13 Best Sights in Around Mexico City, Mexico

Watch painters and sculptors at work in the galleries in this neighborhood, amid bronze monuments to poblano authors and poets. Farther down Calle 8 Norte, you can buy Talavera pottery and other local crafts from the dozens of small stores and street vendors. There are occasional weekend concerts and open-air theater performances.

Puebla is famous for all kinds of homemade goodies. Calle de Santa Clara, also known as Sweets Street, is lined with shops selling a wide variety of sugary treats in the shape of sacred hearts, guitars, and sombreros. Don't miss the cookies—they're even more delicious than they look.

"Alley of the Toads" cuts diagonally behind the cathedral. The attached square has a bustling weekend antiques market with all sorts of Mexican art, from elaborately carved doors to small paintings on pieces of tin offering thanks to a saint for favors. There are also cafés filled with young people listening to live music on weekend nights.

Construction on the cathedral began between 1536 and 1539. Work was completed by Puebla's most famous son, Bishop Juan de Palafox y Mendoza, who donated his personal fortune to build its famous tower, the second largest in the country. The altar was constructed between 1797 and 1818. Manuel Tolsá, Mexico's most illustrious colonial architect, adorned it with onyx, marble, and gold.

The former convent houses a museum of crafts from the state's seven regions. The museum also contains the intricately tiled kitchen where Puebla's renowned mole poblano sauce is believed to have been invented by the nuns, as a surprise for their demanding bishop.

La Hacienda de Panoaya, also known as Parque de los Venados Acariciables (pettable deer), has plenty of animals for curious kids, with ostriches, emus, and llamas as well as deer (horseback rides are also a possibility). But the menagerie is only part of the game; there are also two museums, and activities like zip-lining, a maze, and water sports. The Museo Internacional de los Volcanes has some interesting information on volcanoes, but it's primarily a big thrill for kids, who love to scream at the recorded sound of an eruption. Meanwhile, the Museo Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz honors its namesake, a nun, scholar, and author who learned to read here and went on to produce some of the most significant poetry and prose of the 17th century. De la Cruz's intellectual accomplishments were truly exceptional in her time, as was her fervent defense of women's rights. The hacienda is a 15-minute walk out of town along the Boulevard Iztaccíhuatl.

This market is the place for kitschy versions of such tourist souvenirs as toy guitars and colorful sombreros. Feel free to haggle. For better-quality goods, La Casa del Artesano, alongside the market, is the state-sponsored shop for regional craftwork.

Home to the private collection of pre-Columbian and colonial-era art of Mexican banker and philanthropist Manuel Espinoza Yglesias, Museo Amparo is one of the country's grandest museums. It exhibits unforgettable pieces from all over Mexico, including more than 2,000 pre-Hispanic artifacts. The collection includes colonial-era painting, sculpture, and decorative objects and a small modern art section notable for works by Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Miguel Felguérez, and Vicente Rojo.

This former convent (sometimes called Ex-Convento de Santa Mónica) opened in 1688 as a spiritual refuge for women whose husbands were away on business. Despite the Reform Laws of the 1850s, it continued to function until 1934. It is said that the women here invented the famous dish called chiles en nogada, a complicated recipe that incorporates the red, white, and green colors of the Mexican flag. Curiosities include the gruesome display of the preserved heart of the convent's founder and paintings in the Sala de los Terciopelos (Velvet Room), in which the feet and faces seem to change position as you view them from different angles.

Occupying a train station inaugurated by President Juárez in 1869, the National Railway Museum extends a nostalgic treat. Period engines sit on the now-unused platforms, and several cars—including a caboose—can be explored.

Named for Erasto Cortés Juárez, the city's most important 20th-century artist, this museum displays his vibrant engravings and portraits. It also showcases up-and-coming international artists.

The magnificent church of St. Dominic is famous for its overwhelming Capilla del Rosario (Chapel of the Rosary), where almost every inch of the walls and ceilings is covered with gilded carvings. Dominican friars arrived here in 1534, barely a dozen years after the Spanish conquered this region. The Capilla de la Tercera Orden (Chapel of the Third Order) was originally called the "Chapel of the Dark-Skinned Ones," named for the mixed-race population born a short time later.

Founded in 1824, this is one of the few authentic Talavera workshops left today. To be the real deal, pieces must be hand-painted in intricate designs with natural dyes derived from minerals. That's why only five colors are used: blue, black, yellow, green, and a reddish pink.

English- and Spanish-language tours take place weekdays every half hour between 10 and 2 and cost about MX$500. If you miss the tour, you can only visit the shop and the patio.