22 within 3½ hours · 6 under 2 hours
Córdoba's coffee-country neighbours are the closest Pueblos Mágicos anywhere: Orizaba, with its river walk and iron palace, and Coscomatepec, a mountain town under the Pico de Orizaba, are both half an hour away. An hour further up the sierra are the coffee towns around Xalapa, Xico with its waterfall and Coatepec with its colonial coffee houses, and Naolinco, where leather boots are made. For a weekend, cross into Puebla and Tlaxcala for Huamantla's bullring and Ixtenco's Otomí heritage.
Best months for the area: Feb, Mar, Apr, Dec (when most of these towns are dry with comfortable afternoons)
Day trips (under 2 hours) 6
Close enough to drive there and back from Córdoba in a day. Closest first.
~1 h 10 min · 80 km
Best: Feb, Mar, Apr, May
Fiestas: Apr, May, Sep, Nov, Dec
Weekend escapes (2 to 3½ hours) 16
Worth a night or two. Closest first.
~2 h 20 min · 160 km
Best: Feb, Mar, Apr, May
Fiestas: Jan, Mar, Apr, Jul, Aug, Dec
~2 h 50 min · 190 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec
Fiestas: Feb, Mar, Apr, Jun, Aug, Sep, Nov
On the map
Getting there
Córdoba has no airport with scheduled flights; the usual one to fly into is Veracruz (VER).
A car is the easiest way to reach most of these towns; the bigger ones also have direct buses from Córdoba. 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.