Flowers are Atlixco's trade and its pride. The town lies on the southern slopes of Popocatépetl, at a lower altitude than Puebla, and its mild climate and fertile volcanic soil have made it one of the main producers of ornamental plants in Mexico. Nurseries line the roads around town, selling everything from roses and poinsettias to fruit trees, and in November the town fills its streets with carpets of flowers for the Day of the Dead. The local festival, the Huey Atlixcáyotl, celebrates the indigenous dances and traditions of the region.
Atlixco is a town of more than eighty thousand people, with a colonial centre of arcades, churches and a big plaza with a bandstand. Above the town rises the Cerro de San Miguel, a hill with a small chapel on its summit, reached by a long staircase. From the top, the view over the town and the valley, with the volcano behind, is superb, especially on a clear morning. At the foot of the hill stands the old Franciscan convent, one of many the friars founded around the volcano in the sixteenth century. Three nearby, at Huejotzingo, Calpan and Tochimilco, belong to the group of early monasteries on the slopes of Popocatépetl that UNESCO lists as a World Heritage Site.
For riders, the roads around Atlixco are some of the best in the area. The road south toward Izúcar de Matamoros descends through farmland and sugar cane fields, while the roads climbing toward the volcano, through villages like Tochimilco, are steep and twisty, with stunning views of Popocatépetl. The road west toward Morelos and the other monasteries crosses ravines and hills with plenty of curves. Watch for topes in every village, animals on the road and slow trucks on the climbs.
Atlixco has fuel, food and plenty of places to stay. The local food is excellent, with dishes like cecina, thin salted beef, and the market is a good place to try it. The climate is mild most of the year, earning the town its reputation for one of the best climates in Mexico. As always in this area, check the activity of Popocatépetl, which occasionally spreads ash over the town and the roads, and avoid the higher slopes when the alert level is raised.