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    Cristo Rey de Pachuca, Hidalgo

    Photo by Emiliano Montufar Tostado, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Cristo Rey

    Viewpoint Pachuca de Soto, Hidalgo Municipality of Pachuca de Soto Hidalgo Mountain Corridor Comarca Minera Geopark

    A 33-metre statue with open arms on Cerro de Santa Apolonia, with a view over most of Pachuca; inaugurated in 1996.

    From Tulancingo: 50 min by car (50 km by road) How to get there ↓

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    Plan your visit to Cristo Rey

    Where to stay near Cristo Rey

    Compare hotels, posadas and guest houses in Cristo Rey.

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    Tours to Cristo Rey

    Day trips and guided outings from Real del Monte often include Cristo Rey; with a local guide you can get there without a car.

    Find tours on Viator GetYourGuide

    How to get to Cristo Rey

    • From Tulancingo: about 50 min by road (~50 km)
    • Nearest airport: Mexico City (Felipe Ángeles) (NLU), 1 h 6 min by car to Real del Monte
    Rent a car at NLU Flights to NLU

    Route, map and directions ↓

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    About Cristo Rey

    From the summit of Cerro de Santa Apolonia, at about 2,665 metres, Cristo Rey spreads its arms over Pachuca. The monument is 33 metres tall in all: a 23-metre statue on a 10-metre base. It was designed by architect César Narváez Benítez and engineer José Luis Lugo Vera and inaugurated on 17 April 1996, paid for by donations from the people of Pachuca. According to Wikipedia, the quarry stone came from Querétaro and Guanajuato.

    The story starts underground. In 1940 around fifteen miners at the Paricutín mine were stuck when their hoist jammed, and they vowed to build a monument to Christ the King if they got out alive. They did, and the vow was kept decades later: the land purchase was formalised in 1982 and the work dragged on until 1996. Geologists from the Real del Monte y Pachuca company rejected the first site because of tunnels beneath it, so the statue went slightly higher up.

    The visit is simple: climb up, and look out. The viewpoint takes in about 180 degrees over the city, and the site covers around five hectares. Pilgrimages come at Holy Week, and the youth Way of the Cross from the San Francisco parish ends on the hill. Since 2017 the site has been one of the 31 geosites of the Comarca Minera Geopark.

    How to get to Cristo Rey

    Drive from Tulancingo: 50 min, 50 km

    From central Pachuca it is about 4.5 km by road, roughly 8 to 10 minutes by car. You go up along the road to Real del Monte: the entrance to Cerro de Santa Apolonia sits on that highway, according to the route description of the tourist tram.

    Without a car, the easiest way is route 2 of Pachuca's tourist tram, which leaves from Plaza Independencia, passes the Mirador and stops at the hill's entrance; in April 2025 it cost 100 pesos a person, on tours of about 90 minutes. Check times before you go, as that figure is seasonal.

    To reach Pachuca from Mexico City, ADO and Futura buses run from the Terminal Norte every 20 minutes or so, about 1 h 45 min according to Rome2rio. Real del Monte, the nearest Pueblo Mágico, is about 5 km away in a straight line.

    Directions to Cristo Rey on Google Maps

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

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

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    From the nearest cities to Cristo Rey

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

    Before you go to Cristo Rey: hours, prices and tips

    Hours
    Open daily from 8:30 to 17:00. Wikipedia (es) · checked Oct 2026
    Best season
    Pilgrimages arrive at Holy Week, and the San Francisco parish's youth Way of the Cross ends on the hill. Wikipedia (es) · checked Oct 2026

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

    Visiting Cristo Rey: what to see and do

    The 33-metre statue, 23 m of figure on a 10 m base
    The roughly 180-degree viewpoint over Pachuca
    The hilltop grounds, about five hectares
    The Holy Week Way of the Cross that ends at the summit
    The Comarca Minera Geopark geosite

    Plan your trip

    Places to stay in Cristo Rey

    Compare hotels, posadas, and rentals in and around Cristo Rey.

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    Tours & activities

    Day trips and guided outings from Real del Monte often include Cristo Rey; with a local guide you can get there without a car.

    Viator GetYourGuide

    Rental cars

    Pick up a car at NLU (Mexico City (Felipe Ángeles)): about 1 h 6 min by road to Real del Monte, then 5 km more to Cristo Rey, on your own schedule.

    EconomyBookings Discover Cars

    Flights

    The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Mexico City (Felipe Ángeles) (NLU), about 1 h 6 min by road from Real del Monte, the base for Cristo Rey.

    Kiwi.com

    Travel insurance

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

    SafetyWing

    Mobile data

    Signal can drop away from Real del Monte: download a map of the way to Cristo Rey before you set out, or carry an eSIM with data.

    Airalo

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    When to go to Cristo Rey cool

    Cristo Rey shares the climate of Real del Monte, 5 km away. The best months to visit are February, March, April, and May.

    For the clearest views from Cristo Rey, go in the driest months (January, February, March, and December); in the rains, clouds tend to build up by midday.

    See the month-by-month climate of Real del Monte

    The closest Pueblo Mágico: Real del Monte

    Colorful houses and the parish church climbing the hills of Real del Monte, Hidalgo cool
    Hidalgo Real del Monte

    Real del Monte is the Pueblo Mágico closest to Cristo Rey, with places to stay, food, and more to see.

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    Closest to Cristo Rey

    Near Cristo Rey

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

    Lists with Cristo Rey

    Viewpoints in Hidalgo · 3 Viewpoints near Tulancingo · 4

    Location from OpenStreetMap. Written by Puebloteca.