Valle de Bravo is located 67 Km from Toluca, capital of Mexico State and 145 Km from Mexico City; it has a temperate sub-humid and an average temperature of 17 º C.
Included by “Discovery Channel” on its list of the five most romantic places in Latin America, Valle de Bravo, which was originally called “San Francisco del Valle de Temascaltepec” was for more than three centuries, a settlement on agriculture and horticulture. The life of the people was very calm.
However, the provincial peace finally broke in 1937 when began the work of the construction of the power plant Ixtapantongo, later named Miguel Aleman hydroelectric system. As part of the project were flooded 2 900 hectares of agricultural land that formed the central part of the valley. Local people ran out of land for their crops and had to go to the highlands, leaving home of their parents and grandparents under water.
Since then the town of Valle de Bravo has been a holiday destination for the inhabitants of Mexico City. The lake provides a major attraction in the area, 
where people can practice water sports such as: skiing, sailing, kayaking and fishing; also walks and horse riding through the area are a popular activity.
There are several mountains with peaks that offer unparalleled views of the valley and its inhabitants, one of them is “La Peña”, a big stone to which people can climb in a short walk of thirty minutes and offers an interesting view of the town, here pre-Hispanic ruins and archaeological artifacts have been found, as well as the viewpoint of “Monte Alto” is one of the points off of hang gliding and paragliding.
In the Santa Maria Ahuacatlán neighborhood, people can find the famous temple which attracts thousands of pilgrims annually and where it can be also found the black Christ, which according to legend, was intact but blackened after the fire in the chapel that got on fire.
The temple of St. Francisco, patron of the place, has a bell tower of the XVI century, one of the few colonial buildings of the city. A walk in the steep streets of whitewashed houses, red tiles and 
wooden, almost all built in the XIX century, tourists can enjoy delicious snacks, boutiques, the kiosk in the center town, the handicraft market, with its colorful and variety of items dominated bye and embroidered fabrics of Mazahuas (local inhabitants), famous for centuries for their artistic talent and their work, as well as beautiful pieces of pottery manufactured in the region.
A few miles from Valle de Bravo, you can enjoy Avándaro (which means “place of dreams” in native language) and admire the thick forest of pines, oaks and Oyamel and the “Velo de Novia” (bridge veil) waterfall, in addition to other waterfalls. In Avándaro it can be found many ecotourism hotels and golf clubs.
