4 within 3½ hours · 0 under 2 hours
Nuevo Laredo is a border city with no Pueblo Mágico nearby, but a weekend loop reaches four. Mier, downriver on the Rio Grande, is a sandstone colonial town; Guerrero, in Coahuila, keeps the ruins of the Spanish presidio of San Juan Bautista, the old gateway to Texas. Candela has a river canyon and hot springs, and Bustamante, on the way to Monterrey, is known for its caves, its bread and a palm-lined canyon.
Best months for the area: Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec (when most of these towns are dry with comfortable afternoons)
Weekend escapes (2 to 3½ hours) 4
Worth a night or two. Closest first.
~2 h 35 min · 175 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec
Fiestas: Feb, Mar, Apr, Jul, Aug
~2 h 45 min · 190 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec
Fiestas: Feb, Mar, Jul, Aug
On the map
Getting there
Nuevo Laredo has its own airport, Nuevo Laredo (NLD), 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 Nuevo Laredo. 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.