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    Paper-cut banners hanging near the parish of San Miguel Arcángel in San Miguel Ameyalco during the annual fiesta, Estado de México

    Photo by Juancho Lorant, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    San Miguel Ameyalco

    Village Lerma, Estado de México Municipality of Lerma Toluca Valley

    Lerma village with an 18th-century parish, 462 steps up to Cristo Rey and a San Miguel fiesta of fireworks towers and oyamel log poles.

    From Toluca: 25 min by car (23 km by road) How to get there ↓

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    Tours to San Miguel Ameyalco

    Day trips and guided outings from Metepec often include San Miguel Ameyalco; with a local guide you can get there without a car.

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    How to get to San Miguel Ameyalco

    • From Toluca: about 25 min by road (~23 km)
    • Nearest airport: Toluca (TLC), 17 min by car to Metepec
    Rent a car at TLC Flights to TLC

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    About San Miguel Ameyalco

    The name Ameyalco comes from Nahuatl and is read as "where the water is born"; the stream that named the village has since dried up. San Miguel Ameyalco sits at roughly 2,590 m in the municipality of Lerma and counted 5,361 people in the 2020 census. The oldest landmark is the parish of San Miguel Arcángel, an 18th-century church whose bell tower, with a clock face on each of its four sides (no longer working), was added in 1819. The earthquake of 19 September 2017 cracked the tower, INAH closed off the centre, and repairs began in July 2018; the church reopened in 2019 with limited access and has been fully open since 2022.

    Above the village rises the hill with the Cristo Rey monument and chapel. Its first stone was laid on 21 March 1970, and the 462-step stairway that starts in the village centre was blessed with the finished work on 29 September 1971. The big celebration is the feast of St Michael around 29 September: arrieros dancers in the churchyard, fireworks towers, pyrotechnic bulls and the "levantada de latas", in which unmarried young men from the Aire and Río sides of town raise 30 to 40 m fir trunks loaded with rockets. Cristo Rey is celebrated on the summit on 25 November, and on Good Friday the village stages the Passion with a procession up to the monument.

    How to get to San Miguel Ameyalco

    Drive from Toluca: 25 min, 23 km

    San Miguel Ameyalco lies about 6 km east of Lerma de Villada in the Toluca valley, roughly 31 minutes by car from Metepec; from Toluca it is some 21 km as the crow flies, about 25 to 30 minutes depending on traffic. From Mexico City, take the México–Toluca highway to the Lerma area and continue on local roads to the village. Without a car, the Tren Interurbano México–Toluca reaches Lerma in about an hour from Observatorio station (around 70 pesos according to one travel guide); from there you need a taxi or local transport, so ask in Lerma for the one that goes to Ameyalco. For the September fair, leave early: crowds arrive from Mexico City.

    Directions to San Miguel Ameyalco on Google Maps

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

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    From the nearest cities to San Miguel Ameyalco

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

    Before you go to San Miguel Ameyalco: hours, prices and tips

    Best time of day
    Around 29 September, for the arrieros dancers, fireworks towers and the raising of the log poles. It is cool: temperatures run 8 to 20 °C and can drop below freezing in winter. Wikipedia (es) · checked Oct 2026
    Best season
    The feast of St Michael runs through the last week of September and first week of October, with 29 September as the main day; 25 November is the Cristo Rey fiesta on the hill, and the Passion is staged on Good Friday. Wikipedia (es) · checked Oct 2026

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

    Visiting San Miguel Ameyalco: what to see and do

    The parish of San Miguel Arcángel (18th century) and its 1819 bell tower, repaired after the 2017 earthquake.
    The 462-step stairway climbing from the village centre to the Cristo Rey hill.
    The Cristo Rey monument and chapel at the top, with a shrine at its foot.
    The "Ojo de Agua" chapel and the crocodile fountains in front of it, opened in 2014.
    The San Miguel fair (around 29 September): arrieros dancers, fireworks towers and the raising of the log poles.
    The Good Friday Passion play and, since 2023, the tamal de ollita fair.

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    Places to stay in San Miguel Ameyalco

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    Tours & activities

    Day trips and guided outings from Metepec often include San Miguel Ameyalco; with a local guide you can get there without a car.

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    Rental cars

    Pick up a car at TLC (Toluca): about 17 min by road to Metepec, then 16 km more to San Miguel Ameyalco, on your own schedule.

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    Flights

    The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Toluca (TLC), about 17 min by road from Metepec, the base for San Miguel Ameyalco.

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    Mobile data

    Signal can drop away from Metepec: download a map of the way to San Miguel Ameyalco before you set out, or carry an eSIM with data.

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    When to go to San Miguel Ameyalco cool

    San Miguel Ameyalco shares the climate of Metepec, 16 km away. The best months to visit are January, February, March, and December.

    See the month-by-month climate of Metepec

    The closest Pueblo Mágico: Metepec

    Red Calvario chapel at the top of its long stairway, Metepec, Estado de México cool
    Estado de México Metepec

    Metepec is the Pueblo Mágico closest to San Miguel Ameyalco, with places to stay, food, and more to see.

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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.