METZTITLAN TRAVEL GUIDE

Places to Stay - Click here for price key

Right in the center of town, Hotel Posada Metztitlán ($, Calle Matamoros 203, tel. 774/743-0979; www.metztitlan.com.mx) offers Internet, parking, a swimming pool, and cable TV. The front desk can arrange area excursions.

Hotel Granaditas ($, Ave. Tepeyacapa s/n, tel. 774/743-1656 or 774/743-0917; www.hotelgranaditas.com) has covered parking, Internet, and a restaurant. Some rooms have a mini fridge and hydro-massage bathtub. You can rent horses, four-wheelers, or bicycles, or arrange hikes or a guided visit to the area. If you’re looking for something outside town, rent the hotel’s cabin ($), which offers karaoke and a temazcal steam bath in addition to an outdoor grill, hammocks, a cantina, and guided hikes and outdoor activities. The cabin is about four kilometers from downtown.

Where to Eat – Click here for price key

Proud recipient of the Distintivo M, a national award for restaurant hygiene, is Granaditas ($--$$, Ave. Tepeyacapa s/n, tel. 774/743-1656 or 774/743-0917; www.hotelgranaditas.com), at the hotel of the same name. House specialties include xalita verde, made with beef and zucchini; chicken tamales; and for vegetarians, tecocos en salsa verde: cornmeal cakes stuffed with beans or potatoes and mint. On weekends the restaurant sometimes offers seafood specials. Open daily (except Mondays) for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

With tables under the colonial colonnade and cool interior rooms, El Rincón del Jardín ($--$$, tel. 774/743-1819, www.metztitlan.com.mx) offers steak, Mexican food, regional specialties, and seafood in season. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

What to Do

Rent horses, four-wheelers, or bicycles, or arrange hikes or a guided visit to the area at Hotel Granaditas ($, Ave. Tepeyacapa s/n, tel. 774/743-1656 or 774/743-0917; www.hotelgranaditas.com). Metztitlán is an off-the-beaten-track destination that draws mainly Mexican tourists, so don’t expect guides and hotel personnel to necessarily speak English.

How to Get There and Away

By Car

To reach the Valley of Metztitlán and the town of the same name, take Mexico Hwy 105 from Pachuca and then head west on a signed road just after Puente Venados (Venados Bridge). Metztitlán is 87 km (54 mi) from Pachuca; 123 km (76 mi) from Actopan; 183 km (113 mi) from Mexico City; and 238 km (148 mi) from Puebla.

By Bus

The Flecha Roja bus line has hourly service from Pachuca’s Terminal Terrestre, the main bus station. The fare is inexpensive and the ride down into the valley is dramatic.

For More Information

If you read Spanish, www.metztitlan.com.mx is a comprehensive website with lots of background information on the Metztitlán Valley and its principal city, Metztitlán de los Santos Reyes. To talk to someone about the destination (cell phone; in Spanish only), call Lic. Jaime Asiaín López at tel. 771/127-9075.