Hidalgo - Pachuca and easy day trips from the capital.

Well this state is one of those places that people have heard of but they can't seem to be able to tell you exactly where it is... They will say they know it is close to Mexico City but gets lost among all the tiny little states and the renowned beautiful cities of central Mexico which take up most people's time.

Store in Pachuca

Crazy with excitement at Tula

Hidalgo state is important for many reasons. It was the site of many mineral mines which were created by the Spanish and then over the years added upon with the advice of the French and the English. Now the whole landscape of the state is dotted with impressive ruins of the glorious mining past. Additionally the state is famous for its pasties. Imported to Mexico by Cornish miners, the famous pasties have been adapted from their root ingredients of potato and meat to include many staple Mexican dishes such as mole, chorizo and sweet flavours such as pineapple and rice pudding! WOWSERS! Taste wise they are similar to the English snacks but the pastry is thinner and less crispy. Well worth trying one or two and luckily there are stores seemingly every two metres or so in every town here...

Street art - Pachuca

Hidalgo is also important as the state where football was introduced into Mexico. Not being a massive football fan, this fact doesn't particularly excite me. But when you think about how football obsessed this country is – it is rather significant.

Prismas! 

Thirdly Hidalgo is famous its production of the alcoholic drink Pulque. The hot dry climate of the mountainous areas of Hidalgo are perfect for the growing of the maguey plant (agave) from which the sap is removed and fermented producing a strange thick bitter drink which is a similar consistency to milk. It is often served mixed with fruit juice and is a good thirst quencher and needs to be tried. It can be a bit of a love / hate thing though! Rarely found in cans, the drink can be bought on the street in small towns or in special pulque bars called pulquerias.

PACHUCA

Main plaza - was under renovation

Awesome sculpture

The capital of Hidalgo, Pachuca, is a criminally under-visited gem. After being in Mexico City for a while, Pachuca can seem a little villagey in comparison. Nestled in between many mountains and hills which surround the city, the city is easily explored on foot and hosts many interesting buildings and monuments. The most iconic of these is the clock monument which stands in the broad central square. Closed off for refurbishment on our visit, and due to open the following week, we had to peek through the fence to see what it looked like. Pachuca is an interesting city as it doesn't actually have a cathedral on its main square and actually doesn't have one at all! The main church is the Parroquia de San Francisco.

Dove of Weapons

In terms of things to see Pachuca has a couple of good museums – the Museo de Mineria museum being one of them with hugely insightful and enthusiastic guides which make the history of mining come alive for you. Guides are seemingly only in Spanish. The Cuartel del Arte houses different mini museums and galleries for you to explore – the only one open was the Museo Nacional de la Fotografia which contains a whole range of amazing historical photos of Pachuca and Mexico City.

The city's main park is also well worth a wonder for a moment of relaxation but also to see the striking peace memorial which is a beautiful white dove, but look closer! The whole construction is made of weapons which were confiscated within Hidalgo state. Impressive, disturbing and lovely all that time!

Selfies with Jesus

The tourist information van is well worth visiting. It is located on the main square and they can give you maps and they offer tours during the day and in the evening too! We did one of their tours which for $40mxn will take you up to the north of the city to one of the hilltops which overlook the city and you can see the Jesus statue that overlooks the city. Although I have seen quite a few Jesus statues in Mexico, I think this is one of the best! The construction is pretty nice and the view from up here is amazing. The tour usually also stops a sacred art museum at the Cuartel del Arte.  

In terms of places to eat and drink, Pachuca wasn't exactly stomping with energy! There seemed to be a lack of range of good places to have a beer or two and when we visited it being Easter weekend people seemed to be hiding somewhere out of the city! One great place was Espresso Central an amazing coffee house with great friendly staff a good range of paninis and also with craft beer! Housed in a communal building with a range of different bars, shops and restaurants, you can decide on what place looks best for you. Next door and accessible through Espresso Central is the cute bar in a shipping container The Black Wolf which stocks craft beer from three different local breweries including Pachuca Brewing Company (the Black IPA is GOOOOOOD!), Additionally a quick mention to Revolucion Cervevercia stocks a good range of local beers and is your standard beer bar with flags and beer memorabilia lining the wall. Unfortunately their staff were unwelcoming and grumpy so that was a let down.

Excursions out of the city: 

BALSALTIC PRISMAS

Prismas!

This place is well worth the trip from the city of Pachuca and accessible by colectivo from the side of the market in the city centre. These are beautiful naturally formed long salt rocks shaped into edge of a mini valley with picturesque waterfalls. This place gets super busy – especially the weekend when we visited and the selfie sticks were out in force!!!! Go early if you can and if you have the stamina you can visit del monte and chico in the same day. Returning from the Prismas you will need to go to Huasca de Ocampo which is the place to catch shared taxis to other destinations.

REAL DEL MONTE

Bustly Real del Monte

Real del Monte is a cute little town around an hour of Pachuca and is a great place to spend a few hours. There is an extensive mining museum with huge displays of mining equipment and various different impressive buildings filled with exhibitions and displays.


The museum is by guided tour only and the groups can be a little tiring but the information is interesting. I became impatient as I went before lunch and was starving by the end.  We had to a runner out of the place because I was about to kick off through hunger.  The town was thriving with people, there were street performers everywhere and crowds of Mexican families enjoying the weather by eating ice creams in the many pretty squares dotted around. Strangely the gardens in the plaza were recently opened by Charles heir to the British throne and his wife Camilla.

MINERAL DEL CHICO

Awesome and tranquil Mineral del Chico

Chico is a beautiful picture perfect town right up in the hills. Be ready for a winding journey in a small mini bus crammed with people but it is well worth the squish to spend time in this laid-back and tranquil place. Situated on the side of a hill, you have to walk downhill to get to the main square and everything is huddled together randomly on this sloping oddity. There are heaps of food stands and drink sellers everywhere and the place has a genuinely calm and pleasant feel to it. Get a michelada and sit on a wall somewhere and just watch the people go by. Just try not to think about having to get back on that minibus to go back to Pachuca!  You can do hikes around the town and the landscape up here totally looked wonderful to explore - but we didn't have much time, but would love to return to explore one day.  

TULA DE ALLENDE and the TULA RUINS

This modern and not particularly exciting town is well worth a visit to see the ruins here. A much lesser visited archaeological site than the majestic Teotihuacan near Mexico City. The site is rather large and the ruins are interesting mainly for the decorated pillars on top of the largest temple and their depictions of Toltec warriors. During opening hours it is very tricky to get a photo with these without hundreds of people in the background! There are other fascinating aspects to the site with the carved reliefs of walls around the site and also a small museum displaying various other aspects from the site excavations.   
We found it really hard to find anywhere to
eat in this town!!!  Maybe it was the hour or the day

of the week or something but it was really tricky and we were starving after walking around the ruins for so long.  I would advise you take snacks with you.