Puebla, Mexico 🇲🇽 - Part 1
We thought of Puebla as a small colonial town outside Mexico City. It turned out to be the 4th largest city of Mexico with a population of 1.5 million so not small at all. The city has beautiful colonial architecture and a rich culinary history. There were so many picture-worthy moments in Puebla that I have to split it into two parts. Part 1 - the first two days of our visit were spent exploring Puebla’s historic center.
map
itinerary
highlights
gallery
Overview
Getting around the city was pretty easy and cheap with Uber. The rides we took in the city were usually US$2-3 per ride (at most $5).
English is not well understood or spoken by local people. Hotel staff speak decent English but outside that, you should have Google Translate app ready if you don’t speak Spanish. Most restaurants we ate at were quite modern/international but we would be lucky to find one waiter that could communicate in English.
One other thing to note is that Mexico is very dry. Even in winter months like February, the dry air makes the warm temperature feel really hot so wear summer shorts during the day between 10am and 10pm. For early morning and late evening hours, you will need layers (a sweater or a light jacket). If you are not used to the dry weather, you might also be prone to dry skin, chapped lips, frizzy hair, and even nose bleeds (our little one had multiple accidents on the trip).
Day 1 Itinerary
Places visited: Mexico City International Airport - Azul Talavera Hotel - Azul Talavera Hotel - Templo de San Francisco - Paseo San Francisco - Restaurante Casareyna
Arrival in Mexico City
Azul Talavera Hotel
Previously part of Rosewood, Hotel Azul Talavera has upscale rooms, beautiful common space, and impeccable services. The hotel is located on the edge of the old town so a good base to explore. It’s about a 15-20 mins walk from the hotel to the center square (Zocola) and it’s a very enjoyable walk as you will pass many beautiful sites.
The hotel front desk and concierge are extremely helpful in making our stay comfortable (Oscar is the man to ask for any local recommendations at the concierge) . We requested a crib for our little one and not only did they deliver a crib, it also came with a set of baby beddings and pillow. They even left us a whole set of baby products (shampoo, soap, moisturizer).
The courtyard restaurant and the rooftop bar+ pool are both gorgeous spaces to relax at the hotel. The restaurant has outdoor seating overlooking the garden and the lawn. Almost every night during our stay, there was some special event like a birthday party or a wedding so it must be a popular event space for locals.
Hotel Rooftop
The rooftop is our favorite hangout spot at the hotel. The view is just gorgeous and the heated pool was an instant hit with the little one. We spent some relaxing and quality family time there every day :).
Templo de San Francisco
Paseo San Francisco
Restaurante Casareyna
Food was ok but we were not blown away. We liked a few dishes: fried parsley, white mole (mole is a specialty dish originated from Puebla and their version of white mole uses pine nuts instead of the more common peanuts), and grilled beef tongue (really tender).
Day 2 Itinerary
Places visited: Azul Talavera Hotel - Bistrot Pasquinel - Templo de San Francisco - Artist Quarter - Museo Casa de Alfeñique - Parian market - Templo de la Compañía de Jesús - Templo de Santo Domingo, Puebla - Capilla del Rosario, Santo Domingo - La Victoria Centro Comercial - Calle Cinco de Mayo - Zocalo - Catedral de Puebla - House of Culture of Puebla - Biblioteca Palafoxiana - Casa Mimi - Profética - Puebla Centro - Amparo Museum - Plazuela de los Sapos - Casa Barroca - Puebla
Azul Talavera Hotel
Gorgeous morning views of the old town with an active volcano in the background.
Bistrot Pasquinel
Our room included free American breakfast at the hotel restaurant, Bistrot Pasquinel. The restaurant itself is very beautiful. Because the hotel wasn’t that busy, we got this window table with a nice view every morning. The breakfast itself was simple but made with high quality ingredients. The crossaint and home made granola were excellent.
Templo de San Francisco
Artist Quarter
Charming area with numerous spaces for artists to work and showcase.
Museo Casa de Alfeñique
The building next to the museum is quite nice looking too!
Parian market
Templo de la Compañía de Jesús
Templo de Santo Domingo
Capilla del Rosario
La Victoria Centro Comercial
Calle Cinco de Mayo
A quaint shopping street that leads to the city center (Zocola).
Zocalo
Catedral de Puebla
House of Culture of Puebla
We stumbled upon the Culture House of Puebla when looking for Biblioteca Palafoxiana, the old city library, which happens to locate on the 2nd floor of the Culture House. Lucky for us, we got to enjoy a performance of Hawaiian dance, completely free to public. It was also a nice break from all the morning walk of sightseeing.
Biblioteca Palafoxiana
Casa Mimi
A cute cafe (serves mostly salads and panini sandwiches) for lunch. The street the cafe is on has some very pretty houses.
Profética (Library Cafe)
A bookstore + library + cafe, good for a coffee break.
Puebla Centro
Colorful buildings and churches are everywhere if you walk around the old town center of Puebla. Many of them I can’t even find names for so I will just tag them as Centro Puebla here 😁
Amparo Museum
A museum for modern and colonial art.
Plazuela de los Sapos
"Alley of the Frogs" is among the top things to do for Puebla on TripAdvisor but we had a hard time finding it because there is no street actually called "Calle de Los Sapos". We eventually found a flea market on Calle 6 Sur and realized this was the "Alley of the Frogs". The segment of the street right passed the flea market is one of the prettiest streets we have seen in Puebla.
Casa Barroca
A beautiful restaurant with great food. Service was great too. Highly recommend! A similar meal would have cost 3x in the States 😉.
Puebla at Night
Puebla is pretty at night too! All the monuments are well-lit.