Introduction
The State of Mexico (Estado de México) is the populous central state that wraps around Mexico City on three sides, in the high volcanic heart of the country — distinct from the capital, which is its own federal entity. For travellers its great draw is Teotihuacán, the vast pyramid city of the ancient Americas, along with the lakeside resort town of Valle de Bravo, the snow-capped Nevado de Toluca volcano, colonial 'magic towns' and the highland scenery within easy reach of the capital.
Overview
The State of Mexico (Estado de México, often abbreviated Edoméx) is the country's most populous state, curving around Mexico City on three sides in the high central highlands — and it should not be confused with the capital, which is the separate federal entity of Mexico City. Much of the state is densely urban suburb of the capital, but it also holds some of the most important sights in the country and a surprising amount of mountain and lake scenery, all within a day of the city. Its star is Teotihuacán, just north-east of the capital — one of the largest cities of the ancient Americas, a UNESCO World Heritage Site dominated by the colossal Pyramid of the Sun and Pyramid of the Moon along the ceremonial Avenue of the Dead, built by a civilisation that flourished centuries before the Aztecs and remains one of Mexico's most awe-inspiring places. West of Toluca, the state capital — itself a high-altitude city with a notable cluster of museums and the stained-glass Cosmovitral botanical garden — rises the Nevado de Toluca, an extinct volcano whose crater, at over 4,000 metres, holds two lakes reachable by a high mountain road. South-west, the lakeside town of Valle de Bravo is a designated Pueblo Mágico and a favourite weekend retreat, set on a reservoir ringed by pine forest, known for sailing, paragliding and cobbled colonial streets. The state also takes in colonial towns and former silver and textile centres, the Sunday market town of Tenancingo, the monarch-butterfly fringe near the Michoacán border, and the haciendas and convents of the highlands. The climate is temperate to cool at these high altitudes, with a dry winter and a wetter summer; the dry season from November to May is generally the most reliable for sightseeing and the high country.
Discover Estado de México
Teotihuacán — City of the Gods
Teotihuacán, in the state's north-east about an hour from central Mexico City, is one of the great archaeological sites of the world and the highlight of any visit to the region. At its peak, around 1,500 years ago, it was one of the largest cities on earth, home to perhaps 100,000 people — and it was already an ancient, half-ruined wonder when the Aztecs found it and gave it the name meaning 'the place where the gods were created'. The vast ceremonial core, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is laid out along the two-kilometre Avenue of the Dead, anchored by two of the largest pyramids in the Americas: the immense Pyramid of the Sun and, closing the avenue, the Pyramid of the Moon, with the elaborately carved Temple of the Feathered Serpent (Quetzalcóatl) and the palace complexes with their surviving murals nearby. Two on-site museums interpret the city and its art. It is a place of genuine grandeur, best visited early to beat the heat and the crowds; sunrise hot-air balloon flights over the pyramids have become a famous (if pricey) way to see it. For many travellers Teotihuacán alone justifies a trip into the State of Mexico.
Valle de Bravo and the Lake Country
In the forested south-west of the state, Valle de Bravo is the State of Mexico's most charming town and a beloved weekend escape from the capital. A designated Pueblo Mágico, it sits on the shore of a large reservoir (Lake Avándaro) amid pine-clad mountains, its steep cobbled streets lined with white-and-red houses, galleries, cafés and craft shops around a pretty plaza and church. The lake is the centre of life — sailing, kayaking and waterside restaurants — while the surrounding hills have made the town one of Mexico's leading spots for paragliding and hang-gliding, with launch sites offering long flights over the water. Nearby, the Velo de Novia waterfall and the monarch-butterfly sanctuaries toward the Michoacán border (where millions of butterflies overwinter from roughly November to March) add to the appeal. Relaxed, scenic and a world away from the urban sprawl closer to the capital, Valle de Bravo shows the gentler, outdoorsy side of the State of Mexico.
Toluca and the Nevado de Toluca
Toluca, the state capital, is one of the highest cities in Mexico at around 2,660 metres, a busy industrial and university city with a worthwhile centre: the long colonnaded arcades (Los Portales) around the main square, a cluster of museums, and above all the Cosmovitral — a botanical garden housed in a former market hall and wrapped in a vast, glowing stained-glass mural, one of the largest in the world. Toluca is also famous for its chorizo (especially the green chorizo) and its sweets. Rising to the south-west is the city's great natural landmark, the Nevado de Toluca (Xinantécatl), an extinct volcano and the fourth-highest peak in Mexico, whose broad summit crater — reachable by a high mountain road to over 4,000 metres — cradles two lakes, the Lago del Sol and the Lago de la Luna. The drive up and the short, breath-stealing walks around the crater rim offer extraordinary high-altitude scenery, occasionally dusted with snow, within easy reach of Toluca and the capital.
Colonial Towns and the Highlands
Beyond its headline sights, the State of Mexico holds a scatter of colonial towns and highland landscapes that reward exploration. Tepotzotlán, near the northern edge, is a Pueblo Mágico famous for its magnificent Churrigueresque church and former Jesuit college, now the National Viceroyalty Museum, and for its lively traditional Christmas pastorelas. Malinalco, in the warmer south, has a rare Aztec temple carved directly into the mountainside above the town and a fine Augustinian convent. The weaving town of Tenancingo is known for its rebozos (shawls) and its huge Sunday market, and the Nevado's foothills and the Sierra de las Cruces offer forests, haciendas and weekend hiking. Because the state wraps around Mexico City, almost all of it lies within a day trip of the capital, making it easy to combine the great pyramids of Teotihuacán, a lakeside day in Valle de Bravo, or a high-mountain excursion to the Nevado with a city stay — a high, green, historic counterpoint to the metropolis at its centre.
Ways to Experience This Destination
The great pyramid city of Teotihuacán — the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon and the Avenue of the Dead — and its museums.
The lakeside Pueblo Mágico of Valle de Bravo for sailing and paragliding, and the nearby monarch-butterfly sanctuaries.
The capital's Cosmovitral stained-glass garden and the crater lakes of the Nevado de Toluca volcano above 4,000 metres.
Tepotzotlán's viceregal church and museum, Malinalco's clifftop Aztec temple, and the rebozo market town of Tenancingo.
Frequently asked questions
Is the State of Mexico the same as Mexico City?
How do I visit Teotihuacán?
What is there to do in the State of Mexico besides Teotihuacán?
When is the best time to visit?
This overview comes from Visaja's worldwide missions database (visaja.com), checked against official government sources; for binding answers, the mission itself always has the final word.