31 within 3½ hours · 11 under 2 hours
Guadalajara is the easiest big city in Mexico for Pueblo Mágico day trips. Tlaquepaque, the crafts quarter, is inside the metro area; Tequila, with its agave fields and distilleries, is an hour by road or by the tourist train; Ajijic on Lake Chapala is under an hour. Cocula, the birthplace of mariachi, Sayula and the mountain towns of Tapalpa and Mazamitla are all within two hours. For a weekend, follow the old road into Nayarit through Jala and Ixtlán del Río, or head down to the coast at Sayulita and San Blas.
Best months for the area: Jan, Mar, Apr, Nov (when most of these towns are dry with comfortable afternoons)
Day trips (under 2 hours) 11
Close enough to drive there and back from Guadalajara in a day. Closest first.
1 h 59 min · 129 km
Best: Jan, Mar, Apr, Nov
Fiestas: Jan, Feb, Jul, Aug, Sep, Dec
1 h 59 min · 122 km
Best: Mar, Apr, May, Nov
Fiestas: May, Jun, Nov, Dec
Weekend escapes (2 to 3½ hours) 20
Worth a night or two. Closest first.
2 h 54 min · 183 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr
Fiestas: Mar, Apr, Oct
2 h 56 min · 224 km
Best: Jan, Mar, Apr, Nov
Fiestas: Mar, Apr, Jun, Jul, Aug, Oct
3 h 14 min · 259 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr
Fiestas: Feb, Mar, Apr, Oct, Nov
3 h 22 min · 199 km
Best: Jan, Mar, Nov, Dec
Fiestas: Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Sep, Oct
3 h 24 min · 263 km
Best: Jan, Mar, Apr, Nov
Fiestas: Jan, Mar, Apr, Jun
3 h 30 min · 276 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr
Fiestas: Feb, Jun, Sep, Nov, Dec
On the map
Getting there
Guadalajara has its own airport, Guadalajara (GDL), 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 Guadalajara. 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.