15 within 3½ hours · 7 under 2 hours
Uruapan is the avocado capital at the edge of the Meseta Purépecha, and the lake country's Pueblos Mágicos are under an hour away: Paracho, where Mexico's guitars are made, Pátzcuaro with its plazas and Day of the Dead vigils, and the copper-hammering town of Santa Clara del Cobre. Tzintzuntzan's round pyramids and the coffee hills of Tacámbaro are a little further. For a weekend, Cotija and Jiquilpan to the west, or the cabin town of Mazamitla over the Jalisco line.
Best months for the area: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr (when most of these towns are dry with comfortable afternoons)
Day trips (under 2 hours) 7
Close enough to drive there and back from Uruapan in a day. Closest first.
36 min · 37 km
Best: Jan, Mar, Apr, Nov
Fiestas: Mar, Apr, Jun, Jul, Aug, Oct
~1 h 5 min · 70 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr
Fiestas: Feb, Mar, Apr, Oct, Nov
Weekend escapes (2 to 3½ hours) 8
Worth a night or two. Closest first.
~2 h 10 min · 150 km
Best: Jan, Mar, Apr, Nov
Fiestas: Feb, Jul, Sep, Oct, Nov
~2 h 55 min · 200 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr
Fiestas: Jan, Feb, May, Jul, Sep, Oct
~3 h 5 min · 210 km
Best: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr
Fiestas: Mar, Apr, Oct
On the map
Getting there
Uruapan has its own airport, Uruapan (UPN), 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 Uruapan. 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.