47 within 3½ hours · 20 under 2 hours
No city in Mexico has more Pueblos Mágicos within a day's drive than Mexico City. The pyramids of Teotihuacán and the Jesuit college of Tepotzotlán are under an hour away; Tepoztlán, with its cliff-top pyramid and weekend market, is the classic escape south over the mountains; the old mining towns of Real del Monte, Mineral del Chico and Huasca de Ocampo are a forested highland day to the northeast. For a weekend, head west to Valle de Bravo's lake, southwest to the silver town of Taxco, or north into the Sierra Norte de Puebla for Zacatlán and Cuetzalan.
Best months for the area: Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec (when most of these towns are dry with comfortable afternoons)
Day trips (under 2 hours) 20
Close enough to drive there and back from Mexico City in a day. Closest first.
50 min · 51 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec
Fiestas: Feb, Mar, Jun, Jul, Dec
59 min · 60 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Nov, Dec
Fiestas: Mar, Apr, May, Sep, Dec
1 h 11 min · 67 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec
Fiestas: Mar, Sep, Dec
1 h 32 min · 106 km
Best: Feb, Mar, Apr, May
Fiestas: Jan, Feb, Jun, Oct
1 h 48 min · 117 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec
Fiestas: Feb, Aug, Sep
1 h 54 min · 127 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec
Fiestas: Feb, Mar, Apr, Jun, Aug, Sep, Nov
Weekend escapes (2 to 3½ hours) 27
Worth a night or two. Closest first.
2 h 20 min · 160 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr
Fiestas: Feb, Mar, Sep, Dec
2 h 35 min · 161 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec
Fiestas: Jan, Mar, Apr, May, Oct, Nov, Dec
2 h 38 min · 187 km
Best: Feb, Mar, Apr, Nov
Fiestas: Feb, May, Jul, Oct, Dec
3 h 13 min · 244 km
Best: Feb, Mar, Apr, May
Fiestas: Jan, Mar, Apr, Jul, Aug, Dec
On the map
Getting there
Mexico City has its own airport, Mexico City (MEX), so you can fly in and rent a car there.
A car is the easiest way to reach most of these towns; the bigger ones also have direct buses from Mexico City. Each pueblo's page has its own getting-there notes.
Drive times are from OpenStreetMap routing without traffic. Times marked ~ are estimated from the distance and may run longer on mountain roads.