Teotihuacan Archaeological Zone

Teotihuacan sits about 48 km northeast of Mexico City and roughly 105 km northeast of Toluca, reached in about 1 to 1.5 hours by car along the Autopista México-Pirámides toll highway, or about 1 hour by direct second-class bus from Mexico City's Terminal de Autobuses del Norte to one of the site's numbered gates. The archaeological zone is open daily from 8:00am to 5:00pm with last entry at 4:30pm, and admission runs about MXN 210 (about USD 12) per person, with Mexican nationals and residents admitted free on Sundays with valid identification. A typical visit needs three to four hours to properly cover the site: most visitors enter near the Ciudadela complex and the Temple of the Feathered Serpent (Quetzalcóatl), then walk north along the Avenue of the Dead past smaller platform structures toward the Pyramid of the Sun, the third-largest pyramid in the world by base area, before continuing to the Pyramid of the Moon and its adjoining plaza at the avenue's northern end. Climbing the Pyramid of the Sun's steep staircase rewards visitors with a wide view over the entire ceremonial complex and the surrounding Teotihuacan Valley, while the site museum near the Ciudadela houses artifacts and a scale model useful for understanding the city's original layout, believed to have housed over 100,000 people at its peak between roughly 100 BCE and 550 CE. Because the site has almost no shade across its open plazas, arriving at opening time avoids both the worst midday heat and the largest tour-bus crowds that build up by late morning; November through February brings the coolest daytime temperatures for the long walk between structures. Many visitors pair the pyramids with a stop at the nearby Acolman ex-convento or the artisan shops selling obsidian carvings just outside the site gates.