Backpacking in Mexico: Day Trip to the Centro Ceremonial Otomi
October 12, 2021
80 km out of Mexico City in the neighbouring state of Estado de Mexico is the Otomí Ceremonial Center or Centro Ceremonial Otomí, which makes a fantastic day out from the hustle and bustle of the big city.
The Otomí Ceremonial Center was built in 1980 as a ceremonial center for the Otomí people, an indigenous people that inhabitant the highlands of Central Mexico.
The Otomí Ceremonial Center can be seen in the 1989 Bond movie, "Licence to Kill", starring Timothy Dalton.
The Otomí Ceremonial Center lies at 3200m asl and very often you can see athletes from kickboxers to runners taking advantage of the clean air and high altitude and the 365 stairs found in the center.
The Otomí Ceremonial Center can be seen in the 1989 Bond movie, "Licence to Kill", starring Timothy Dalton.
The Otomí Ceremonial Center lies at 3200m asl and very often you can see athletes from kickboxers to runners taking advantage of the clean air and high altitude and the 365 stairs found in the center.
I went there on a day trip with Miss CDMX. Details on how to get there are at the bottom of the post.
How to get to the Otomí Ceremonial Center
From Mexico City, you have 2 budget options.
1. Take a bus from the Cuatro Caminos "Metro Toreo" bus station which is adjacent to the Cuatro Caminos Metro station, the last stop on linea #2
2. Take a bus from the Terminal de Autobuses de Poniente which is adjacent to the Observatorio Metro station, the last stop on linea #1
In both cases, you can travel with the Flecha Roja (www.flecharoja.com.mx/) bus company to Temoaya. The difference being the frequency of the departures and the duration of the journey.
Miss CDMX called them. This intel is current as of October 9 2021.
During the pandemic, many routes have been down-graded and official sites fail to get updated here in Mexico, like when we went to Los Leones.
Thus blogs and websites detailing logistics are hopelessly out of date. Call ahead if you can!
From Cuatro Caminos, buses run from 07:30 every 90 minutes. Journey time is 2 hours and the fare is 62MXN.
From Poniente, buses run from 06:40 every 40 to 60 minutes. Journey time is 1 hour 20 and the fare is 68MXN.
We took the latter option as the Observatorio Metro station is easier for us. With luck, the bus was close to departure. The journey took just 1 hour 10 minutes.
1. Take a bus from the Cuatro Caminos "Metro Toreo" bus station which is adjacent to the Cuatro Caminos Metro station, the last stop on linea #2
2. Take a bus from the Terminal de Autobuses de Poniente which is adjacent to the Observatorio Metro station, the last stop on linea #1
In both cases, you can travel with the Flecha Roja (www.flecharoja.com.mx/) bus company to Temoaya. The difference being the frequency of the departures and the duration of the journey.
Miss CDMX called them. This intel is current as of October 9 2021.
During the pandemic, many routes have been down-graded and official sites fail to get updated here in Mexico, like when we went to Los Leones.
Thus blogs and websites detailing logistics are hopelessly out of date. Call ahead if you can!
From Cuatro Caminos, buses run from 07:30 every 90 minutes. Journey time is 2 hours and the fare is 62MXN.
From Poniente, buses run from 06:40 every 40 to 60 minutes. Journey time is 1 hour 20 and the fare is 68MXN.
We took the latter option as the Observatorio Metro station is easier for us. With luck, the bus was close to departure. The journey took just 1 hour 10 minutes.
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Once in Temoaya, it is a 5-minute walk to the "Glorietta del Bicentenario", the centre of town where we took a shared taxi for 30MXN each, for the last 15km to the Centro Ceremonial Otomí.
The Otomí Ceremonial Center is currently open from 10 am until 5 pm and the entrance fee is 30MXN. Within the Mercado Artesanal, you can get food but we chose to eat outside of the center near where the buses stop. Here we are tucking into Quesadillas and sharing a bizarrely named Squirt soda (Grupo Peñafiel):
Coming back we took one of the local buses, which run from just outside the center, every 20 to 30 minutes back to Temoaya for 20MXN.
We took the Flecha Roja bus back to the city. The ride was surprisingly only 1 hour. Bus travel in and out of Mexico City is very often affected by the amount of traffic.
