crowd, so use the benches on the plaza for breaks.

Heat. In May and June the highs are around 90°F and the first hour is in full sun. Start nearer 6 and book a later table, because the open-air restaurants stay warm.

Cold. From December to February the evenings drop into the high 50s and low 60s. Bring a layer for the plaza.

And wear flat shoes with some grip. Leave the heels at the hotel.

If It's Not a Thursday, or It's Summer

On any other evening from November to June, you get the same streets with cars on Obregón and no stalls to speak of. The galleries keep shop hours, and a lot of them are closed by 6 or 7. So it's dinner and the plaza, with a look into whichever doors are open. I still think that's a lovely evening, just without the party.

From July through October the gallery night doesn't happen. An artists' market does set up on the plaza on Thursdays through more of the year, so there may still be stalls and painters when you get there. I can't tell you how big it will be, and I wouldn't cross town for it. If you're already in San José, go after dark for dinner, keep your expectations low for the rest, and check your restaurant is open that week.

If your trip doesn't have a Thursday on a full day, let it go without guilt. It only works for some arrival days, and I've laid out which ones in my 5-day Cabo itinerary.

The Catch

The thing in the name is the least of it. If you came for the art, you'll find a few rooms you respect and a LOT of things you'd walk past at home.

It's crowded, too. Between 6 and 7 the gallery street is shoulder to shoulder, and that's when you'd want to slow down and look. The road into town is jammed, the restaurants are full, and nine o'clock is a hard stop. The street music is hit and miss. I've stood through a mariachi I enjoyed and a saxophone I really didn't.

The gallery street is built for visitors, and nearly everyone browsing it is on vacation. The plaza is where the town is, with local families on the benches and school dance groups on the bandstand. I like that half better.

And from Cabo San Lucas, a free evening costs about seventy dollars in rides.

The Verdict

Go once, on a Thursday between November and June, for the street, the plaza and a dinner you booked ahead. Treat the galleries as a nice walk with a few good rooms in it. Done that way it's my favorite evening in Los Cabos, and it's number four on my whole list of things to do in Cabo.

Here's who I'd send:

• You're staying in San José: go, and go again the next week if you're still here.
• Couples in Cabo San Lucas or on the Corridor for five nights or more: once, with dinner booked.
• Families: early, 5 to 7:30, with dinner from the stalls.
• Under-thirties: go, be done by 9, and head back to San Lucas for the rest of the night. Where that happens is in my Cabo San Lucas guide.

And who I'd send somewhere else:

• Serious art buyers: a weekday morning.
• People who hate crowds: the same streets on any other evening.
• Three or four nights in Cabo San Lucas with no Thursday on a full day: skip it.
• July to October visitors: it isn't on. Come over for dinner if you're nearby.

If an evening like this sounds like the best part of your trip, that's a real argument for sleeping in San José, where it's outside your door. I weigh the two towns in Cabo San Lucas vs San José del Cabo, and go area by area in where to stay in Cabo.

I go back every time I'm in San José on a Thursday. From the other town, I've done it, I loved it, and I don't make the ride twice in one trip.

The short version: Art Walk, Thursdays, Nov to June, check it's on if it's a holiday week. Uber from San Lucas by 4, don't drive. Galleries first, then the plaza when it gets packed. Churros. Don't count on free wine. Dinner booked a week out, 7:30. Walk a block off the closed street before you call the ride, and be in the car by 10... it's a street party with some art on it, and that's why it's good.

Quick Answers

When is the San José del Cabo Art Walk? Thursday evenings, roughly November through June, from about 5pm until about 9. It's free. The first and last weeks of the season can move, and holiday Thursdays aren't a sure thing, so check that week.

Is the Art Walk on in summer? No. From July through October the gallery night is off. There may still be artists' stalls on the plaza on a Thursday, and the old town is a nice place for dinner after dark.

Is it worth going from Cabo San Lucas? Once, yes, with a dinner reservation. It's 45 minutes to an hour on the way over and about 550 to 650 pesos by Uber each way. I wouldn't go for the art alone.

Is the wine at the galleries really free? At some galleries, some nights, in a small cup. Many don't pour anything, so plan on buying your drinks.

How do I get back afterward? By Uber, requested from a block or more outside the closed street. If you're headed to Cabo San Lucas, leave by about 10 and have a taxi or a booked driver as a backup.