17 Ruins near Mexico City, Mexico: Map & Photos

17 archaeological sites · within 60 km

There are 17 archaeological sites within 60 km of Mexico City in a straight line, an hour or a little more by road. The closest is Templo Mayor, 0 km away; the farthest, Zona Arqueológica de Calixtlahuaca, is 60 km. They are listed under the Pueblos Mágicos of Teotihuacán, Tepotzotlán, Metepec, and Otumba, which make good bases.

Most archaeological sites are run by INAH and open from about 8 or 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for a small fee. Midday is the hottest and busiest time, so go early.

Best months, when most of these towns are dry with comfortable afternoons: Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec.

The Ruins 17

Templo Mayor · Archaeological site · 0 km from Mexico City · Ciudad de México
The Aztecs' great twin temple, unearthed after 1978 beside the Zócalo: walk through seven building stages, then see the Coyolxauhqui stone inside.
Tlatelolco · Archaeological site · 2 km from Mexico City · Ciudad de México
Aztec temples, a 1609 Franciscan church and modernist towers on one square: the Plaza de las Tres Culturas, site of the last stand of 1521 and of 1968.
Baños de Moctezuma · Archaeological site · 5 km from Mexico City · Ciudad de México
Pre-Hispanic water tank at the foot of Chapultepec hill plus the remains of an 1870 bathhouse; Moctezuma never bathed here, but the name stuck.
Tlatilco · Archaeological site · 11 km from Mexico City · Estado de México
A Preclassic village famous for its figurines, now under the streets and factories of San Luis Tlatilco; there is no site to visit.
Copilco · Archaeological site · 12 km from Mexico City · Ciudad de México
A Preclassic village buried under Xitle's lava, tunnelled into by Manuel Gamio in 1917; its site museum closed to the public in the early 1980s.
Pirámide de Tenayuca · Archaeological site · 12 km from Mexico City · Near Tepotzotlán
A Chichimec and Aztec pyramid rebuilt over itself many times, ringed by a wall of 138 carved stone serpents.
Santa Cecilia Acatitlan · Archaeological site · 14 km from Mexico City · Near Tepotzotlán
A small Mexica pyramid with its temple rebuilt on top, the best idea of how Aztec shrines looked, plus a little museum.
Cuicuilco · Archaeological site · 15 km from Mexico City · Ciudad de México
A round, terraced pyramid more than 2,000 years old, half-swallowed by lava from the Xitle volcano, free to visit beside Insurgentes Sur.
Cuahilama · Archaeological site · 22 km from Mexico City · Ciudad de México
Hill with 15th-century petroglyphs in Santa Cruz Acalpixca, Xochimilco: free entry, a half-hour climb and views over the canals.
Acozac · Archaeological site · 28 km from Mexico City · Estado de México
Acolhua ruins in Ixtapaluca with a round temple to Ehécatl and a great platform facing the volcanoes; free entry.
Zona Arqueológica de Huexotla · Archaeological site · 28 km from Mexico City · Near Teotihuacán
An old Acolhua city south of Texcoco with a rare surviving defensive wall and a Franciscan church on its ancient center.
Baños de Nezahualcóyotl · Archaeological site · 34 km from Mexico City · Near Teotihuacán
The hilltop gardens and rock-cut baths of Texcoco's poet-king Nezahualcóyotl on the Tetzcotzinco hill, with wide views.
Zona Arqueológica de Teotihuacan · Archaeological site · 42 km from Mexico City · Near Teotihuacán
The great pyramid city next door: the Avenue of the Dead, the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon, and painted palaces.
Zona Arqueológica El Tlatoani · Archaeological site · 54 km from Mexico City · Morelos
Toltec-era terraces, burials and a pyramid platform (AD 900-1200) atop a Tlayacapan rock hill, excavated by INAH since 2012.
Zona Arqueológica de Tecoaque · Archaeological site · 56 km from Mexico City · Near Otumba
A small Acolhua site in Tlaxcala where a Spanish caravan was captured and sacrificed in 1520.
Teopanzolco · Archaeological site · 57 km from Mexico City · Near Tepoztlán
A Tlahuica-Aztec temple base with twin stairways, now surrounded by Cuernavaca's Vista Hermosa neighborhood.
Zona Arqueológica de Calixtlahuaca · Archaeological site · 60 km from Mexico City · Near Metepec
Matlatzinca and Aztec ruins on a hillside north of Toluca, known for a round temple to the wind god Ehécatl.