↑ ↓ to move ↵ to open esc to close
    Templo, Ahualulco del Sonido 13, San Luis Potosí

    Photo by Alejandro Ags, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Ahualulco del Sonido 13

    Town Ahualulco del Sonido 13, San Luis Potosí

    Town 40 minutes from San Luis Potosí, birthplace of composer Julián Carrillo and his Sonido 13, with old haciendas along highway 63.

    From San Luis Potosí: about 40 min by road (~45 km) How to get there ↓

    Near here

    See everything nearby ↓

    Plan your visit to Ahualulco del Sonido 13

    Where to stay near Ahualulco del Sonido 13

    Compare hotels, posadas and guest houses in Ahualulco del Sonido 13.

    Hotels in Ahualulco del Sonido 13 Houses on Vrbo

    Tours to Ahualulco del Sonido 13

    Day trips around Pinos sometimes stop in Ahualulco del Sonido 13; a tour is the easy way to see it without a car.

    Tours from San Luis Potosi City Xilitla Surrealistic Garden and Huahuas Abyss Tour ★ 4.9 (251) · From US$72
    Find tours on Viator GetYourGuide

    How to get to Ahualulco del Sonido 13

    • From San Luis Potosí: about 40 min by road (~45 km)
    • Nearest airport: San Luis Potosí (SLP), 1 h 35 min by car to Pinos
    Rent a car at SLP Flights to SLP

    Route, map and directions ↓

    Links open a partner site. We may earn a commission if you book, at no cost to you.

    Tours from San Luis Potosi City, near Ahualulco del Sonido 13

    Xilitla Surrealistic Garden and Huahuas Abyss Tour ★ 4.9 (251) 12 h From US$72
    Rappelling beside Minas Viejas and Micos Waterfall ★ 5.0 (177) 9 h From US$88
    Ancestral Drinks: Mezcal and Pulque from the Heart of the Desert ★ 5.0 (48) 5 h From US$90
    Pedestrian Tour in San Luis Potosí Downtown Historic District ★ 5.0 (43) 2 h From US$25
    Breakfast & Market Tour in San Luis Potosí with English Guide ★ 5.0 (11) 5 h From US$83

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

    About Ahualulco del Sonido 13

    Ahualulco is the seat of the municipality of the same name, northwest of the city of San Luis Potosí, at 1,850 metres and home to a little over 5,000 people. The name comes from Nahuatl and translates as "Rodeo Grande", a great round or enclosure; the "del Sonido 13" tag honours Julián Carrillo (1875-1965), the composer born here who split the musical scale into steps smaller than a semitone and called his system the Thirteenth Sound.

    Caves around the municipality have yielded arrowheads, flint flakes and rock drawings left by the Chichimec peoples who once ranged here. Cristóbal de Oñate started the Spanish settlement in 1542 and work on a first church began in 1574, but the present town only took shape in 1799 on land of the Bocas hacienda. Ahualulco belonged to Zacatecas until 1858, when the two states swapped it for Ojo Caliente; that same year, on 29 September, liberal and conservative armies fought the battle of Ahualulco here. The parish church of Our Lady of Candelaria, with blue domes over the main square, was begun in 1857.

    The town was called Ahualulco de Pinos until 1932, when it adopted Carrillo's theory as its surname; a 1944 decree officially cut the name back to Ahualulco, though the seat keeps the long name. South of town, beside the highway, stand the haciendas of Corte Segundo and La Parada, the latter with a small museum in its former chapel. Local sweets are queso de tuna, a dense prickly-pear paste, and melcocha, and the eateries lean on carnitas and barbacoa.

    How to get to Ahualulco del Sonido 13

    Ahualulco sits on federal highway 63, the paved road that leaves San Luis Potosí to the northwest and carries on to Moctezuma; through town it becomes Calle Guadalupe Victoria. From San Luis Potosí it is 40 min and 40 km by road, and from Pinos, the nearest Pueblo Mágico, over the line in Zacatecas, 1 h 15 min and 79 km. By bus, Del Norte and Transportes Frontera run frequent departures all day from the Central de Autobuses in San Luis Potosí; the ride takes 30 to 45 minutes and fares start around M$50. Grupo Senda buses drop passengers at a roadside stop on highway 63, where taxis usually wait, and there is a taxi rank by the main square.

    Directions to Ahualulco del Sonido 13 on Google Maps

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

    Where to stay Hotels in Ahualulco del Sonido 13 Compare hotels, posadas and guest houses in Ahualulco del Sonido 13. See prices →

    Links open a partner site. We may earn a commission if you book, at no cost to you.

    From the nearest cities to Ahualulco del Sonido 13

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

    Before you go to Ahualulco del Sonido 13: hours, prices and tips

    Hours
    Mercado Municipal Bicentenario: daily 07:00-19:00. Wikivoyage, Ahualulco · checked Oct 2026
    Best season
    Candelaria fiesta, 26 February to 2 March, with a fair, bullfights and cockfights. Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México (INAFED), Ahualulco · checked Oct 2026
    Guide or tour
    Corte Segundo hacienda is not open to the public, but the owner will often show visitors around if you find him on site. Wikivoyage, Ahualulco · checked Oct 2026

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

    Visiting Ahualulco del Sonido 13: what to see and do

    Plaza Julián Carrillo, the main square, with cactus gardens and a fountain
    The parish church of Our Lady of Candelaria (1857), with blue domes
    Mercado Municipal Bicentenario on Calle Refugio Centeno, for gorditas, sopes and huaraches
    The former Corte Segundo hacienda, about 6 km south on highway 63
    The former La Parada hacienda, about 15 km south, with a museum in its old chapel
    The Santa Genoveva dam and the Ahualulco canyon, with the rock formations of Cerrito de Rojas

    Plan your trip

    Places to stay in Ahualulco del Sonido 13

    Compare hotels, posadas, and rentals in and around Ahualulco del Sonido 13.

    See them all on Expedia Booking.com
    Vacation rentals on Vrbo Airbnb

    Tours & activities

    Day trips around Pinos sometimes stop in Ahualulco del Sonido 13; a tour is the easy way to see it without a car.

    Viator GetYourGuide

    Rental cars

    Pick up a car at SLP (San Luis Potosí): about 1 h 35 min by road to Pinos, then 43 km more to Ahualulco del Sonido 13, on your own schedule.

    EconomyBookings Discover Cars

    Flights

    The nearest airport with scheduled flights is San Luis Potosí (SLP), about 1 h 35 min by road from Pinos, the base for Ahualulco del Sonido 13.

    Kiwi.com

    Travel insurance

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

    SafetyWing

    Mobile data

    Signal can drop away from Pinos: download a map of the way to Ahualulco del Sonido 13 before you set out, or carry an eSIM with data.

    Airalo

    Links open a partner site. We may earn a commission if you book, at no cost to you.

    When to go to Ahualulco del Sonido 13 cool

    Ahualulco del Sonido 13 shares the climate of Pinos, 43 km away. The best months to visit are January, March, April, and November.

    See the month-by-month climate of Pinos

    The closest Pueblo Mágico: Pinos

    Carved baroque façade and bell tower of the main church of Pinos, Zacatecas cool
    Zacatecas Pinos

    Pinos is the Pueblo Mágico closest to Ahualulco del Sonido 13, with places to stay, food, and more to see.

    Also close to

    Closest to Ahualulco del Sonido 13

    Near Ahualulco del Sonido 13

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

    Location from OpenStreetMap. Written by Puebloteca.