Layout of Tepic
Tepic occupies a broad valley at about 920 m, high enough that its climate is temperate rather than tropical although the sea is only 40 km away. Two volcanic masses frame it: Sanganguey, a cone of roughly 2,340 m, closes the valley to the south-east, and the forested Sierra de San Juan rises to a little over 2,200 m on the west. The Río Mololoa crosses the southern side of the city on its way to join the Río Santiago.
The old centre is a compact colonial grid around the Plaza Principal, with the cathedral of the Purísima Concepción and its two neo-Gothic towers on the east side and the Palacio de Gobierno opposite. Avenida México is the axis of the city, running south from the plaza for about 3 km to the Parque La Loma, and most of the museums, including the state regional museum with its Huichol collection, stand on or just off it. The city has grown north and east up the valley since the 1970s. Highway 15D, the toll road between Guadalajara and Mazatlán, passes around the eastern side, and Highway 200 leaves the southern edge for the coast. The central de autobuses is on that southern side near the Highway 15 junction, served by TAP, Primera Plus, ETN and Vallarta Plus rather than by ADO. Amado Nervo National Airport (TPQ), named for the poet born in Tepic in 1870, is about 12 km north-west of the centre and handles only a small number of domestic flights, so most visitors arrive through Puerto Vallarta or Guadalajara.
Distances from Tepic
| Place | km | Time | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tepic airport (TPQ) | 12 | 20 min | Taxi |
| Laguna de Santa María del Oro | 45 | 45 min | Highway 15 south-east, then side road |
| San Blas | 70 | 1 h 10 | Road west to the coast |
| Sayulita | 120 | 1 h 45 | Highway 200 south |
| Puerto Vallarta | 160 | 2 h 30 | Highway 200 south |
| Guadalajara | 220 | 2 h 30 | Highway 15D |
| Mazatlán | 290 | 3 h | Highway 15D north |
| Manzanillo | 440 | 6 h | Highway 200 down the coast |
| Culiacán | 500 | 5 h | Highway 15D north |
| Mexico City | 780 | 8 h 30 | Highway 15D via Guadalajara |
Around Tepic
Nayarit is one of the smallest states, and almost everything in it is within two hours of the capital. The Laguna de Santa María del Oro, 45 km south-east, is a crater lake about 2 km across held in a caldera at roughly 730 m, with a single village on its shore. The Ceboruco volcano, on the Guadalajara road about 65 km away, produced the last eruption in the state, a lava flow that ran through the 1870s and is still bare rock. West of the city the land falls to a coastal plain of marsh and mangrove: San Blas, 70 km away, was the Spanish naval yard for the Pacific and the departure point for the California expeditions, and keeps the ruined church and customs house on the Cerro de la Contaduría above the estuary. The boat trip up the creek to the La Tovara springs runs from there through the mangroves.
Further north-west, past the shrimp lagoons, is Mexcaltitán, a small island town laid out in a circle in the middle of a marsh, which some accounts identify with the Aztec homeland of Aztlán. The Sierra del Nayar behind the city to the north-east is the territory of the Wixárika, or Huichol, and Cora peoples, and Tepic is the market and museum town for Huichol beadwork and yarn painting. South of the city Highway 200 reaches the beaches of the Riviera Nayarit, the run of coast from San Francisco and Sayulita down to Banderas Bay and Puerto Vallarta in Jalisco. See the Pacific Coast page for the wider shore, the volcanoes map for Ceboruco and Sanganguey, and the beaches map for the Nayarit coast.
Questions about Tepic
Where is Tepic on the map of Mexico?
In a highland valley on the Pacific side of western Mexico, about 40 km inland from the sea and 220 km north-west of Guadalajara. It is the capital of Nayarit, sits at 21.51° N at about 920 m, and stands between the Sanganguey volcano to the south-east and the Sierra de San Juan to the west.
How far is Tepic from Puerto Vallarta?
About 160 km on Highway 200, two and a half hours through the hills and down to the coast. Buses run the route hourly. Puerto Vallarta is also the practical airport for the southern half of Nayarit, since Tepic's own airport has only a handful of domestic flights.
Is Tepic in a different time zone from Puerto Vallarta?
Yes, by one hour. Tepic and most of Nayarit keep Mountain time (UTC−7), but the municipality of Bahía de Banderas at the southern tip of the state, which includes Nuevo Vallarta, Bucerías and Sayulita, moved to Central time (UTC−6) in 2010 to match Puerto Vallarta across the state line. Clocks no longer change: Mexico dropped daylight saving in October 2022.
What is there to see near Tepic?
The crater lake at Santa María del Oro, 45 km south-east; the old port of San Blas with its hilltop fort and the mangrove springs at La Tovara, 70 km west; the Ceboruco volcano, which last erupted in the 1870s; and the beaches of the Riviera Nayarit an hour and a half south.
Is Tepic safe to visit?
Nayarit carries a US State Department Level 2 advisory, exercise increased caution, and the department places no travel restrictions on its own employees anywhere in the state. Check the current advisory before travelling.