Layout of Toluca
Toluca de Lerdo stands at 2,660 m in a wide, flat, cold basin between the Nevado de Toluca to the south-west and the Sierra de las Cruces to the east, the ridge that separates it from the Valley of Mexico. Its 910,608 residents (INEGI, 2020) make it the largest city in the State of Mexico outside the Mexico City conurbation, and the metropolitan area that runs on into Metepec, Zinacantepec, Lerma and San Mateo Atenco holds about 2.35 million people. The Río Lerma, which eventually reaches the Pacific through Lake Chapala, rises in marshes at the southern end of this valley.
The centre is built around the Plaza de los Mártires, one of the largest squares in Mexico, closed on the north by the Palacio de Gobierno of the state, on the east by the Palacio Municipal and on the south by the Catedral de San José, begun in 1867 and not finished until 1978. South of it run Los Portales, a continuous arcade of shops and cafés built from 1832 along three sides of the blocks below the square — the standard meeting point in the city. Two streets east, the Cosmovitral Jardín Botánico occupies the former 16 de Septiembre market hall of 1909–1933, glazed in 1980 with about 3,500 m² of stained glass by Leopoldo Flores and planted as a botanical garden inside.
Paseo Tollocan, the continuation of Highway 15, runs east–west along the southern edge of the centre and is the road to Mexico City; Boulevard Isidro Fabela crosses it north–south. Toluca International (TLC) lies 10 km west at Zinacantepec, at 2,580 m one of the highest commercial airports in the country. The Terminal de Autobuses sits just off Paseo Tollocan south-east of the centre, with departures to Mexico City's Observatorio terminal roughly every ten minutes.
The altitude sets the climate: the annual mean is about 12.5 °C, the coldest of any major Mexican city, with a dry, bright winter and a rainy season from June to September. The valley is also one of the country's industrial belts — vehicle assembly and components, brewing, chemicals and food processing along the Lerma corridor — which is why the population trebled between 1970 and 2020. The city has a cluster of museums in and around the Plaza Garibay, including the Museo de Bellas Artes in a former eighteenth-century Carmelite convent, and it is known for green chorizo and for the Nemesio Díez stadium, home of Deportivo Toluca.
Distances from Toluca
| Place | km | Time | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metepec | 8 | 15 min | City road, local bus |
| Toluca airport (TLC) | 10 | 20 min | Taxi, shuttle |
| Teotenango archaeological site | 25 | 35 min | Hwy 55 to Tenango del Valle |
| Nevado de Toluca crater | 45 | 1 h 30 | Hwy 134 then park track |
| Mexico City | 65 | 1 h | Hwy 15D, bus to Observatorio |
| Valle de Bravo | 75 | 1 h 30 | Hwy 134 |
| Cuernavaca | 115 | 2 h | Hwy 55 via Ixtapan de la Sal |
| Taxco | 155 | 2 h 30 | Hwy 55 |
| Querétaro | 190 | 2 h 30 | Hwy 55 via Atlacomulco |
| Morelia | 190 | 2 h 15 | Hwy 15D |
| Puebla | 195 | 3 h | Hwy 15D then 150D |
Around Toluca
Metepec, 8 km south-east and now continuous with the city, is the pottery town: its workshops make the painted clay árboles de la vida, tree-shaped candelabra several feet high, and it keeps a hilltop former Franciscan monastery of 1569. Calixtlahuaca, on a hillside 10 km north, was a Matlatzinca and later Aztec town and has a rare circular temple to Ehécatl, the wind god. Teotenango, 25 km south at Tenango del Valle, is a walled hilltop settlement occupied from about 900 to 1550 with ball courts and plazas laid out along a terrace.
The Nevado de Toluca, 4,680 m, fills the horizon to the south-west. It is Mexico's fourth-highest mountain and its crater holds the Laguna del Sol and Laguna de la Luna, reachable by a track that climbs to about 4,200 m; the whole cone has been protected since 1936. West of the volcano, Valle de Bravo sits above a reservoir at 1,830 m and is the weekend town for sailing and paragliding, 75 km from Toluca; the monarch butterfly reserves lie further west across the Michoacán line. To the south, Ixtapan de la Sal has thermal springs and Malinalco an Aztec temple cut directly into the rock face. The rest of Central Mexico is within a morning's drive, and the volcanoes map shows where the Nevado sits in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt.
Questions about Toluca
Where is Toluca on the map of Mexico?
In the Toluca valley 65 km west of Mexico City, at 19.29° N, 99.66° W. It is the capital of the State of Mexico, the most populous state in the country, and the seat of its government.
How high is Toluca?
2,660 m above sea level, which makes it the highest state capital in Mexico — some 420 m higher than Mexico City. Nights are cold all year and frost is normal between November and February.
Can you fly into Toluca instead of Mexico City?
Yes. Toluca International (TLC) sits at Zinacantepec about 10 km west of the centre and takes domestic and low-cost flights, mainly to Monterrey, Guadalajara, Cancún and Tijuana. It is 65 km from Mexico City by the 15D motorway and is used as an overflow airport for the capital.
Can you climb the Nevado de Toluca?
The volcano, called Xinantécatl in Nahuatl, reaches 4,680 m and is the fourth-highest peak in Mexico. A dirt road climbs into the crater at about 4,200 m, where the Lagunas del Sol and de la Luna sit; the summit rim is a walk of a few hours from there, and the flanks are a protected area.