Planning a trip to Puebla
Visitor Information -- The State Tourism Office (tel. 222/777-1519, -1520) is at Calle 5 Oriente 3, across from the cathedral. The office is open Monday through Saturday from 8am to 8pm, Sunday from 9am to 2pm. The city's tourism office is under the archway that runs along Palafox y Mendoza in front of the zócalo (Portal Hidalgo 14; tel. 222/404-5047). It's open Monday through Friday 9am to 8pm, with shorter hours on the weekends. The staff at the state office is much more helpful.
City Layout -- Puebla's streets are laid out on a Cartesian quadrant. Two main avenues serve as the x- and y-axes, but instead of separating the positive from the negative numbers, they separate odd from even. The role of x-axis is played by Avenida Reforma/Palafox. North of it are even-numbered streets; south of it are odd-numbered streets. The north-south axis (y-axis) is 5 de Mayo/16 de Septiembre. East of it are even-numbered streets, and west are odd-numbered. So if someone tells you that some place is at the intersection of calles 6 and 10, you know it's in the northeast quadrant. Street names also include a direction -- norte, sur, oriente, poniente (north, south, east, west). So if someone tells you that a church is on Calle 7 Oriente, then you know what part of town it's in: Oriente tells you that it's the eastern portion of an east-west street, and the odd number indicates that it's south of Palafox. Each main axis changes names after it passes the center point of the city. Don't count on taxi drivers to know where restaurants, hotels, or attractions are located; keep addresses handy.
Fast Facts
Area Code -- The telephone area code is 222.
Drugstores -- Pharmacies are almost as common as churches. They usually close around 9pm but take turns staying open late (de turno). Farmatodo (tel. 222/248-1302) delivers to downtown hotels until 10pm. Farmacias Guadalajara (tel. 222/246-0052) has a 24-hour location at the corner of 11 Sur and Paseo Bravo.
Emergency -- The emergency number is tel. 066.
Hospital -- Beneficiencia Española is at 19 Norte 1001 (tel. 222/232-0500).
Internet Access -- There are several Internet access businesses downtown.
Post Office -- The correo is around the corner from the State Tourism office, on Avenida 16 de Septiembre. Hours are Monday through Friday from 8am to 6:30pm, and Saturday 9am to 4pm.
Getting There
By Plane
Puebla has an international airport (code PBC), but most air travelers fly into Mexico City because it has more flights. From the Benito Juárez airport in Mexico City, you can take an express bus directly to Puebla. Buses leave every half-hour and cost 180 pesos. They will arrive at either the main bus station (CAPU) or the small downtown bus station. Continental ExpressJet (tel. 800/523-3273 in the U.S., or 01-800/900-5000 in Mexico) has a direct flight connecting Puebla and Houston. A taxi to downtown costs 235 pesos.
By Car
From Mexico City the quickest route is Hwy. 150D. It's a four-lane toll road that continues on to Veracruz. From Mexico City the tolls add up to 120 pesos; from Veracruz they add up to 350 pesos. From Xalapa, take Hwy. 140 west to the intersection with 150D.
If you're coming from Querétaro, there's a recently constructed road that bypasses Mexico City and Texcoco, making for a much shorter trip by avoiding city traffic. Completed in September 2009, its official name is El Arco Norte. It connects with the Autopista México-Querétaro just south of the turnoff for Tula and stretches east and then south before joining up with the Autopista México-Puebla near San Martín Texmelucan. Tolls add up to about 250 pesos, which is well worth it.
By Bus
The ride from Veracruz to Puebla takes 3 1/2 hours and costs around 300 pesos. From Mexico City, it takes 2 hours and costs 130 pesos. Several bus lines have regular departures from Mexico City's TAPO bus station, as frequently as every 15 minutes. You can also catch a bus to Puebla directly from the Mexico City airport. There is good bus service between Puebla and Oaxaca (4 1/2 hr.) and now, with the new bypass that circumvents Mexico City, there is direct bus service between Querétaro and Puebla (4 hr.).
You'll probably arrive at a large bus station, known by its acronym, CAPU. To get to downtown Puebla, look for a booth marked TAXI AUTORIZADO. Taxi service to almost anywhere in Puebla costs 60 pesos. Many buses to and from the Mexico City airport use the small downtown Estrella Roja station, at Calle 4 Poniente 2110.
