Aculco de Espinoza is also known as San Jerónimo Aculco, at least on more traditional days. It's a markedly traditional little town, but one with a ton of great food, interesting places to stroll, and plenty to have justified its inclusion in the Pueblos Magicos program in 2015.
The landscape is bedecked with waterfalls like those at Cascada de la Concepción and Tixhiñú. And people come for the simple experience of the vast and very green landscape. It's often a lot cooler in Aculco than in other parts of the Mexico City Valley.
Within the little town, it's utterly important to visit the old Lavaderos Publicos where generations of the women most obviously missing from history seem to be honored in the modest carved stone basins. The San Jerónimo Parish and the famous market bring it all that much closer to home.
Aculco is, after all, a major culinary destination. Some of the famous craft cheese will end up on the enchiladas aculquenses. But people go in for the barbacoa, and a regional mole too. The town is something of a cured pulque region too. Artisan works in stone, textiles and ixtle fibers are to be sought everywhere around the market.
Getting to Aculco means taking the Coordinado/ConectaGfa bus from the Centro de Autobuses de Norte station in Mexico City. They will actually sell you a ticket online in advance of your trip, but they're not well tracked yet on the many bus travel apps. One can also get off the Mexico City - Queretaro highway at the Arroyo Zarco - Aculco exit. Aculco taxis regularly service the businesses around this area. From the highway, it's about 30 minutes to the center of Aculco.
