San Juan Teotihuacán and San Martín de las Pirámides

What are San Juan Teotihuacán and San Martín de las Pirámides?

San Juan Teotihuacán and San Martín de las Pirámides are the two towns at the gates of the zone, joint Pueblo Mágico since 2015. The zone straddles both municipalities, so the title is shared. You reach San Juan by the road out of Gate 2.

San Juan Teotihuacán lies south-west of Gate 2, about 3.2 km by road. The centre has the cathedral of the Divino Redentor and the ex-convent of San Juan Bautista, founded 1548. The CASART crafts shop is inside the Museo Comunitario Quetzalpapalotl. The museum keeps a room on pulque. The Obsidian Festival is in March; the 2020 state catalogue gives 16 to 21 March.

San Martín de las Pirámides is north of the Pyramid of the Moon, about 2.0 km by road from Gate 3. Plaza Benito Juárez is the centre. The parish of San Martín de Tours, built 1638, faces the plaza. The town also lists the Ecce Homo shrine and an obsidian museum in its library.

The Plaza del Artesano is the crafts plaza; the mercado gastronómico is the food market. The Feria de la Tuna, the prickly-pear fair, is in August; in 2026 it ran from 14 to 16 August.

Where to stay near the Teotihuacan pyramids

Villas Arqueológicas, Quinto Sol, Central Pirámides, La Casona, El Jaguar and Club Campestre are the 6 hotels near the zone with official websites. One is on the ring road, one in San Juan Teotihuacán, four in San Martín de las Pirámides.

Villas Arqueológicas is on the Circuito Arqueológico, the ring road. Quinto Sol is at Avenida Hidalgo 26 in San Juan. In San Martín, Central Pirámides is at Avenida Tuxpan 7 and La Casona Pirámides at Avenida Tomás Alva Edison 47. El Jaguar is at Avenida Periférico 208. Club Campestre is at the km 27 exit of the Tuxpan to Poza Rica road.

The municipality of San Martín lists 10 hotels on its official site. If you fly at dawn, you sleep on the San Martín side. The launch fields lie between km 27.3 and km 28.0 of the Carretera México-Tulancingo. The balloons page has the operators.

Obsidian workshops and tasting stops on Teotihuacan tours

The workshop stop on a Turibus day tour is in San Martín de las Pirámides, with a tasting for adults of 18 and over. You watch an obsidian carving demonstration, then see silver jewellery and folk art. The tasting is tequila, mezcal and pulque. You show an official ID to prove your age. The stop ends in the store.

Casa Obsidiana, used by local packages, shows a wall of more than 1,000 obsidian pieces. Its tasting is mezcal and xoconostle liqueur. Turibus adds the Basilica of Guadalupe after the zone; see tours with the Basilica of Guadalupe.

Some tours are sold without obligatory stops. Our selection of them is on the tours without shop stops page. Read the inclusions line before you book.

Restaurants near the Teotihuacan pyramids

Villa Tláloc, on Avenida Tuxpan in San Martín de las Pirámides, is 100 m from the Pyramid of the Moon. Gran Teocalli is at km 21.5 of the México to Pirámides road in San Juan Teotihuacán. It serves from 07:30 to 18:00 and hosts balloon and tour breakfasts.

La Cueva de Quetzalcóatl is a cave restaurant in San Martín at Neteotiloyan 483. La Gruta, 200 m from Gate 5, opens 08:00 to 18:00 and has its own page. INAH lists no restaurant inside the zone. You cannot take food inside.

Reino Animal, Cerro Gordo and ATMs around San Martín de las Pirámides

Reino Animal, the safari park in Otumba, is about 8.5 km by road from Gate 5, measured on the map. You pay MX$385 at the gate or MX$308 online a day ahead. Children pay MX$370 or MX$296; under 90 cm they go free. Parking is MX$125. It opens Tuesday to Sunday, the ticket office 09:45 to 16:00, the park until 18:00.

Cerro Gordo, the extinct volcano north of the Pyramid of the Moon, is a protected natural area. If you need cash, one ATM is mapped about 300 m from Gate 1. Banks are about 1.5 km west of Gate 1 towards San Juan Teotihuacán. These are community map data; INAH lists no ATM at the zone.

How to get between San Juan Teotihuacán and the Teotihuacan pyramids

From the gate: Gate 2, Puerta 2 on INAH’s map, about 3.2 km by road to the plaza of San Juan Teotihuacán. That is a 4-minute drive or 43 minutes on foot at 4.5 km/h. Gate 3 to San Martín de las Pirámides is about 2.0 km by road, a 3-minute drive or 27 minutes on foot. Both are measured on the map.

The bus from Terminal del Norte, the Terminal Central de Autobuses del Norte, drops you at Gate 1 or Gate 2. Your return bus leaves Gate 2 every 15 minutes. From San Martín de las Pirámides the bus to Mexico City costs MX$70 one way, MX$60 from the zone. Both are the fares charged since 1 October 2026, press figures.

The Teotihuacán to AIFA airport bus has been on test since 7 September 2026: MX$35, about 1 hour 10 minutes. It leaves from the bus terminal in the town; no stop at the gates is reported. The getting there page has the bus detail.

By the sun: the zone from 08:00, the town for your lunch after 11:30 when the heat starts, the Plaza del Artesano in the afternoon. Last entry at the zone is 16:30.