Our Cheap Day Trip To Cholula (Mexico)

Many months ago when researching Puebla as a slow-travel destination in Mexico, we kept reading that we’d need to make a day trip to Cholula, a Pueblo Magico just 30 minutes west of the city.

The Great Pyramid of Cholula, the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Remedios built on top of the pyramid, the quaint downtown, and the many museums and churches were among the many reasons to visit.

So far every Pueblo Magico we have visited has been a fun experience, some more than others.

But they all have been worthy of our time and attention since they were always a reasonably short bus ride from our home bases. But at only 30 minutes away, a trip to Cholula would be one of the easiest we could make!

So how did we get to Cholula and did we like it?

Was it worth all the praise from other Puebla visitors?

Let’s find out.

Getting To Cholula By Bus

Of course, you could take a car or taxi to get to Cholula. But renting a car and paying expensive taxi fares were not very appealing options.

Thankfully, there is a dedicated bus route between Puebla City and Cholula.

And it is super cheap.

We just went to the Autobuses Puebla – Cholula & Anexas Bus Station here:

And we picked up a 9 am bus headed to Cholula.

Buses leave about every 15 minutes. A one-way fare costs $10 MEX ($0.60 USD) each and you pay the driver directly IN CASH.

During the ride, we kept an eye on our travel progress using Google Maps, and got off the bus here (next to a Nissan dealer):

The ride to Cholula took just over 30 minutes.

TO RETURN TO PUEBLA we picked up the bus at the Puebla – Cholula & Anexas bus stop directly across the traffic circle from where we were first dropped off:

Off To Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Remedios

Once we got off the bus, we walked directly to the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Remedios, a 16th-century church with quite an interesting history.

We deviated a little from this map route and walked up the steep stairway at the back of the church, between the church and the Regional Museum of Cholula.

The climb up the MANY stairs to Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Remedios, built on top of the Great Pyramid of Cholula, was a workout!

But thankfully our strength training regimen prepared us for this sort of thing and we were no worse for the wear once we had a few moments to rest at the top.

And the view at the top was beautiful! And the church itself was very pretty with the lighting at that time of morning.

The inside of the church was pretty as well.

The church also had several rooms behind the main congregation hall containing relics, murals, and special worship areas. Sadly, photographs were not allowed. But make sure you check it out if you go yourself!

The Great Pyramid of Cholula

The largest pyramid in the world by volume, we knew we’d have to visit the Great Pyramid of Cholula.

And since we were right on top of the pyramid, visiting the Great Pyramid of Cholula Archaeological Zone would be easy!

At first glance, the pyramid looks like a hill. But that is due to neglect from when the site was last abandoned as an indigenous settlement to when the Spaniards first arrived.

Dedicated to the god Quetzalcoatl, the pyramid went through 4 stages of construction, starting in the 3rd century BC and continuing through the 9th century AD. In prehispanic times, it was an important cultural and mythic center for the region. At its zenith, the site was said to house 100,000 people.

Although much more remains to be excavated at the site, you can read about what is currently known about the Great Pyramid of Cholula HERE.

So we walked downhill to the entrance to the archaeological zone. The entrance fee was $95 MEX ($5.69 USD) for non-nationals, which we thought was reasonable. And the entire site only takes about 45 minutes to explore thoroughly.

Sadly, they no longer let you explore the tunnels at the site, nor climb on the ruins, although it looks like they did at one point.

But still, it was nice to see the excavated pyramid ruins up close.

Here are some of the best pictures we took!

More Churches at Plaza de la Concordia

After touring the archaeological zone, we wandered through the streets of Cholula in the direction of the Plaza de la Concordia, the local central park.

But on the way, we saw some cool street art!

We eventually entered through a side entrance into the courtyard for Capilla Real de Naturales and Convento de San Gabriel Arcángel, both of which dominate the town center.

Both structures were impressive.

Here are some pictures from Capilla Real de Naturales.

And here are some pictures from Convento de San Gabriel Arcángel.

After exploring those churches, we then left through the main gate and walked through Plaza de la Concordia park, while contemplating what we would do for lunch.

Lunch Time!

After considering our options, we stumbled across a really nice local restaurant near Plaza de la Concordia that had great food for reasonable prices – El Porton:

We were pretty famished and got one of their lunch specials for $150 MEX ($8.99 USD) per plate.

There was a lot of food, but we felt like we earned it!

The Regional Museum of Cholula

It was after 1 pm by the time we finished lunch, so we wanted to make time for one of the more promising-looking museums in Cholula – The Regional Museum of Cholula.

The general admission fee is only $45 MEX ($2.70 USD) for non-nationals.

But we bought a package deal that allowed us to view the permanent exhibits, as well as the temporary exhibition “Somos Guardianes“, by the artist César Menchaca. Total cost = $94 MEX ($5.63 USD) per person.

We didn’t know anything about the artist or his works, but the posters around town looked cool, so we were game!

The general museum is made up of multiple separate buildings, each with display salons featuring aspects of the natural history, culture, and art of the Cholula region. And the period ranged from prehispanic, all the way through modern times.

Here are some examples of what we saw in the general museum areas.

It took us a couple of hours to digest the permanent exhibits and we really enjoyed the museum.

A required visit for anyone visiting Cholula.

But the REALLY cool stuff was seen as part of the Somos Guardianes (= our guardians) special exhibit by the artist César Menchaca.

The art produced by his workshop has been dispalyed all over the world, and we can see why.

Not being artsy types, we’d never heard of him before. But we REALLY liked his art!

We can totally see why it has global appeal.

Here are some of our favorite pictures.

Then we entered what I called the “Thundercats Ho!” part of the special exhibition.

As a nice cherry on top of our time here, we unknowingly struck up a conversation (in Spanish) with the artist, César Menchaca, while exploring the exhibition! He approached us while we were looking around and was very interested to know what we thought of the exhibition as outsiders to Mexican culture.

We thought he was just another friendly local!

But eventually, we put two and two together and realized we were talking with the artist. He was a super nice guy!

And he was over-the-moon happy to get selfies with us and his favorite pieces.

What a great way to finish our museum visit!

But Wait, There’s More

By the time we were done at the museum, it was just after 4 pm.

But because Rhonda felt the urge to push her physical limits, we headed to the top of the Great Pyramid AGAIN to see Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Remedios and the surrounding views in the afternoon light.

And when we were done, we were pretty beat. It was definitely time to head back to Puebla, so we limped back down the hill to catch the bus.

Closing Thoughts On Our Trip to Cholula

By the time we collapsed back at our Puebla Airbnb, we had hiked over 15 miles (24 kilometers)! It was a long day and we walked many miles, but we had a wonderful time.

It is so easy to get to Cholula by bus, that making the trip really is a requirement for anyone staying in Puebla. We enjoyed Cholula so much, we went twice!

And we still haven’t seen everything.

Highly recommended, for anyone who might be on the fence about making a trip to Cholula.

Until next time…

Thanks for reading!

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