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Popping Around Puebla, Mexico

Puebla at night

Puebla is Mexico’s 4th-largest city, but it only gets a trickle of even the non-beach tourists visiting Mexico.

Mole Poblano in PueblaThose that do pass through are usually on some kind of culinary tour. This is, after all, the land of mole poblano—that luscious and rich chocolate-tinged sauce that goes great over chicken or enchiladas.

I’m doing one of those ephemeral, photo-heavy posts on this city because it’s a real visual treat and I’m still traveling in the state of Puebla right now as this goes up. One of the most interesting aspects of this city though is the architecture, with impressive, grand colonial structures from several centuries stretching out a couple dozen blocks in multiple directions. This is not some tiny little colonial center. I wore myself out walking around just part of it one day and needed a nap. Thankfully I was here for a few days to really scope it out.

talavera Puebla potteryIt’s especially interesting to check out all the talavera tiles adorning the buildings. That’s the city’s other claim to fame and one with more permanence: this is the land of top Mexican pottery. Tiles and sinks, plates and cups, whole dish sets if you want. There are cheaper, factory-made versions of this stuff, but if you want the real deal to treasure for a lifetime, you get it here.

You can go for schlock or quality in one area, with the main artisan market having 40 or 50 stalls and then the streets surrounding it having shops where you can buy one-off quality items or a whole dining room serving set for 12. (The latter will cost you $800 to $1,200 depending on design. They take credit cards…)

Puebla Street Food and Fine Dining

I was here with my wife and daughter, so we spent a lot of time eating. You can get a good sit-down restaurant meal for $10 or less all over the city, including drinks, and we sampled a variety of different moles, including a green one made with pumpkin seeds and a pinkish one made with sesame seeds. We even took a cooking class at one of the two hotels we stayed in, the atmospheric small inn Meson Sacrastia de la Compania

With so many historic buildings here, it’s worth paying extra for the atmosphere sometimes to drink or dine in a room that is hundreds of years old. The Spanish spared no expense in many of these structures and the ones that were mansions were meant to be a display of wealth. There are also some nice rooftop spots where you can enjoy the pleasant climate. 

Puebla has a few Mexican food specialties the city is known for. If you’re on a budget, go for a cemita, which is basically a torta sandwich stuffed with lots of ingredients, including avocado, in a circular hamburger-type bun. It’ $3 or less. The other option is chalupas, which are basically soft tostadas: lightly fried small tortillas with red or green salsa, shredded beef, and cheese. They’re less than $1 each and are available at street stands all over the city.

Puebla buildings

Touring Puebla’s City Center

We visited a bunch of museums in Puebla and the highest admission charge was 35 pesos—less than $3 at the current exchange rate. Sightseeing won’t set you back much here. The Amparo Museum is one of the most eclectic I’ve ever been in anywhere: modern art in a room next to religious art, which leads to one with pre-Colombian artifacts, then a temporary exhibition area which in our case was a local photojournalist who was famous in the 1930s and 40s. You get terrific views from the cafe on the top floor.

All of the churches are free to enter, including the stunning main cathedral flanking the central plaza. This view below is a different one though: from our hotel.

Puebla city view

“Enough with the buildings, food, and museums, what can I do at night?” you may be thinking. Well, this is a big city with universities, so there’s plenty of culture and a good range of bars. This is kind of an odd city though in the sense that the historic center is almost all commercial. Hardly anyone seems to actually live there, so the streets can get surprisingly quiet at night.

Poblano street

Lucha Libre in Puebla

If you’re in Puebla on a Monday, fork over 70-150 pesos and get your tickets to…lucha libre! Mexican wrestling matches are just as fake as the WWE ones, but with better costumes. And lots of vendors passing through so you never have to leave your seat to get a beer or buy some food.

We have lots of photos from this wild night, but most of them share a characteristic with the one below: there’s a net in the way. Only with the most expensive ringside seats ($12) do you can an unobstructed view. That’s because these matches can get heated and things can go flying all over the place. including metal chairs. The audience has plenty of projectiles at their disposal from all those vendor items and the wrestlers are baiting them on. The performers are also launching themselves out of the ring on a regular basis. It’s all silly, but good fun.

Lucha Libre Puebla

I won’t pretend to be any kind of expert on Puebla as I was only there for a few days. (I’m not one of those bloggers who will write one of those “Definitive Guide to [City]” articles when I have just parachuted in for a few days.) But I liked it a lot and would definitely go back. It’s at 7,000 feet, so it only gets hot for a few hours in the afternoon. It’s easy to get to from Mexico City or Oaxaca by bus. It took us seven hours from Guanajuato, at about $54 each one-way on a first-class bus for the adult fares.

If you have ample time, you’ll also want to go visit Cholula outside of town. If you have time to roam, head north to Cuetzalan, one of the coolest little magic towns I’ve been to in Mexico. 

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Aleksei

Friday 30th of December 2016

We live on Puebla, some of our friends come to Puebla and visit Us, the enjoy the trip, and now they are invited more friends, if you never come to Puebla this place is a must!!

Alex

Thursday 6th of August 2015

What a splendid city! Here the visitor will find fascinating architecture, history, unexpected flavours in its cuisine (go easy with spicy dishes), interesting archaeological sites in the surroundings, and a good night life. Unlike Mexico City, which is hideous, Puebla is far cleaner and safer for tourists.

Undoubtedly a place to be discovered !

Tim Leffel

Sunday 9th of August 2015

Well, I wouldn't call Mexico City "hideous" and it's certainly much livelier than Puebla at night. The center is quite dead in the latter in the evenings---like everyone clears out and goes back to the suburbs. But it is a clean and lovely place for strolling around.

Suki F

Monday 28th of April 2014

Looks like a cool place. I never thought of it as a destination before but it actually sounds good.