Torreón
Get in
By plane
Torreón has an international airport with flights from Mexico City and Houston, among other places.
By train
There is no passenger train service to Torreón.
By car
You can acces to Torreón by several federal and state highways. Some of the most important are:
- México 30
Known as the Carretera Torreón-San Pedro (Torreon-San Pedro Highway) connects with San Pedro de las Colonias and Monclova. - México 40
Known as El Periférico (The Peripheral). It connects with Saltillo (to the East); and Gomez Palacio and Lerdo in the State of Durango (to the West) - México 40D
Known as Libramineto Laguna Norte (North Laguna Beltway). It is a toll highway that surrounds the city. It connects with the same cities as the Mexico 40 but it is much faster and safer.
By bus
Torreon has a Bus Central (Central Camionera) with destinies to several cities in Mexico and the United States.
Get around
There are several taxis and buses across the city, but the best way to move around is by car, there are several car rental agencies and they are easy to get in the hotels and in the airport. Another good way to get around is by bicycle. Torreon is in a semi-desert area and it may be hot, so it is recommended to do it in the evening or early in the morning.
In the center of the city it is common to walk to avoid traffic and finding parking spaces.
See
There are a lot of places to see in Torreon but some of the most important are:
- The Christ of the Noas (El Cristo de las Noas): a sculpture on top of a hill, with a church and shrines related to the Holy Land. This sculpture is the third largest in Latin America after the one Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and the Cristo de la Concordia in Bolivia. Christ is shown with open arms, as if giving a big hug, symbolizing protection for the city. It has an excellent panorama, much of the city is observed. At Holy Week it is visited by many local and foreign people.
- The Pearl Channel (El Canal de la Perla): This channel was built in the late 19th century as an irrigation canal bypassing the waters of Nazas river to irrigate the south east of the city. It is used as an underpass by the population in addition to temporary art exhibitions and demonstrations art.
- The Historic Center (Centro Histórico)
- Venustiano Carranza Forest (Bosque Venustiano Carranza)
- Ignacio Zaragoza Grove (Alameda Ignacio Zaragoza)
- Greater Place (Plaza Mayor)
- Door of Torreon (Puerta de Torreón)
- Founders Park (Parque Fundadores)
- Urban Forest (Bosque Urbano)
Among other attractions and museums.
Do
Buy
- Galerías Laguna (Galerías, Gale), Periferico Raul Lopez Sanchez 6000, Residencial el Fresno, ☏ +52 871 750 7955. 11AM-11PM. It has a movie theater, 3 department stores, a food area, and a hotel.
- Plaza Cuatro Caminos (Cuatro Caminos, Cimaco), Blvd. Independencia 1300 Ote. Col.Navarro, ☏ +52 871 722 58 11, atencion.clientes@plazacuatrocaminos.com.mx. 11AM-11PM. Other of the most popular shopping malls of the city with a wide variety of stores.
Eat
Budget
You can find cheap and delicious food all around the city in many tacos or gorditas stalls
Mid-range
Mid-range restaurants are mainly located in the Independence Boulevard (Bulevar Independencia), but you can find them in many places of the city. Some popular restaurants are:
- Los Farloitos (The Little Lanterns): It is a local franchise which serves tacos, flautas and tostadas among other Mexican dishes. You can find it in different parts of the city.
- El Pueblito (The Little Village): Also known as the "OK Maguey" is a restaruant decorated as a a Mexican village, which also has traditional Mexican food among different cuts of beef. This restaurant is on the Constitution Boulevard (Bulevar Constitución)
- El Pinabete (The Pinabete, a "pinabete" is a kind of tree that grows on the region): This restaurant serves mainly fish and seafood. It is on the Independence Boulevard in front of a Wal-Mart.
- Encomenderos (doesn't has a translation, it is a word game that mixes the words comer which means "eat" and encomendar which means "entrust"): This is a restaurant mainly dedicated to serve tacos.
- El Tacotote (The Big Taco): in the Independence Boulevard, it is a restaurant which serves big tacos.
- El Taco con Botas (The Taco in Boots, a word game for The Puss in Boots): It is also a local franchise which serves very good tacos.
Splurge
If you like gourmet food, Torreon is also for you. Torreon has a great variety of gourmet restaurants. Most of this restaurants are located in the Feliciano Cobian Avenue. Some of them are:
- Capricciosas Gourmet Pizzas
- Il Monasterio
- Rincón del Bife
- Oriental Grill
- Bistro Garden
Drink
Sleep
Budget
Most budget hotels are in the Historical Center of the city; some of them are famous for having hosted prominent figures of the history of Mexico. We can include:
- Hotel Calvete
- Hotel Río Nazas (Nazas River Hotel)
Mid-range
Most mid-range hotels are located in the Independence Boulevard. They are mostly hotels belonging to hotel chains:
- Fiesta Inn: next to the Galerías Laguna Mall
- El Fresno Galerías
- Holiday Inn Express
Splurge
- Crowne Plaza, Blvd. Torreon-matamoros : 4050, Col.ex-hacienda Antigua Los Angeles, 27260 Torreón, ☏ +52 871 729 9600, toll-free: 01 800 000 04 04. Considered the most luxurious hotel in town, the Crowne Plaza offers a comfortable place to stay with a lot of amenities and a modern building. M$1,462 per night.
Connect
Stay safe
As a result of the Zetas operations in Torreon, crimes like extortion, kidnapping, and carjacking also skyrocketed, as the new gang used activities beyond drug trafficking to supplement their income. Furthermore, the local rivals of the Zetas did not disappear from the scene. For the most part, they merely retrenched on the other side of the dried riverbed of the Rio Nazas, in neighboring Gomez Palacio. The existence of two rival territories bordering one another inevitably served as a motor of violent activities.
The election in 2010 of Eduardo Olmos, a mayor bent on attacking the Zetas, has served as the primary driver of Torreon's violence. What's more, the sudden spike in violence has boosted support for a "pact" with the criminals.A new article examines the dilemmas stemming from the increase in violence in Torreon, a northern Mexico city emblematic of the nation's struggles.
Torreon, once a beacon of peace and development in Mexico's blood-soiled north, is now second only to Acapulco in its annual murder rate. The metropolitan region known as La Laguna -- which spans Torreon and Matamoros in the state of Coahuila, as well as Gomez Palacio and Lerdo in Durango -- suffered 830 murders through the first nine months of 2012, according to newspaper reports.
Violence has decreased in the city and in most parts of the country. It is now safe to go outside at night in most parts of the city, but be sure to avoid poor or unlighted areas. Also be careful not to take with you a lot of money or valuables in these areas and in the Center, even in the daytime.