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    Santa Muerte figures and ritual items for sale at the Mercado de Sonora in Mexico City

    Photo by Maurice Marcellin, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Mercado de Sonora

    Landmark Venustiano Carranza, Ciudad de México Municipality of Venustiano Carranza Valley of Mexico

    The 'witches' market' by La Merced: aisles of medicinal herbs, love candles, Santa Muerte figures, piñatas and clay pots.

    From Toluca: 1 h 5 min by car (66 km by road) How to get there ↓

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    How to get to Mercado de Sonora

    • From Toluca: about 1 h 5 min by road (~66 km)
    • Nearest airport: Mexico City (Felipe Ángeles) (NLU), 48 min by car to Tepotzotlán
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    Route, map and directions ↓

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    About Mercado de Sonora

    The Mercado de Sonora is a city-run public market just south-east of the Centro Histórico, in the Merced Balbuena neighbourhood, a few blocks from La Merced. It opened on 23 September 1957 as part of a wave of new public markets meant to bring order to street trading. It was first called Merced Baños, after the toilets and showers it offered vendors, and took its present name from a nearby cinema that has since disappeared. Its roughly 10,000 square metres are split between a large metal-framed main hall and a smaller annex, with more than 400 stalls grouped by trade.

    What made it famous are the aisles at the back of the main hall devoted to medicinal plants and the occult. Here herbalists sell bundles of dried leaves and flowers for every ailment alongside the stranger stuff: dried rattlesnake, skunk and starfish, ocote crosses, garlic garlands and ojo de venado seeds against the evil eye. The same stalls stock candles in colours with precise meanings, powders, soaps and lotions for love spells with names like 'ven a mí', plus figures of Santa Muerte and San Judas Tadeo, and some offer tarot readings and limpias (cleansings). It is one of the city's centres for Santería and Santa Muerte devotion, and thousands come each weekend for this section alone.

    The rest of the market is a lesson in everyday Mexico City: stalls of glazed pottery, much of it from Guanajuato, traditional toys, costumes, party supplies and piñatas. Around 2 November the aisles fill with sugar skulls, papel picado and skeletons for Day of the Dead, and the workshops of the Linares family of cartonería makers, whose ancestor Pedro Linares invented the alebrije, are just behind the market. A live-animal section has long drawn police raids over the sale of protected species. Vendors celebrate the market's anniversary every 23 September with a Mass and a party. Look at the religious items with respect: for many buyers they carry real meaning.

    How to get to Mercado de Sonora

    Drive from Toluca: 1 h 5 min, 66 km

    The market is at Fray Servando Teresa de Mier 419, Merced Balbuena. The nearest Metro is Merced on Line 1 (pink), about 330 m away: walk south along Anillo de Circunvalación and cross the busy Fray Servando avenue with care. Fray Servando station on Line 4 is about 460 m away. Taxis and ride-hail apps can drop you at the door, but traffic around the market is heavy.

    Directions to Mercado de Sonora on Google Maps

    Distances are in a straight line; the road is usually longer.

    Where to stay Hotels in Mercado de Sonora Compare hotels, posadas and guest houses in Mercado de Sonora. See prices →

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    From the nearest cities to Mercado de Sonora

    Drive times by road from OpenStreetMap, without traffic or stops. Times marked ~ are estimated from the straight-line distance.

    Before you go to Mercado de Sonora: hours, prices and tips

    Hours
    Monday to Saturday 9 am to 6 pm; Sunday 9 am to 5 pm. Tus Buenas Noticias · checked Oct 2026
    Best time of day
    Weekday mornings are calmest; Fridays and Sundays are the busiest days. Tus Buenas Noticias · checked Oct 2026
    Best season
    Late October is the time for Day of the Dead goods: sugar skulls, papel picado and skeletons. Vendors celebrate the market's anniversary every 23 September with a Mass and a party. Excélsior · checked Oct 2026
    Rules
    Be respectful around the religious and ritual items, which carry real meaning for the people who buy them. Tus Buenas Noticias · checked Oct 2026

    Hours and prices change, especially around holidays. Each fact links to where we checked it.

    Visiting Mercado de Sonora: what to see and do

    Explore the herbalists' and esoteric aisles at the back of the main hall.
    Look over the coloured candles, love lotions, amulets and Santa Muerte figures.
    Ask an herbalist what a remedy is for, or sit for a limpia or tarot reading.
    Browse the glazed pottery, traditional toys and piñata stalls.
    Come in late October for sugar skulls, papel picado and Day of the Dead skeletons.
    Walk over to La Merced for a market lunch.

    Plan your trip

    Places to stay in Mercado de Sonora

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    Tours & activities

    Look for tours of the area around Tepotzotlán that stop at Mercado de Sonora.

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    Rental cars

    Pick up a car at NLU (Mexico City (Felipe Ángeles)): about 48 min by road to Tepotzotlán, then 34 km more to Mercado de Sonora, on your own schedule.

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    Flights

    The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Mexico City (Felipe Ángeles) (NLU), about 48 min by road from Tepotzotlán, the base for Mercado de Sonora.

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    Mobile data

    Signal can drop away from Tepotzotlán: download a map of the way to Mercado de Sonora before you set out, or carry an eSIM with data.

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    When to go to Mercado de Sonora cool

    Mercado de Sonora shares the climate of Tepotzotlán, 34 km away. The best months to visit are January, February, March, and December.

    See the month-by-month climate of Tepotzotlán

    The closest Pueblo Mágico: Tepotzotlán

    Churrigueresque facade and tower of San Francisco Javier with its atrium cross, Tepotzotlán, Estado de México cool
    Estado de México Tepotzotlán

    Tepotzotlán is the Pueblo Mágico closest to Mercado de Sonora, with places to stay, food, and more to see.

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    Near Mercado de Sonora

    Drive times by road from OpenStreetMap, without traffic. Times marked ~ are estimated from the straight-line distance.

    Location from OpenStreetMap. Written by Puebloteca.