Why this ride
A slower scenic corridor linking historic towns and cultural landmarks. It also links naturally to Earliest 16th-Century Monasteries on the Slopes of Popocatepetl.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Popocatepetl Monastery Route
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 172 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 26
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Access context
Verify security, road condition, daylight-only routing and local advisories. Specific flag: volcanic alerts; congestion.
Seasonal context
Nov-Apr
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Puebla
Puebla looks like an old Spanish painting that someone left in the sun. The colonial city, founded in 1531 on a plateau in central Mexico, has a historic centre of more than two thousand buildings covered in glazed tiles, baroque carving and bright paint, and UNESCO listed it in 1987. The street plan is a tidy grid around a large main square, the Zócalo, with a cathedral whose towers are among the tallest in the country. The ceramics called Talavera, white and blue earthenware painted with flowers, decorate churches, kitchens and fountains, and workshops in the city still make them by hand.
Read the complete Puebla write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Puebla sits at 0 km, early in the day. Next is Cholula.
2. Cholula
What looks like a hill with a church on top is actually the largest pyramid in the world by volume. The Great Pyramid of Cholula, known as Tlachihualtepetl, was built in several stages over many centuries before the Spanish conquest, and it is so overgrown with grass and trees that the Spanish took it for a natural hill and built the church of Nuestra Señora de los Remedios on its summit. Today you can walk through tunnels excavated inside it and climb to the church, from where, on a clear morning, the snow-capped cone of Popocatépetl rises behind the yellow walls.
Read the complete Cholula write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cholula comes up 30 km in. Next is Atlixco.
3. Atlixco
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.
Read the complete Atlixco write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
60 km in you reach Atlixco. Next is Tepoztlán.
4. Tepoztlán
High on the cliffs above Tepoztlán, a small stone pyramid perches on a ridge so steep you wonder how anyone carried the stones up there. El Tepozteco was dedicated to Tepoztécatl, the god of pulque, the fermented drink made from agave sap, and the climb to reach it, up a rough path through the forest, takes about an hour and leaves even fit people breathless. From the top, the view over the town and the valley, framed by the fantastically eroded rock walls of the Sierra de Tepoztlán, is extraordinary.
Read the complete Tepoztlán write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tepoztlán, late in the day. Next is Cuernavaca.
5. Cuernavaca
Mexico City's wealthy have escaped to Cuernavaca for centuries, drawn by a climate so mild it earned the nickname the city of eternal spring. Hernán Cortés built himself a palace here after the conquest, Emperor Maximilian kept a summer retreat in the Jardín Borda, and today the hills are full of walled villas, gardens and swimming pools. The city, with more than three hundred thousand people, lies at about fifteen hundred metres on the southern slopes of the volcanic mountains, roughly an hour from the capital.
Read the complete Cuernavaca write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cuernavaca sits at 172 km, late in the day.