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    A free Puebloteca guide Veracruz's Pueblos Mágicos

    Free Veracruz travel guide

    All 8 of Veracruz's Pueblos Mágicos on one printable page. Free when you sign up for our weekly email.

    • All 8 Pueblos Mágicos, with a photo and what makes each special
    • A map of Veracruz with each one on it
    • Road trips that join the pueblos close together
    • The best months to go
    • How far each is from the nearest city
    • The sights not to miss
    • The fiestas worth planning around
    • The fiestas month by month
    • Where to stay in each
    • Made to print or save as a PDF

    The 8 Pueblos Mágicos in this guide

    Most visited first. The full guide adds the sights not to miss, the fiestas, how far each is by car, and a layout made to print.

    Zozocolco8Naolinco7Coscomatepec6Coatepec5Xico4Córdoba3Papantla2Orizaba1
    1. 1 Gardens and red-roofed pavilions of the Orizaba botanical garden below the mountains, Veracruz

      Orizaba

      A city in the mountains of Veracruz near the Pico de Orizaba, the highest peak in Mexico. Orizaba is known for its riverside walk, a cable car up the Cerro del Borrego, and the Palacio de Hierro, an iron building brought from Belgium.

      When to go: Feb, Mar, Apr, Dec

    2. 2 A volador spinning head-down from the pole against the sky, Papantla, Veracruz

      Papantla

      Papantla, in northern Veracruz, is the heart of the Totonac region and is known for vanilla and for the ritual of the Voladores, the flying dancers. The ancient city of El Tajín, with its Pyramid of the Niches, is nearby.

      When to go: Feb, Mar, Apr, Dec

    3. 3 Cathedral of the Inmaculada Concepción on the Parque 21 de Mayo, Córdoba, Veracruz

      Córdoba

      Córdoba is a busy city in the coffee and sugar country of central Veracruz, at the foot of the Sierra Madre Oriental. Its heart is the Parque 21 de Mayo, a classic square with the church on one side, city hall on the other and arcades full of cafes in between. Under those arcades the treaty that sealed Mexico's independence was signed in 1821. People come for the history, a long coffee on the portales and the green mountain scenery around it.

      When to go: Feb, Mar, Apr, Dec

    4. 4 Parish of Santa María Magdalena at the top of the stairs, Xico, Veracruz

      Xico

      Xico sits on the lower slopes of the Cofre de Perote, 25 km from Xalapa, in a humid landscape of mountains and coffee farms. Its cobblestone streets lead to the parish of Santa María Magdalena, where thousands of dresses given to the patron saint are kept. Visitors walk to the Texolo and La Monja waterfalls, eat sweet mole xiqueño and xonequi bean soup, and sip morita and verde liqueurs. In July the town fills with sawdust carpets, a flower arch, dancers, and fireworks.

      When to go: Feb, Mar, Apr, May

    5. 5 Colorful facades with balconies along a street in Coatepec, Veracruz

      Coatepec

      Coatepec is a coffee town in the misty hills a few kilometers from Xalapa, the capital of Veracruz. Locals sum it up with a line: we are coffee, cane, orchid, fog and mountain. The center is a grid of tile-roofed houses with interior patios around the parish of San Jerónimo, and the smell of roasting beans follows you down the street. People come to taste coffee at its source, buy orchids, visit old haciendas and escape the heat of the coast.

      When to go: Feb, Mar, Apr, May

    6. 6 Parish of San Juan Bautista beyond the rain-wet plaza, Coscomatepec, Veracruz

      Coscomatepec

      Coscomatepec, or Cosco to locals, is a market town in the high mountains of central Veracruz, on the lower slopes of the Pico de Orizaba, whose snowy cone shows on clear mornings. It is the trading center for the farming villages around it and is known for leatherwork and saddlery, wood-oven bread and hand-rolled cigars. In the first week of October the town reenacts the breaking of the 1813 siege, its proudest moment in the War of Independence.

      When to go: Feb, Mar, Apr, Dec

    7. 7 Domes of the church of San Mateo over the rooftops, Naolinco, Veracruz

      Naolinco

      Naolinco de Victoria is a small mountain city in the foothills of the Sierra de Chiconquiaco, 32 km by road from Xalapa. It is known for its leather goods and for the Naolinco River, which drops through ten named waterfalls, the tallest an 80-meter fall you can see from the town lookout. Traditions run deep here: the Moors and Christians dance for San Mateo in late September, and La Cantada on November 1, when people go house to house singing before the altars for the dead.

      When to go: Feb, Mar, Apr, Dec

    8. 8 Stone church of San Miguel Arcángel with its twin towers, Zozocolco de Hidalgo, Veracruz

      Zozocolco

      Zozocolco de Hidalgo is a Totonac town in the humid hills of northern Veracruz, 61 km south of Poza Rica. Its stone-paved streets and flagstone sidewalks climb to the 17th-century church of San Miguel Arcángel, fronted by a stone plaza with broad steps where the voladores perform from their pole. The big celebration is the feast of San Miguel on September 29, and the town is also known for its festival of handmade paper balloons in November.

      When to go: Feb, Mar, Nov, Dec

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