It took me several months to manage to organize a trip to the Grutas de Tolantongo because the trip from Mexico City is a bit long, but it is so worth it. Tolantogo is a canyon in the middle of a desertic zone, crossed by a beautiful turquoise river. The name Tolantongo is derived from a local expression meaning "Home where it feels warm", because the water of the river is actually super warm (33 to 36°C)!
As I said, going there is not easy. We first took a bus from Mexico Central del Norte to Ixmilquilpan (3 hours) and spent the night there, at Hotel Avenida (which I definitely recommend). The following morning, we took a collectivo at San Antonio parking lot (50 pesos), which drove us directly to the Grutas.
The site entrance is 140 pesos and gives you access to a cave, waterfalls, a river and human made infinity pools. There's aslo a 2 km hike in the canyon and zip-lines, but they apparently aren't so safe as I read in the news yesterday that a man died from ziplining there.
In order to enter the cave and the waterfall tunnel (which goes behing the waterfall) you are asked to store your belongings in a locker (50 pesos).
Of course, we had to do the hike! It actually links the waterfalls to the infinity pools so you kinda have to do it if you want to see everything the area has to offer. The photo below was taken during the hike: you can see the blue of the river popping out of the jungle. I also love the cactuses, they were huge !!
While I enjoyed going through the tunnel, what I prefered was chilling in the river. I had never been into a river this warm and beautiful. The strong current even gives you massages. What else could I need?
The view from the pools is not bad either ;) Even though they are artificial, they are filled with thermal warm water coming directly from the mountain. I had seen many videos about the pozas on Facebook and I was happy to see them with my own eyes, but I prefered the "natural attractions" offered by the site!
Of course, this area is very crowded during weekends so I definitely advise you to go there during a weekday. If you wish to stay more than one day, you can either stay in the hotel built in the Tolantongo site (but they do not accept reservations so it is a first come, first served system) or you can rent a tent and camp (they even lend BBQs). I was relaxed enough after one day so I went back to Mexico DF for more adventures!