Tizayuca travel guide
Dairy plains, AIFA flights and the old Pachuca highway
A fast-growing town in southern Hidalgo on the Mexico City to Pachuca highway, best used as a practical base for AIFA airport, Teotihuacan and Pachuca. The dry months from November to April are the most comfortable; one or two nights is plenty. Costs are moderate, and many passports need no visa.
Halfway along the highway from Mexico City to Pachuca, Tizayuca is the first town of any size you reach after crossing into Hidalgo. For decades it was known for one thing: milk. A large dairy complex built here in the 1970s turned the surrounding plain into one of the main milk suppliers for the capital, and the town still has a farming edge despite the warehouses and new housing estates that have spread across the fields since.
The other big change is the sky. Felipe Ăngeles International Airport (AIFA) opened in 2022 on the former Santa LucĂa air base, a short drive southwest, and Tizayuca's hotels now fill with travellers catching early flights. Its town centre is modest: a parish church and market beside a plaza where families gather on Sunday evenings. As a base it works well, putting you within about 40 minutes of both Pachuca and the pyramids of Teotihuacan.
Explore Tizayuca by theme
Find your kind of trip: 24 travel themes, each with the packages in Tizayuca.
Tizayuca at a glance
The essentials first-time visitors ask about, in one place.
Explore more of Mexico
Pick a place by travel style: beaches, nature, cities, heritage, islands, desert.
Nothing in that category yet.
Top things to do in Tizayuca
A working town, not a sight in itself, with the airport museums, Pachuca and Teotihuacan close at hand.
No things to do in Tizayuca are listed yet. Browse all things to do
Best time to visit Tizayuca
Month by month, so you can pick the weather and the crowds you want.
Clear skies and warm afternoons at about 2,260 metres, with near-freezing mornings in midwinter and dusty winds by March.
Afternoon thunderstorms on most days; mornings stay bright, so make an early start.
If you are flying from AIFA on a Monday morning, stay in Tizayuca the night before; weekend return traffic on the roads from Mexico City can be slow on Sunday nights.
Packages in Demand
A Journey to Remember
Tours, activities and day trips in and around this destination, with the details you need before booking.
No packages in Tizayuca are listed yet. Browse all packages
Create Your Custom-Made Trip to Tizayuca
Traveling to Tizayuca? Chat with a Local Travel Specialist in Tizayuca Who Can Help Organize Your Trip.
START HEREOur Travel Experts are Recommended by
Plan your trip
Practical answers before you go. Pick a topic.
Getting there
AIFA next door and buses up the Pachuca highway
Tizayuca's nearest airport is Felipe Ăngeles International (NLU), 20 to 30 minutes from the centre by taxi or app car. Mexico City's Benito JuĂĄrez airport (MEX) has more flights but is about 60 km away, and frequent Pachuca-bound buses from the capital stop in Tizayuca. Drivers use the MĂŠxicoâPachuca highway, which runs four lanes past the town; from Pachuca it is a 30 to 40 minute ride in the other direction.
- AIFA (NLU)
- Taxi or app car, about 20 to 30 minutes
- MEX airport
- Taxi or app car, about 1 hour 30 minutes
- Bus from Terminal del Norte or Indios Verdes
- Pachuca-bound services, about an hour
- From Pachuca
- Bus or car, 30 to 40 minutes
- Check whether your Pachuca bus stops in Tizayuca before buying; express services may run straight through.
- Avoid the highway into Mexico City between 6 and 9 in the morning on weekdays, when commuter traffic is heavy.
Where to stay
Airport-side hotels, the town centre or Pachuca
Pick a Tizayuca base by purpose. For an AIFA flight, highway and industrial-park business hotels have parking and taxis but nothing to walk to; the centre around the plaza and market has simpler places near street food; and Pachuca offers more choice for sightseeing. Travellers with more than a night often stay in Pachuca instead, about 40 km north, for its historic centre and restaurants, while Real del Monte up in the pines suits anyone heading into the Hidalgo mountains.
- Highway and industrial parks
- Modern hotels for AIFA flights; car or taxi essential
- Centro
- Simple lodging near the plaza and market; limited choice
- Pachuca
- More hotels and restaurants, 30 to 40 minutes north
- Real del Monte
- Mountain inns, about an hour away
- Ask whether your hotel runs a shuttle to AIFA; some near the airport do.
Getting around
Colectivos on the Pachuca road, taxis and app cars to the terminal
Tizayuca sprawls across the plain, so walking only works around the plaza and market. Colectivos and local buses run along the highway and into the housing estates, paid in cash, and taxis and app rides cover the area, including AIFA. A car is the easiest way to combine Teotihuacan, Pachuca and the mountain towns, and the roads are well marked, though the highway through town is congested at commuting hours.
- Colectivos
- Highway and estate routes; cash to the driver
- Taxi and app cars
- Reliable for AIFA and evening trips
- Car
- Best for Teotihuacan, Pachuca and Real del Monte
- Keep small notes and coins for colectivos; drivers rarely have change.
Know before you go
What makes Tizayuca worth the trip, and what catches visitors out.
Why travelers love it
- The mammoth museum at Santa LucĂa, next to the AIFA terminal, built around the hundreds of mammoth skeletons found during the airport's construction.
- Sunday barbacoa on the Hidalgo plain, lamb slow-cooked in an earth pit and sold early at roadside stands.
- Being 40 minutes from both Pachuca and the Teotihuacan pyramids, with less traffic than starting from the capital.
Good to know
- Distances are bigger than they look; the estates and industrial parks are spread out, so plan on taxis.
- Winter nights are cold on this high plain; bring a warm layer from November to February.
Trip fit
BookingMentor editorial ratings out of 5, based on a first-time visitor's experience.
Weather in Tizayuca, month by month
Month-by-month climate figures for Tizayuca are being researched.
Mammoths, the Avenue of the Dead and Pachuca's clock tower
Tizayuca works best as a hub, so plan two days with the town as base. On the first morning, go to Felipe Ăngeles airport next door, where two museums reward a visit even without a flight; the Museo PaleontolĂłgico Quinametzin displays some of the mammoths, camels and horses dug up while the airport was built.
Day one, morning. Drive or take a taxi the short way to Felipe Ăngeles airport. Even without a flight, the grounds hold two museums that reward a visit. The Museo PaleontolĂłgico Quinametzin displays some of the many mammoths, camels and horses dug up when the old air base was turned into an airport, a reminder that this plain was once the marshy shore of a great lake. The military aviation museum nearby has aircraft from across the 20th century.
Afternoon. Head about 40 minutes southeast to Teotihuacan. Late afternoon is cooler and quieter than midday, and the light on the Pyramid of the Sun is softer. Walk the Avenue of the Dead to the Pyramid of the Moon before the gates close.
Day two. Go north up the highway to Pachuca, 30 to 40 minutes away. Start under the Reloj Monumental on Plaza Independencia, eat a paste from one of the centre's bakeries, and if time allows continue uphill to Real del Monte for its old mine and English cemetery among the pines.
Evening. Back in Tizayuca, join the families on the plaza by the parish church, where snack stalls sell elotes and esquites after dark.
Barbacoa stands, pulque and dairy-basin cheeses on the Pachuca road
Weekend barbacoa de borrego is the big dish around Tizayuca, part of southern Hidalgo's maguey country: lamb wrapped in maguey leaves and cooked overnight in a stone-lined pit. Highway and market stands sell it by weight from early Saturday and Sunday with tortillas, salsa borracha and consomĂŠ, and the best sell out before 11.
The same maguey gives pulque, the fermented sap that was the everyday drink of the region long before beer. It comes plain, thick and slightly sour, or as fruit-blended curados; try it fresh, since it does not keep. Mixiotes, meat seasoned with chile and steamed in a pouch, are another maguey dish worth ordering.
Decades of dairy farming show up in the shops. Look for fresh queso de rancho, cream and soft cheeses at the market, good with hot tortillas and salsa. In the evenings, carts around the plaza sell esquites, corn kernels boiled with epazote and served in a cup with lime, chile and mayonnaise, and tamales with hot atole on cold nights.
For the classic Hidalgo snack, the paste, a Cornish-style pastry, you will find bakeries in town, though the best selection is in Pachuca.
Travelers are asking
No questions yet about Tizayuca. Ask the community or our travel team, and the answer will show here once it is published.
Our travel desk answers questions about Tizayuca
How we research our Tizayuca travel guide
Tizayuca's airport museums, bus links and day trips are checked against the official Tizayuca website and the town's Wikipedia record, with entry rules from Mexico's Instituto Nacional de MigraciĂłn.
Last updated . Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
Checked against trusted sources:
Official website of TizayucaInstituto Nacional de MigraciĂłnUNESCO World Heritage Centre
Before You Go...
Discover Trips & Info
A Travel Network Connection Travelers and locals
Incredible Event & Festival, Don't Miss!
Most Popular Event & Festival of Tizayuca
Festivals and events in this destination, with dates, venues and ticket details where available.
No upcoming festivals or events in Tizayuca are listed right now. Browse all events
Memorable Experiences
Where to Go (& NOT Go) In Tizayuca!
Roaming the World one Adventure at a Time: Travel Tales, Tips, and Inspiration for wanderlusters.
Subscriber
Popular car hire destinations
Explore more options to hire a car for cheap
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Quick answers to the questions travelers ask most before visiting Tizayuca.
Getting there
About 20 to 30 minutes by taxi or app car, which makes Tizayuca a practical place to sleep before an early flight.
Yes. Pachuca-bound buses and local services leave the Indios Verdes Metro terminus and Terminal Central del Norte, and many stop in Tizayuca; the trip takes about an hour.
Yes. Days are sunny and mild, but at about 2,260 metres nights can approach freezing from December to February.
General
The Museo PaleontolĂłgico Quinametzin at the Santa LucĂa site shows mammoth and other Ice Age remains found while building the airport. It is a short drive from Tizayuca.
A large dairy complex was set up here in the 1970s to supply Mexico City, and the plain around the town became an important milk-producing area.
It works if you have a car or taxi; the pyramids are roughly 40 minutes southeast, and you avoid the traffic out of Mexico City.
At roadside stands and market stalls on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Arrive early, as the most popular places sell out by midday.
Yes. The name is usually translated as the place of chalk or white earth, from tizatl, the Nahuatl word for chalk.
AIFA is much closer, around half an hour; MEX has more flights but is about 60 km away through heavier traffic.
Tizayuca sprawls across the plain, so walking only works around the plaza and market. Colectivos and local buses run along the highway and into the housing estates, paid in cash, and taxis and app rides cover the area, including AIFA. A car is the easiest way to combine Teotihuacan, Pachuca and the mountain towns, and the roads are well marked, though the highway through town is congested at commuting hours.
Tizayuca is best known for:
- The mammoth museum at Santa LucĂa, next to the AIFA terminal, built around the hundreds of mammoth skeletons found during the airport's construction
- Sunday barbacoa on the Hidalgo plain, lamb slow-cooked in an earth pit and sold early at roadside stands
- Being 40 minutes from both Pachuca and the Teotihuacan pyramids, with less traffic than starting from the capital
Timing & weather
About 40 km, or 30 to 40 minutes by bus or car on the highway north.
The best time to visit Tizayuca is Nov to Apr. Dry, sunny days on the high plain; cold nights from December to February.
- Dry season: November - April (Clear skies and warm afternoons at about 2,260 metres, with near-freezing mornings in midwinter and dusty winds by March)
- Rainy season: June - September (Afternoon thunderstorms on most days; mornings stay bright, so make an early start)
Visa & documents
Tourist stays in Mexico are visa-free for citizens of the US, Canada, the UK, the EU and many other countries. Immigration officers decide how many days you can stay (up to 180) and stamp your passport or issue a digital record. Holders of valid US, UK, Canadian or Schengen visas may also be exempt.
Health & safety
Most tourist areas are visited without problems, but violent crime linked to organised crime is high in some states. Governments advise against travel to parts of several states. Petty crime and scams occur in tourist areas.
