Town Tlalpan, Ciudad de México Municipality of Tlalpan Valley of Mexico
Quiet cobbled centre of old San Agustín de las Cuevas, briefly capital of the State of Mexico, with a Barragán chapel and a 19th-century market.
From Mexico City: 20 min by car (19 km by road) How to get there ↓
Near here
Plan your visit to Tlalpan
Where to stay near Tlalpan
Compare hotels, posadas and guest houses in Tlalpan.
Tours to Tlalpan
Day trips around Tepoztlán sometimes stop in Tlalpan; a tour is the easy way to see it without a car.
Sunrise in Las Alturas Hiking in El Pico del Aguila Tlalpan
★ 4.8 (18) · From US$99
How to get to Tlalpan
- From Mexico City: about 20 min by road (~19 km)
- Nearest airport: Mexico City (MEX), 1 h 25 min by car to Tepoztlán
Links open a partner site. We may earn a commission if you book, at no cost to you.
Popular tours to Tlalpan
Tours, prices and ratings from Viator, checked weekly. We may earn a commission if you book.
About Tlalpan
Tlalpan's historic centre is the old core of what was once San Agustín de las Cuevas, a colonial town south of the capital that the city has long since absorbed. The borough it heads is now the largest in Mexico City, but the centre still feels like a separate place, with narrow cobbled streets, old country houses behind high walls and a leafy main square. It reminds many visitors of Coyoacán, only with fewer people. The name comes from Nahuatl and is usually read as "on firm ground", since the town stood clear of the old lakeshore.
For a few years the town played a bigger role. In 1827 it was made a city, renamed Tlalpan, and became the seat of the State of Mexico's government until 1830, when the state moved to Toluca. A state mint worked here in those years, in a house on Calle Moneda that later sheltered Zapatista troops and has been a public secondary school since 1957. Tlalpan passed to the Federal District in 1855. Many of its houses date from these centuries: the Casa Chata, an 18th-century country house named for its cut-off corner doorway, now holds the CIESAS research centre, and the French-style Casa Frissac, built around 1900, is a cultural centre.
The Plaza de la Constitución, known as the Jardín Principal, was once the enlarged atrium of the parish church of San Agustín de las Cuevas, whose old convent cloister and garden are open to visitors and whose patron saint's day falls on 28 August. Facing the square are the neoclassical municipal palace, designed by Antonio Rivas Mercado and opened in 1902, the Mercado de la Paz, a good place for regional food and pastries, and the Museo de Historia de Tlalpan, where Mexico's first long-distance phone call was made in 1878. A few blocks away, the Capuchin nuns' chapel by Luis Barragán, finished in 1960, is one of the great works of 20th-century Mexican architecture, though it can only be seen by appointment.
How to get to Tlalpan
Drive from Mexico City: 20 min, 19 km
Take Metrobús Line 1 along Insurgentes Sur to Fuentes Brotantes station and walk into the centre. Alternatively, from Metro Pino Suárez, Metro General Anaya or the Estadio Azteca light-rail station, take a bus or microbús south along Calzada de Tlalpan marked Tlalpan San Fernando and ask for Tlalpan Centro; most RTP buses leave from the terminal opposite Estadio Azteca. By car, drive down Calzada de Tlalpan and turn right onto Miguel Hidalgo, the second street after San Fernando; street parking is fairly easy and there is a public car park just past the main square.
Directions to Tlalpan on Google Maps
Distances are in a straight line; the road is usually longer.
Links open a partner site. We may earn a commission if you book, at no cost to you.
From the nearest cities to Tlalpan
- Mexico City · 19 km by road, 20 min
- Cuernavaca · 58 km by road, 1 h
- Toluca · 65 km by road, 1 h 10 min
Drive times by road from OpenStreetMap, without traffic or stops. Times marked ~ are estimated from the straight-line distance.
What to see in Tlalpan 4
Sights with their own page, closest to the centre first.
Nature reserves
-
Parque nacional Fuentes Brotantes de Tlalpan · Nature reserve · 2 km from the centre
National park declared in 1936, with Ajusco springs, a lake of ducks and turtles, trails and food stalls; about 8 of its 129 hectares remain. -
Bosque de Tlalpan · Nature reserve · 3 km from the centre
A 253-hectare urban park on Xitle lava: running tracks, mountain trails, a duck lake and traces of Cuicuilco. Open daily.
Landmarks and museums
-
Museo Anahuacalli · Landmark · 4 km from the centre
Diego Rivera's dark volcanic-stone temple-museum in Coyoacán, packed with pre-Hispanic pieces, stone mosaics and a rooftop view of the Pedregal.
Archaeological sites
-
Cuicuilco · Archaeological site · 2 km from the centre
A round, terraced pyramid more than 2,000 years old, half-swallowed by lava from the Xitle volcano, free to visit beside Insurgentes Sur.
Map of Tlalpan
Neighbourhoods and villages of Tlalpan
Part of Tlalpan or just outside it, closest first.
-
San Lorenzo Huipulco · Village · 1 km from the centre
Original village of Tlalpan by Estadio Azteca: a 17th-century chapel, cobbled streets, a food market and its own Tren Ligero station.
Day trips and tours from Tlalpan
The closest Pueblos Mágicos and places to visit, with the drive from Tlalpan and tours that leave from it.
Times marked ~ are estimated from the distance. Links open a partner site. We may earn a commission if you book, at no cost to you.
Before you go: getting to and around Tlalpan
- The nearest airport is Mexico City (MEX).
- The best months to go are January, February, March, and December.
- 1 of the places on this page is more than 3 km from the centre: take a taxi, a ride-hailing app or a local bus.
- For day trips a rental car gives the most freedom; the tours above leave from Tlalpan.
Before you go to Tlalpan: hours, prices and tips
- Hours
- The Capuchinas chapel by Luis Barragán opens Monday to Thursday, 10 am to noon and 4 to 6 pm, by appointment only (55 5573 2395). Mexico City Tourism (CDMX) · checked Oct 2026
- Entry
- Strolling the centre is free; the visit to the Capuchinas chapel costs 200 pesos. Mexico City Tourism (CDMX) · checked Oct 2026
- Best season
- The parish of San Agustín de las Cuevas celebrates its patron saint on 28 August; the town also holds a Feria de San Agustín de las Cuevas and food fairs such as a taco fair. Chilango; Time Out México · checked Oct 2026
- Rules
- Photography is not allowed inside the Capuchinas chapel, which is an active convent and opens at the nuns' discretion. Mexico City Tourism (CDMX) · checked Oct 2026
Hours and prices change, especially around holidays. Each fact links to where we checked it.
Visiting Tlalpan: what to see and do
Sit in the Jardín Principal and find the old Árbol de los Colgados, where bandits were once hanged.
Visit the parish church of San Agustín de las Cuevas and its quiet cloister and garden.
Eat at the Mercado de la Paz and try its gorditas de nata.
See temporary shows at the Museo de Historia de Tlalpan, site of Mexico's first long-distance phone call.
Book a visit to Luis Barragán's Capuchinas chapel on Calle Miguel Hidalgo.
Walk past the Casa Chata, the old mint on Calle Moneda and the Casa Frissac.
Browse the Museo del Tiempo's private collection of some 1,500 pieces, the oldest from 1705, on the main square.
Plan your trip
Places to stay in Tlalpan
Compare hotels, posadas, and rentals in and around Tlalpan.
Tours & activities
Day trips around Tepoztlán sometimes stop in Tlalpan; a tour is the easy way to see it without a car.
Rental cars
Pick up a car at MEX (Mexico City): about 1 h 25 min by road to Tepoztlán, then 35 km more to Tlalpan, on your own schedule.
Flights
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Mexico City (MEX), about 1 h 25 min by road from Tepoztlán, the base for Tlalpan.
Mobile data
Signal can drop away from Tepoztlán: download a map of the way to Tlalpan before you set out, or carry an eSIM with data.
Links open a partner site. We may earn a commission if you book, at no cost to you.
When to go to Tlalpan mild
Tlalpan shares the climate of Tepoztlán, 35 km away. The best months to visit are January, February, March, and December.
See the month-by-month climate of Tepoztlán
Weather in Tlalpan now and the next 7 days
Live forecast from Open-Meteo. Chance of rain is the day's highest.
The closest Pueblo Mágico: Tepoztlán
Tepoztlán is the Pueblo Mágico closest to Tlalpan, with places to stay, food, and more to see.
Also close to
- Tlayacapan · Morelos · 42 km away
- Metepec · Estado de México · 45 km away
- Tepotzotlán · Estado de México · 48 km away
- Malinalco · Estado de México · 51 km away
- Teotihuacán · Estado de México · 56 km away
Near Tlalpan
Drive times by road from OpenStreetMap, without traffic. Times marked ~ are estimated from the straight-line distance.
Location from OpenStreetMap. Written by Puebloteca.