The Museum of the Handmade Doll is the clearest place to understand why Amealco is on the map. Its rooms show prize-winning dolls from the local handmade doll festival and pieces connected to the Otomi communities of Santiago Mexquititlan and San Ildefonso Tultepec.
The museum is small, but it turns the dolls from souvenirs into cultural objects. Go before shopping in town; the colours, braids, ribbons, and stitched faces make more sense afterward.