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    Tepetlaoxtoc, Estado de México

    Photo by Gerardo Galíndez, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Tepetlaoxtoc

    Town Tepetlaoxtoc, Estado de México Valley of Mexico Teotihuacan Valley

    An old Acolhua town north-east of Texcoco with a Dominican convent, Passion murals, Betanzos's hermitage and a big San Sebastián feast in January.

    From Mexico City: 50 min by car (42 km by road) How to get there ↓

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    Where to stay near Tepetlaoxtoc

    Compare hotels, posadas and guest houses in Tepetlaoxtoc.

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    Tours to Tepetlaoxtoc

    Day trips around Teotihuacán sometimes stop in Tepetlaoxtoc; a tour is the easy way to see it without a car.

    Tours from Zacatlan Zacatlán Guided Tour walking through the Center ★ 5.0 (2) · From US$8
    Find tours on Viator GetYourGuide

    How to get to Tepetlaoxtoc

    • From Mexico City: about 50 min by road (~42 km)
    • Nearest airport: Mexico City (Felipe Ángeles) (NLU), 35 min by car to Teotihuacán
    Rent a car at NLU Flights to NLU

    Route, map and directions ↓

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    Tours from Zacatlan, near Tepetlaoxtoc

    Zacatlán Guided Tour walking through the Center ★ 5.0 (2) 2 h 30 min From US$8

    Tours, prices and ratings from Viator, checked weekly. We may earn a commission if you book.

    About Tepetlaoxtoc

    Tepetlaoxtoc de Hidalgo, seat of Tepetlaoxtoc municipality, sits in the hills north-east of Texcoco at about 2,300 m. The Nahuatl name was spelled with a z for centuries, Tepetlaoztoc, "in the tepetate caves"; the x is a 19th-century change. The town had 6,423 people in 2010 and the municipality 27,944, and in March 2023 the State of Mexico named it one of its Pueblos con Encanto.

    People have lived here a long time: there was a village in the Late Preclassic and pottery from Teotihuacan's era. The Codex Xolotl says Xólotl's son Nopaltzin found a hill with caves here, and a Chichimec lordship was founded around 1183. Later it was an Acolhua domain; Azcaxóchitl, a daughter of Nezahualcóyotl, ruled after her husband Cocopin, the only woman to do so. After the conquest, abuses by the encomendero Gonzalo de Salazar drove the townspeople to go to court with painted records, among them the Kingsborough and Vergara codices, still key sources on 16th-century houses and fields.

    The Dominican friar Domingo de Betanzos founded a hermitage here in 1527-1528, and the convent of Santa María Magdalena followed in 1535. Its walls carry 32 paintings of the Great Passion of Christ made with cochineal red and restored in 2010, and the old hermitage beside the church is now a museum with its chapel, cell, sacristy and cloister. The town lived off the mule trains on the Mexico City-Veracruz road and off pulque, and Manuel Payno made it famous in his novel Los bandidos de Río Frío, whose real-life bandits lived in the municipality. The big feast is San Sebastián Mártir, starting on 19 January and running about three weeks with guilds of pulque tappers, mole cooks, ploughmen and muleteers.

    How to get to Tepetlaoxtoc

    Drive from Mexico City: 50 min, 42 km

    By car from Mexico City, take the Peñón-Texcoco toll road (136D) to Texcoco and carry on along the Texcoco-Calpulalpan road (136); at San Juan Tezontla follow the signs for Tepetlaoxtoc. The town was left off the main Mexico City-Calpulalpan road, so the last stretch is a short detour on a local road. It is about 36 km in a straight line from the Zócalo and about 9 km from central Texcoco. By public transport, take a bus to Texcoco from the TAPO terminal (Metro San Lázaro), then a microbús from the Texcoco terminal to Tepetlaoxtoc's centre. Teotihuacán is about 14 km away in a straight line.

    Directions to Tepetlaoxtoc on Google Maps

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

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

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    From the nearest cities to Tepetlaoxtoc

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

    Before you go to Tepetlaoxtoc: hours, prices and tips

    Best time of day
    The day of the pulque tappers' guild draws the most visitors; pulque is handed out during the afternoon parade. Wikipedia · checked Oct 2026
    Best season
    The San Sebastián Mártir feast starts on 19 January with pilgrims from San Pedro Chiautzingo, peaks on the 20th and goes on for about three weeks; Santa María Magdalena's day is 22 July. Wikipedia · checked Oct 2026

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

    Visiting Tepetlaoxtoc: what to see and do

    The former convent of Santa María Magdalena and its 32 murals of the Great Passion of Christ, painted with cochineal.
    The Museo Eremitorio Fray Domingo de Betanzos beside the church, with its 16th-century chapel, cell, sacristy and cloister.
    The round pyramid dedicated to Ehécatl-Quetzalcóatl, with its east-facing stairway.
    The old Nezahualcóyotl, Santa María Magdalena, Salazarco and Anitzo bridges.
    The shrine of San Sebastián Mártir, opened in 1703.
    Escamoles, ahuautle, tlaxcales and plain or fruit-cured pulque.

    Plan your trip

    Places to stay in Tepetlaoxtoc

    Compare hotels, posadas, and rentals in and around Tepetlaoxtoc.

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    Tours & activities

    Day trips around Teotihuacán sometimes stop in Tepetlaoxtoc; a tour is the easy way to see it without a car.

    Viator GetYourGuide

    Rental cars

    Pick up a car at NLU (Mexico City (Felipe Ángeles)): about 35 min by road to Teotihuacán, then 14 km more to Tepetlaoxtoc, on your own schedule.

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    Flights

    The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Mexico City (Felipe Ángeles) (NLU), about 35 min by road from Teotihuacán, the base for Tepetlaoxtoc.

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    Travel insurance

    Medical and trip cover for Mexico, by the week or month.

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    Mobile data

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

    Airalo

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    When to go to Tepetlaoxtoc mild

    Tepetlaoxtoc shares the climate of Teotihuacán, 14 km away. The best months to visit are January, February, March, and December.

    See the month-by-month climate of Teotihuacán

    The closest Pueblo Mágico: Teotihuacán

    Hot-air balloons drifting over the Pyramid of the Sun at dawn, Teotihuacan, Estado de México mild
    Estado de México Teotihuacán

    Teotihuacán is the Pueblo Mágico closest to Tepetlaoxtoc, with places to stay, food, and more to see.

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    Closest to Tepetlaoxtoc

    Near Tepetlaoxtoc

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

    Location from OpenStreetMap. Written by Puebloteca.