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The towers of Puebla Cathedral above the Zócalo
The church of Nuestra Señora de los Remedios on top of the Great Pyramid of Cholula
The gilded walls and dome of the Capilla del Rosario in Santo Domingo, Puebla
A display room of painted Talavera pottery at the Uriarte workshop in Puebla
Rows of old leather-bound books on the carved shelves of the Biblioteca Palafoxiana

Things to do in Puebla: 9 experiences

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Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 3.0

Cholula

Climb the hill that hides the Great Pyramid of Cholula

Check dates and prices

Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 3.0

Templo de Santo Domingo, Puebla

Stand under the gold of the Capilla del Rosario

Tours in Puebla

Photo: Maurice Marcellin, CC BY-SA 3.0

Centro Histórico, Puebla

Visit a Talavera workshop and learn to tell the real thing

Tours in Puebla

Photo: AlejandroLinaresGarcia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Centro Histórico, Puebla

See the colonial reading room of the Biblioteca Palafoxiana

Photo: P.Fossas, CC BY-SA 3.0

Puebla was founded on 16 April 1531 as Puebla de los Ángeles, the first city the Spanish founded in central Mexico that was not built on a conquered Indigenous town. Halfway between the port of Veracruz and Mexico City, it became the second city of New Spain, and its centre, with more than 5,000 catalogued buildings of grey stone, red brick and coloured tiles, has been a World Heritage Site since 1987. It is called the cradle of Mexican Baroque.

The Mexico page covers mole poblano, linked below. This page adds the gold of the Capilla del Rosario, the Palafoxiana library, the cathedral, the Talavera workshops, the forts of Cinco de Mayo, chiles en nogada in season, the Baroque museum and the buried pyramid of neighbouring Cholula.

9 things to do in Puebla

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The gilded walls and dome of the Capilla del Rosario in Santo Domingo, Puebla

Stand under the gold of the Capilla del Rosario

Templo de Santo Domingo, Puebla

30 to 45 minutesFree

A chapel inside Santo Domingo so covered in gilded plaster that it was once called the eighth wonder of the world.

Tours in Puebla
Been there?
Rows of old leather-bound books on the carved shelves of the Biblioteca Palafoxiana

See the colonial reading room of the Biblioteca Palafoxiana

Centro Histórico, Puebla

30 to 45 minutesNo booking needed

A library founded in 1646 by a bishop who wanted his books open to everyone, kept on its carved shelves ever since.

Been there?
The ciprés, the high altar canopy, inside Puebla Cathedral

Walk through Puebla Cathedral and out onto the Zócalo

Zócalo, Puebla

About an hourFree

The cathedral that gave Puebla the tallest church towers in the Spanish colonies, facing the city's main square.

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A display room of painted Talavera pottery at the Uriarte workshop in Puebla

Visit a Talavera workshop and learn to tell the real thing

Centro Histórico, Puebla

1 to 2 hoursNo booking needed

Puebla's blue and white tin-glazed pottery, on UNESCO's intangible heritage list, made in workshops a short walk from the Zócalo.

Tours in Puebla
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The church of Nuestra Señora de los Remedios on top of the Great Pyramid of Cholula

Climb the hill that hides the Great Pyramid of Cholula

Cholula

Half a day from PueblaGo alone or with a tour

The largest pyramid by volume in the world, so overgrown it looks like a hill, with a colonial church on its summit.

Check dates and pricesGuided tour of Cholula from Puebla
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Poblano chillies, walnuts, pomegranate and fruit laid out to make chiles en nogada

Eat chiles en nogada in Puebla in season

Puebla

A long lunchNo booking needed

Puebla's late-summer dish in the colours of the flag: stuffed poblano chillies under walnut sauce and pomegranate seeds.

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The walls of the old Fort of Loreto on the Cerro de Guadalupe in Puebla

Walk the forts where Puebla won the battle of Cinco de Mayo

Cerro de Guadalupe, Puebla

Half a dayNo booking needed

The two hilltop forts where a Mexican army held off the French on 5 May 1862, the day behind Cinco de Mayo.

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The white curving walls at the entrance of the Museo Internacional del Barroco

See the Baroque explained in Toyo Ito's museum

Atlixcáyotl, Puebla

2 hoursNo booking needed

A museum of the Baroque designed by the Japanese architect Toyo Ito, in the city called the cradle of Mexican Baroque.

Been there?
A plate of mole poblano in Puebla

Eat mole poblano in Puebla, where its legend began

Puebla

A long lunch, or a day trip from Mexico CityNo booking needed

Taste mole poblano in the city whose legend claims it, after seeing the Talavera-tiled convent kitchen where that story is set.

Tours in Puebla
Been there?

Traveller picks

Hidden gems suggested by travellers. We check each one before it goes up; the words are theirs, not ours.

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Plan your trip

  • Getting there

    Puebla is about 110 km south-east of Mexico City. Estrella Roja and ADO buses leave Mexico City's TAPO terminal about every half hour and take around two hours to Puebla's main CAPU terminal, depending on traffic leaving the capital.

  • Getting around

    The historic centre is compact and walkable, laid out on a grid around the Zócalo. City buses link the CAPU terminal with the centre, and buses to Cholula take 20 to 40 minutes.

  • How many days

    In must30's view, two days for the city, plus half a day for Cholula. It also works as a stop between Mexico City and Veracruz.

  • When to go

    In May the city marks the Battle of Puebla for the whole month around Cinco de Mayo. August and the first half of September are the season for chiles en nogada.

Questions travellers ask

How far is Puebla from Mexico City?

About 110 km. Buses from the TAPO terminal leave about every half hour and take around two hours, depending on traffic.

When is chiles en nogada season in Puebla?

August and the first half of September, when pomegranates are in season and Independence Day falls on 16 September.

How do you get from Puebla to Cholula?

Buses from the CAPU terminal take about 40 minutes, and an express bus from the Puebla-Cholula station on Avenida 6 Poniente takes about 20. Guided tours also leave from Puebla.

Where can you buy real Talavera in Puebla?

At the workshops, such as Uriarte, founded in 1824, or the Fábrica de Talavera Armando. The El Parián market mixes authentic pieces with cheap copies.

More places in this region

Things to do in Mexico

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