Layout of Xalapa
Xalapa (also spelled Jalapa) is built across a set of ridges on the eastern flank of the Sierra Madre Oriental, so almost no street in it is level. The centro histórico is the ground around Parque Juárez, a terrace cut into the slope with the Ágora cultural centre built underneath it, the metropolitan cathedral on one side and the Palacio de Gobierno of Veracruz on the other. Avenida Enríquez runs west from the park and becomes Avenida Ávila Camacho, the main axis of the newer city; Avenida Xalapeños Ilustres runs the other way past Parque Los Berros toward the Paseo de los Lagos, a chain of small artificial lakes below the state theatre. Federal Highway 140 skirts the city as Avenida Lázaro Cárdenas, feeding the commercial strip toward Las Ánimas in the north-west, and a ring road carries through traffic between the Perote and Veracruz directions.
CAXA, the central de autobuses, sits about 3 km east of Parque Juárez on Avenida 20 de Noviembre Oriente; it is the ADO hub for the whole of central Veracruz, with departures to Mexico City, the port, Puebla and Poza Rica. The Universidad Veracruzana is not one campus but a scatter of faculties across the city, which is why the student population of a municipality of 443,063 people is so visible. El Lencero airport (JAL) lies 14 km south-east on the road to the coast and handles only limited scheduled flights; the practical airports are Veracruz (VER) and Mexico City (MEX). The airports map shows both.
Distances from Xalapa
Everything east of Xalapa is downhill to the Gulf; everything west climbs over the Perote pass to the central plateau. Highway 140D handles the descent to the coast, Highway 150D the run to Puebla and the capital.
| Place | km | Time | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Lencero airport (JAL) | 14 | 25 min | Hwy 140, taxi |
| Coatepec | 10 | 20 min | Local road, city buses |
| Xico | 20 | 35 min | Via Coatepec |
| Perote (Cofre de Perote) | 55 | 1 h | Hwy 140 west |
| Veracruz port | 105 | 1 h 30 | Hwy 140D |
| Veracruz airport (VER) | 115 | 1 h 40 | Hwy 140D |
| Orizaba | 145 | 2 h | Hwy 140D then 150D |
| Puebla | 200 | 3 h | Hwy 140 / 150D |
| Poza Rica (El Tajín) | 230 | 3 h 30 | Hwy 129 / 180 |
| Mexico City | 310 | 4 h 30 | Hwy 140 to 150D |
Cloud forest and coffee country
Xalapa sits inside the belt of bosque mesófilo de montaña — Mexican cloud forest — which survives on the wet eastern escarpment between roughly 1,000 and 2,000 m. That is also the altitude band that suits arabica coffee, and the towns immediately below the city grow it. Coatepec, 10 km south and a designated Pueblo Mágico, has milled and roasted coffee since the late eighteenth century and is the usual half-day trip. Xico, 10 km further up the valley, is the base for the Cascada de Texolo, a ravine waterfall reached on foot from the town. Jalcomulco, about 40 km south-east where the Río Pescados leaves the mountains, is the rafting centre for the state. Naolinco, 35 km north, is a leather-working town on the road down to the Sierra de Chiconquiaco.
Behind the city to the west stands the Cofre de Perote, a 4,282 m extinct volcano whose squared summit rock gives it its name; it is one of Mexico's ten highest peaks and marks the edge of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, mapped on the volcanoes map. Pico de Orizaba, at 5,636 m the highest mountain in the country, is about 60 km south and visible from parts of Xalapa on clear winter mornings. Between the two, the plateau at Perote is dry, treeless and often 10 °C colder than the city. The Hacienda El Lencero, a colonial estate on the Veracruz road once owned by Antonio López de Santa Anna, is now a furnished house museum. For the wider setting, see the Gulf Coast region map and the Gulf of Mexico map.
Questions about Xalapa
Where is Xalapa on the map of Mexico?
In the centre of the state of Veracruz, on the eastern slope of the Sierra Madre Oriental at about 1,400 m, roughly 105 km inland from the port of Veracruz and 310 km east of Mexico City.
Does Xalapa have an airport?
Only a small one. El Lencero (JAL), 14 km south-east on the Veracruz road, has very limited scheduled service. Almost everyone flies into Veracruz (VER), about 1 h 40 away, or Mexico City (MEX).
What is the Museo de Antropología de Xalapa?
The state anthropology museum on Avenida Xalapa, second only to the national museum in Mexico City for Mesoamerican collections. It holds seven of the seventeen known Olmec colossal heads, along with Totonac and Huastec material.
Why is Xalapa so wet and cool?
Altitude plus the Gulf. Moist air off the coast rises against the Sierra Madre Oriental and condenses over the city, giving a cloud-forest climate: an annual mean near 18 °C, frequent fog, and the fine persistent drizzle locals call chipi-chipi. Rain falls in every month, heaviest June to October.
Is Xalapa safe to visit?
Xalapa is a university city and the seat of the Veracruz state government, and the centre, museums and coffee towns nearby are visited routinely. Veracruz state has carried a lower US State Department advisory level than neighbouring Tamaulipas; check the current advisory before you travel.