36 within 3½ hours · 16 under 2 hours
Cuautla lies among the Pueblos Mágicos of Morelos: Tlayacapan, with its sixteenth-century convent and chinelo dancers, is twenty minutes away, Tepoztlán half an hour, and the sugar-cane towns of Tlaltizapán and Xochitepec under an hour. Across the Popocatépetl pass are Puebla's Atlixco, a town of flower nurseries, Huejotzingo and Cholula with its great pyramid. For a weekend, head to the silver town of Taxco or the Tlaxcala highlands.
Best months for the area: Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec (when most of these towns are dry with comfortable afternoons)
Day trips (under 2 hours) 16
Close enough to drive there and back from Cuautla in a day. Closest first.
~1 h 20 min · 90 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec
Fiestas: Feb, Mar, Apr, Jun, Aug, Sep, Nov
~1 h 25 min · 100 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec
Fiestas: Jan, Mar, Apr, May, Oct, Nov, Dec
~1 h 30 min · 100 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec
Fiestas: Feb, Aug, Sep
~1 h 50 min · 125 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec
Fiestas: Feb, Mar, Jun, Jul, Dec
~1 h 55 min · 130 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Nov, Dec
Fiestas: Mar, Apr, May, Sep, Dec
Weekend escapes (2 to 3½ hours) 20
Worth a night or two. Closest first.
~2 h 10 min · 150 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec
Fiestas: Mar, Sep, Dec
~2 h 30 min · 170 km
Best: Jan, Mar, Apr, Dec
Fiestas: Mar, Nov
~2 h 50 min · 190 km
Best: Feb, Mar, Apr, May
Fiestas: Jan, Feb, Jun, Oct
~3 h 10 min · 215 km
Best: Feb, Mar, Apr, Nov
Fiestas: Feb, May, Jul, Oct, Dec
~3 h 10 min · 215 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr
Fiestas: Feb, Mar, Sep, Dec
~3 h 15 min · 220 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec
Fiestas: Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
On the map
Getting there
Cuautla has no airport with scheduled flights; the usual one to fly into is Toluca (TLC).
A car is the easiest way to reach most of these towns; the bigger ones also have direct buses from Cuautla. 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.