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    Carved stone facade of the Palacio Postal at Tacuba and Eje Central, Mexico City

    Photo by Thomas Ledl, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Palacio Postal

    Landmark Cuauhtémoc, Ciudad de México Municipality of Cuauhtémoc Valley of Mexico

    Adamo Boari's 1907 post office, still selling stamps under a glass roof, with a bronze double staircase and a postal museum upstairs.

    From Toluca: 1 h 5 min by car (63 km by road) How to get there ↓

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    Mexico City Historic Self-Guided Walking Tour ★ 5.0 (3) · From US$5
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    How to get to Palacio Postal

    • From Toluca: about 1 h 5 min by road (~63 km)
    • Nearest airport: Mexico City (Felipe Ángeles) (NLU), 48 min by car to Tepotzotlán
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    Popular tours to Palacio Postal

    Mexico City Historic Self-Guided Walking Tour ★ 5.0 (3) 2 h From US$5
    Mexico City Guided Tour of Palace of Fine Arts and Postal Palace 2 h 30 min From US$51

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    About Palacio Postal

    The Palacio Postal, also called the Quinta Casa de Correos because it was the fifth home of Mexico City's mail service, stands at the corner of Tacuba and Eje Central, across from the Palacio de Bellas Artes. When the postal service became its own agency at the start of the 20th century it needed a building to match the millions of letters it was handling, and the job went to the Italian architect Adamo Boari, who also started Bellas Artes next door. Porfirio Díaz laid the first stone on 14 September 1902 on the site of an old Franciscan hospital, and on 17 February 1907 he opened the building by dropping two postcards into the mailbox. It has worked as a post office ever since.

    The outside is a riot of styles held together by repeated arches: Isabelline Gothic window frames, twisted columns, flowery cresting and a top-floor gallery, all carved in pale chiluca stone quarried in Tulpetlac, in the State of Mexico, with a German clock on the corner and iron lamps shaped like dragons. Underneath sits a steel frame on a Chicago-style slab foundation, advanced for the time. Inside, the main hall rises to a leaded-glass skylight designed by Boari, and the grand staircase splits into two flights that seem to cross on the way up. The bronze railings, counters and window frames were cast by the Pignone foundry in Florence, and the arcade on the third floor carries the shields of the countries that belonged to the Universal Postal Union at the time.

    The building suffered when the Bank of Mexico took over part of it from the 1950s and added heavy walls and roofs, and the 1985 earthquake made the damage worse. It was declared an artistic monument in 1987, and a 1990s restoration, helped by Boari's own plans donated by his daughter, brought back the original interiors and even the old Otis elevators. You can walk into the hall, buy stamps and send a postcard, then visit the museum upstairs, which traces the history of the mail with stamps going back to 1840.

    How to get to Palacio Postal

    Drive from Toluca: 1 h 5 min, 63 km

    The Palacio Postal is at the corner of Tacuba and Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas, opposite the Palacio de Bellas Artes. By Metro, get off at Bellas Artes (Lines 2 and 8) or Allende (Line 2); by Metrobús, Line 4 stops at Bellas Artes. MUNAL is half a block east on Tacuba.

    Directions to Palacio Postal on Google Maps

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

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    From the nearest cities to Palacio Postal

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

    Before you go to Palacio Postal: hours, prices and tips

    Hours
    The postal museum is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 4:30 pm. México Desconocido · checked Oct 2026
    Entry
    The museum charges 50 pesos to visitors without a Mexican ID or passport; Mexicans showing a valid ID get in free. Bring cash. México Desconocido · checked Oct 2026
    Best time of day
    Come in the morning, when it is quieter and the light through the glass roof is best. México Desconocido · checked Oct 2026
    Guide or tour
    Free-standing visits need no booking. Guided tours run Tuesday to Friday at 11 am, 12:30 and 2 pm, Saturdays at 11 am and 1 pm and Sundays at noon; book ahead. Tours: Viator GetYourGuide México Desconocido · checked Oct 2026

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

    Visiting Palacio Postal: what to see and do

    Stand under Boari's leaded-glass skylight in the main hall.
    Climb the double imperial staircase with its Florentine bronze railings.
    Buy stamps or commemorative envelopes at the philatelic shop and mail a postcard from the counters.
    Visit the postal museum, with stamps going back to 1840.
    Look for the Universal Postal Union shields on the third-floor arcade.
    Step back outside to see the carved chiluca facade, the German clock and the dragon lamps.

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    Rental cars

    Pick up a car at NLU (Mexico City (Felipe Ángeles)): about 48 min by road to Tepotzotlán, then 32 km more to Palacio Postal, 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 Palacio Postal.

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    When to go to Palacio Postal cool

    Palacio Postal shares the climate of Tepotzotlán, 32 km away. The best months to visit are January, February, March, and December.

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    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

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

    Location from OpenStreetMap. Written by Puebloteca.