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Saltillo
City in Coahuila, Mexico

Saltillo

Saltillo is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Coahuila and is also the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name.

Plan a trip to Saltillo→From Monterrey

As of a 2020 census, Saltillo had a population of 879,958 people, while the Saltillo metropolitan area population was 1,031,779, making Saltillo the largest city in the state of Coahuila, and the 14th most populated metropolitan area in the country.

Saltillo is considered the most competitive city in Mexico for cities with over one million inhabitants. Saltillo's success is due to its strong performance in the Urban Competitiveness Index (ICU), which is developed by the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO). The ICU evaluates cities based on 35 indicators, including law, society, infrastructure, labor market, political system, and innovation. Saltillo is also the safest capital city in Mexico, according to INEGI data from 2025.

Get in

Getting to Saltillo

Plane, car, or bus are your basic options. Convenient flight schedules are available to nearby Monterrey. There are direct buses from the airport to Saltillo. Senda has some daily departures for M$480 (March 2022). Otherwise take the Noreste bus from the airport to the central bus station of Monterrey for M$115 (March 2022). From there take one of the frequent intercity buses to Saltillo for about M$160 (March 2022).

  1. 01
    Saltillo International Airport
  2. 02
    Hospital del Niño
See

Worth seeing

  1. 01
    Museum of Birds of Mexico
  2. 02
    Museo de la Katrina

    Colorful nice-styled museum about Mexican traditions featuring skeletons!

  3. 03
    Coahuila State Government Palace

    Attractive colonial era state house featuring bright open courtyards and a series of murals depicting Coahuila history, painted by Salvador Tarazona.

  4. 04
    Saltillo Cathedral

    Stunning cathedral built in the mid 18th century, spectacular churrigueresque facade, 6-inch thick doors of carved mahogany and cedar featuring St.

  5. 05
    Cristo de las Galeras

    A big statue of Christ and a nice view over city.

  6. 06
    Museum of the Desert
Do

Things to do

Saraperos de Saltillo, are the local Mexican League baseball team. Between March and August, catch a game at the Parque Francisco Madero. You can do a trip into the mountains. At 10am a regional bus leaves the central bus station in the direction of El Tunal and Los Lirios.

Eat

Where to eat

Some unique regional dishes that are specialties of Saltillo include: Pan de pulque - a sweet delightfully airy bread that owes its texture to the use of fermented agave juice in its batter. Widely available throughout the city. For example the

  1. 01
    Panadería La Reyna

    You can also grab a loaf to go from the shops across the street from the bus station.

  2. 02
    Tostiloco

    Here you get brand crisps with cheese sauce, corn, mayonnaise, grated cheese and spicy sauce.

  3. 03
    La Penumbra

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Juan Carlos Fonseca Mata (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikimedia Commons.