For the past two years, my husband and I have debated what to do for Christmas. He cannot go to the U.S. because we are waiting for his green card, and the flights to Colombia around Christmas are expensive. So last year, we spent the weekend in San Miguel de Allende – see the post A Weekend in San Miguel de Allende – and this year, we decided to spent Christmas weekend in Puebla, Mexico.
Only about two and a half hours by car or bus from Mexico City, Puebla is a large city that feels like a town. The city of Puebla has much to offer, and a surprising amount of good restaurants. We even found an excellent specialty cafe. Here are our recommendations for what to do on a Christmas weekend in Puebla, or any other weekend for that matter!
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How to get to and around Puebla
From Mexico City, Puebla is a quick trip. We booked an ADO bus online. I recommend booking online to avoid long lines at the terminal. From Terminal Norte, it’s about 2.5 hours to CAPU Puebla station. From there, you can take an Uber or Secure Taxi from the station. If you take a taxi, always make sure to take the secure taxis where you pay in advance. You will see stations that sell the fares in the bus station. The round trip bus tickets to Puebla were about 550 pesos ($32) per person, and the Uber from the bus station was about 100 pesos ($6). We had no problems taking Ubers around the city.
Where to Stay in Puebla
Here, I will give you three options for where to stay in Puebla, but there are truly a ton of great and well-priced hotels. We stayed near, but not on, the Zocalo (main square), at Hotel Casa Monarca, and it was the perfect ambiance and price. If you want something a little more high end, we also visited two other nice hotels on our trip that I’d recommend.
Hotel Casa Monarca ($)
We stayed in Hotel Casa Monarca, a four star boutique hotel with about 15 rooms. It was about $50 per night, and honestly wonderful. The rooms were clean, well furnished, and super comfortable. Comfort was important for us on this trip since we knew we wouldn’t be out late, but rather, spending time relaxing in the hotel. We loved the room, and the hotel even had a little spa that we took advantage of on Christmas morning. We ate breakfast and one lunch at their cafe, Cafe Tres Gallos, since a lot of places were not open for Christmas. It was a great option, and perfect for our Christmas weekend in Puebla.
Hotel Casareyna ($$)
We haven’t stayed here, but this is another four star hotel where we went to dinner one night. It’s well-appointed with a few restaurants and little shop. It has great reviews. Rooms are about $120 per night.
Banyan Tree Hotel ($$$)
We chose to go to this luxury five star hotel for dinner and drinks on our first night because it has a nice rooftop bar and restaurant. The Banyan Tree is about $250 per night, and is located on some beautiful grounds just outside the center of the city. I would definitely love to stay there at some point, as for a luxury hotel, the price is pretty good. At a minimum, the rooftop is a great place to have a drink and enjoy the view.
What to do in Puebla
There are many things to do in Puebla for a weekend away. Since we spent a Christmas weekend in Puebla, many sites were closed, so we will have to go back to see a few things. Just exploring the city and Zocalo was fine with us, since we knew many places would be closed for the holiday.
Go to Cholula
Contrary to popular belief, and to my great disappointment, the town of Cholula has nothing to do with Cholula hot sauce. Cholula hot sauce, to my chagrin, is actually made in Jalisco, Mexico. Nevertheless, this is a great half day trip from Puebla. Located only a few miles from Puebla is the charming Puebla Magico of Cholula.
Fun fact, Cholula is the longest continually inhabited city in North America. It is best known for the Sanctuario de la Virgen de los Remedios as well as the great pyramid next to it. We were able to visit the church, but the pyramid was closed on Christmas Eve. This was fine for us because you can still see the pyramid near the church. I recommend the church, although it’s a steep climb, it’s a nice place to visit. Getting to Cholula by Uber costs about 150 pesos ($8) from the center of Puebla.
Visit one of the 288 Churches
Puebla is a city of churches. There are 288 (minimum) official churches in Puebla, and they are truly everywhere. For us, going to Puebla during Christmas, it was fun just to walk in and see the decorations and nativities set up. The most famous is the Cathedral de Puebla, located right in the Zocalo, but I loved the Templo de la Compañía. It has a beautiful pinkish facade, especially at twilight.
Puente de Bubas
It was once rumored that all of the churches in Puebla were connected by underground tunnels. However, no one could find them. Then, a few years ago, they found a tunnel with a bridge, and now you can go visit it. We were unable to visit because it was closed for the holidays, but this is one of the things I would do in Puebla.
The Smallest Volcano in the World – Cuexcomate
If you’re up for it, Puebla is also home to the smallest volcano in the world. This tiny, inactive volcano is a popular site for visitors. It’s just a little volcano which you can climb down inside. A good stop if you have the time!
Where to Eat in Puebla
Puebla has a ton of good restaurants and food. Get ready to eat a lot of Mexican dishes. Almost all of the restaurants we were recommended were local favorites. The specialties of this region include sopas, mole poblano, pipian, and chalupas, to name a few. I definitely recommend trying all of these at some point throughout your trip. Here are a few places we tried and a few more that were recommended to us!
Places We Ate
La Mexicana ($$)
This classically Mexican restaurant is located inside of an old poblano house with wood beamed ceilings and flowing plants. It was decorated for Christmas with pinatas and beautiful artwork. Most of the people there were families enjoying the day before Christmas Eve. At this classic poblano restaurant we tried the sopa de tortilla, which comes with tortillas, panela cheese, dried peppers and chicharron for toppings. We also got the sopas with arrachera (ribs), pipian verde with chicken, and the enchiladas mixtas. The enchiladas were a good choice if you want to try all three sauces – mole poblano, pipian verde, and pipian rojo. A trifecta of poblano sauces.
Restaurante Casa Reyna ($$)
Located in a 4-star hotel, we chose this restaurant for Christmas Eve dinner. It was full of families enjoying the night out and the service was excellent. You can reserve online directly, and the restaurant has an extensive wine list, which was a plus for me. For dinner, we shared a salad, and my husband had the salmon tamarindo whereas I chose a classic mole poblano with chicken. I really can’t get enough mole – it’s one of my favorite Mexican dishes when done right.
Saffron ($$$)
On our first night in Puebla, we had a late lunch at La Mexicana, and I wanted to check out a bar to have a glass of wine. We stumbled upon the Banyan Tree rooftop, which also happens to have a great view of the city and a Thai restaurant. Since we had lunch very late, we decided to split a pad thai for dinner from their restaurant, Saffron, and it was perfect. I didn’t expect such good Thai food in Puebla, but it certainly surprised me! Even if you don’t stay at this hotel, it’s a great option for a fun and elegant dinner with a view.
Cafe Cultura – Honorable Coffee Mention
My husband is a coffee connoisseur, so whenever we go anywhere, we are looking for specialty coffee shops. We were not optimistic about finding a place in Puebla, but we did, and it was excellent. We had a very good V60 pour over coffee and my husband bought two bags of coffee beans. If it had been open December 24th and 25th, we would have been there everyday.
Places We Were Recommended
The below is a list of places we were recommended or researched, but didn’t have time to go to. Next time!
Restaurants
- La Route des Vins La Paz ($$)
- La Casa del Mendrugo ($$)
- Brasa Negra ($$)
- Mural de los Poblanos ($$$)
- Augurio ($$$)
- Intro ($$$)
