27 within 3½ hours · 12 under 2 hours
Poza Rica is half an hour from Papantla, the vanilla town where the voladores spin from their pole and the ruins of El Tajín stand just outside. Behind it rises the Sierra Norte de Puebla, with its string of Pueblos Mágicos an hour and a half to two hours up winding roads: Xicotepec, Huauchinango and Pahuatlán in coffee country, then Zacatlán of the apples, Chignahuapan of the Christmas baubles and Cuetzalan, the Nahua market town in the clouds. Zozocolco, in Veracruz, is the closest of the sierra towns.
Best months for the area: Feb, Mar, Apr, Dec (when most of these towns are dry with comfortable afternoons)
Day trips (under 2 hours) 12
Close enough to drive there and back from Poza Rica in a day. Closest first.
~1 h 38 min · 100 km
Best: Feb, Mar, Apr, May
Fiestas: Jan, Mar, Apr, Jul, Aug, Dec
Weekend escapes (2 to 3½ hours) 15
Worth a night or two. Closest first.
~2 h 30 min · 170 km
Best: Feb, Mar, Apr, May
Fiestas: Apr, May, Sep, Nov, Dec
~2 h 35 min · 175 km
Best: Feb, Mar, Apr, May
Fiestas: Jan, Feb, Jun, Oct
~3 h 10 min · 215 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Nov, Dec
Fiestas: Mar, Apr, May, Sep, Dec
~3 h 20 min · 225 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec
Fiestas: Feb, Mar, Jun, Jul, Dec
On the map
Getting there
Poza Rica has its own airport, Poza Rica (PAZ), 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 Poza Rica. 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.