The municipality covers an area of 877.8 km2 (335.01 sq mi) and includes many small outlying communities, the largest of which are Iramuco and Parácuaro.

The municipality of Acámbaro is bordered to the north by Tarimoro and Jerécuaro, to the southeast by Tarandacuao, to the south by the state of Michoacán, and to the west by Salvatierra.

The evangelization process was undertaken by Franciscan friars, who also constructed splendid structures that remain standing today, such as the Templo del Hospital (Hospital Temple), an aqueduct in the Mudéjar style (1527), and a stone bridge over the River Lerma (1750).

The first bullfights on the soil of New Spain were held in Acámbaro, and the Fuente Taurina fountain in the city's plaza commemorates the introduction of the sport to Mexico.

During 1944 Acámbaro's mechanical workshop built La Fidelita 296, a steam engine that is a symbol of a time in history of the Acambarense society.

Another souvenir of Acámbaro's age of steam is a large model locomotive that sits on an elevated platform in the center of a major highway intersection east of the city.

[5] Acámbaro has been notable as a point of controversy in the field of archeology as the source of the Acámbaro figures, a collection of about 32,000 clay figurines discovered by German archaeologist Waldemar Julsrud in 1944 near the city's most prominent landmark, the Cerro del Toro (Bull Hill).