Tula de Allende

Tula de Allende sits about 64 km southwest of Pachuca and 90 km north of Mexico City, reachable in 1-1.5 hours by car or by an hourly Ovnibus service from Pachuca's Central de Autobuses; a direct bus also connects Tula with Mexico City. The town's main draw is the Zona Arqueologica de Tula, the former capital of the Toltec civilization, known for its four-and-a-half-meter basalt Atlantean warrior columns standing atop the Pyramid of Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, along with a ball court, a colonnaded hall, and a site museum displaying Toltec sculpture and ceramics. A typical day trip starts with an early arrival at the archaeological site to walk the open plaza before the midday sun and afternoon crowds build, since the grounds offer little shade. After exploring the ruins, visitors can walk into the town center to see the sixteenth-century Ex Convento de San Jose, a fortress-like former Franciscan monastery with defensive battlements, before stopping for lunch at one of the restaurants near the main plaza serving regional Hidalgo dishes such as barbacoa and mixiotes. The archaeological zone and the historic center are close enough to cover comfortably on foot within a single day, with the pyramid site typically taking two to three hours and the convent and town center another hour or two. November through April brings the driest weather for walking the largely unshaded open site, and a morning arrival is recommended both to beat the heat and the tour groups that arrive from Mexico City by midday. Water and a hat are worth carrying given the lack of shade across the archaeological grounds.