12 Best Sights in Puebla, Side Trips from Mexico City

This narrow and charming pedestrian lane, whose name means "Alley of the Toads," cuts diagonally behind the cathedral. The adjacent square has a bustling weekend antiques market with all sorts of Mexican art and crafts, from elaborately carved doors to small paintings on pieces of tin offering thanks to a saint for favors. There are also hip cafés filled with people listening to live music on weekends.

This impressive art and history museum is housed in a pair of adjoining Spanish Colonial hospital buildings from the 1800s with a gorgeous contemporary atrium, several galleries, and a dramatic rooftop terrace with a bar, glass walls, and grand views of the Zócalo. Home to the private collection of pre-Columbian and colonial-era art of Mexican banker and philanthropist Manuel Espinoza Yglesias, Museo Amparo exhibits unforgettable pieces from all over Mexico, including nearly 5,000 pre-Hispanic artifacts. The collection includes colonial-era painting, sculpture, and decorative objects as well as a small modern art section notable for works by Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Miguel Felguérez, and Vicente Rojo.

Located in a modern business district in Puebla's southwestern outskirts, a 15-minute drive from the city center, this striking white contemporary building with curving white-concrete walls facing a courtyard with a reflecting pool is arguably as famous for its architecture as for the collection within. Renowned Japanese architect Toyo Itō designed the museum, paying homage to Puebla's rich history of Baroque art and design, which traces back to the city's settlement by the Spanish in the 1530s. One exhibit that interprets this relationship with a particular flourish is an interactive scale-model of Puebla's Centro Histórico that lets you see just how many buildings have been influenced by this important movement that spanned the early 17th through the mid-18th centuries. Other galleries are devoted to Baroque paintings, classical music, literature, theater, and other disciplines. On the second level, a stylish restaurant continues the building's beautiful design and serves quite tasty contemporary Mexican cuisine.

Founded in 1824, this is one of the few authentic Talavera workshops left today. To be the real deal, pieces must be hand-painted in intricate designs with natural dyes derived from minerals. That's why only five colors are used: blue, black, yellow, green, and a reddish pink. English- and Spanish-language tours take place daily except for Sunday, but visitors are also welcome to visit the shop and terrace for free.

Watch painters and sculptors at work in the galleries in this small district set amid bronze monuments to Poblano authors and poets. Farther down Calle 8 Norte, you can buy Talavera pottery and other local crafts from the dozens of small stores and street vendors. There are occasional weekend concerts and open-air theater performances.

Puebla is famous for all kinds of homemade goodies. Calle de Santa Clara, also known as Sweets Street, is lined with shops selling a wide variety of sugary treats in the shape of sacred hearts, guitars, and sombreros. Don't miss the cookies—they're even more delicious than they look.

The magnificent church of St. Dominic is famous for its overwhelming Capilla del Rosario (Chapel of the Rosary), where almost every inch of the walls and ceilings is covered with gilded carvings. Dominican friars arrived here in 1534, barely a dozen years after the Spanish conquered this region. The Capilla de la Tercera Orden (Chapel of the Third Order) was originally called the "Chapel of the Dark-Skinned Ones," named for the mixed-race population born a short time later.

Construction on Puebla's immense and impressive cathedral began between 1536 and 1539. Work was completed by the city's most famous son, Bishop Juan de Palafox y Mendoza, who donated his personal fortune to build its famous tower, the second largest in the country. The altar was constructed between 1797 and 1818. Manuel Tolsá, Mexico's most illustrious colonial architect, adorned it with onyx, marble, and gold. The meticulously preserved interior is among the most impressive of Mexico's churches.

More than 100 craft vendors sell their wares in this bustling open-air market decorated with Talavera tiles that's been a fixture of the city center since 1961. It's a fun place to shop for tourist souvenirs, such as toy guitars and colorful sombreros, but you'll also find a good selection of higher-quality jewelry, tapestries, metalwork, and ceramics. 

This former convent (sometimes called Ex-Convento de Santa Mónica) opened in 1688 as a spiritual refuge for women whose husbands were away on business. Despite the Reform Laws of the 1850s, it continued to function until 1934. It is said that the women here invented the famous dish called chiles en nogada, a complex recipe that incorporates the red, white, and green colors of the Mexican flag. In the museum's 23 permanent exhibit galleries, curiosities include the gruesome display of the preserved heart of the convent's founder and paintings in the Sala de los Terciopelos (Velvet Room), in which the feet and faces seem to change position as you view them from different angles.

A five-minute drive north of the Zócalo in an otherwise nondescript industrial area, you'll find this excellent museum inside the Zona Histórica de los Fuertes, an expansive park that commemorates the city's colorful military history, including the famous Battle of Puebla between France and the nascent Mexican Republic, in which the latter prevailed against what was considered to be far more formidable force. Unless you're a big history buff, you may not be familiar with this battle, but you probably recognize the date: May 5, 1862, or Cinco de Mayo, which though a popular holiday outside Mexico is a far less important date than that of Mexican Independence Day, on September 16. Nevertheless, the museum here inside this well-preserved fort is one of the more interesting, and underrated, ones in the city; it's filled with exhibits and artifacts that tell the story of this battle. Across the park, Museo del Fuerte de Guadalupe is interesting as well but not quite as comprehensive. It's worth a look, though, if you have time.

Occupying a train station inaugurated by President Juárez in 1869, the National Railway Museum extends a nostalgic treat. Period engines sit on the now-unused platforms, and several vintage cars—including a caboose—can be explored.