San Luis Potosí Travel Guide
Panorama of Real de Catorce, San Luis Potosi. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
San Luis Potosi is two trips in one: the colonial capital and the ghost mining town of Real de Catorce in the high desert, and the Huasteca Potosina, the lush waterfall country in the east. Few states change character so completely from west to east.
Real de Catorce, reached through the long Ogario tunnel, is the semi-abandoned silver town of legends. The Huasteca holds the Tamul waterfall and the surrealist garden of Las Pozas at Xilitla.
Destinations in San Luis Potosí
Cascada de TamulThe 105-metre waterfall of the Huasteca, reached by boat up the Tampaon river.
Real de CatorceThe ghost silver town beyond the tunnel: cobbled streets, the parish church and Wirikuta desert.
Las Pozas, XilitlaEdward James's surrealist concrete garden in the jungle.
Historic center of San Luis PotosiThe pink-stone colonial capital: plazas, the cathedral and museums.
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Top Cities & towns in San Luis Potosí
Regional food
- Enchiladas potosinas: the chile-stained regional enchilada
- Zacahuil: the giant Huasteca tamale
Getting there
San Luis Potosi (SLP) takes domestic flights. Real de Catorce is 3 hours north of the capital; the Huasteca (Ciudad Valles) is 4 hours east.