Day trips

The trips worth making

The whole region works as day trips from a single Mexico City base, which is part of why you rarely need to change hotels. Pick one or two rather than cramming them. Travel times are approximate and depend heavily on how long it takes to clear city traffic, so start early. Ordered by value.

Teotihuacán pyramids

About 1 hour each way (approximate). The region’s headline sight and the one to do if you do only one: a vast ancient city with the Pyramid of the Sun, the Pyramid of the Moon, and the Avenue of the Dead running between them. Verdict: absolutely worth it. Take a direct bus from the Terminal Norte bus station, roughly 1 hour and cheap, rather than an overpriced combo tour that bolts on a shrine and a tequila stop. Go at opening to beat the heat and the crowds, bring water, a hat, and sun cover, and allow a half day on site. See getting there and around for the terminal.

Puebla

Roughly 2 to 2.5 hours each way by comfortable ADO bus from TAPO (approximate). A colonial city of tiled facades, Talavera pottery, and serious food: mole poblano, cemitas, and chiles en nogada in season around August and September. Verdict: worth it, and doable in a long day, though it rewards an overnight. Walk the zócalo, the cathedral, and the Callejón de los Sapos antiques street.

Tepoztlán

About 1.5 hours south (approximate), reachable by bus from Taxqueña. A laid-back mountain town with a stiff hike up to the clifftop Tepozteco pyramid and a lively weekend market full of food and crafts. Verdict: worth it if you want nature, a slower pace, and a good view earned on foot. Go on a Saturday or Sunday for the market.

Xochimilco

Technically inside the city, about 1 to 1.5 hours south (see things to do). The painted trajinera canal boats are a fun, boozy group outing on a weekend afternoon. Verdict: worth it with a group, skip it solo, when it can feel dead and is a long haul for what you get.

Taxco and Cuernavaca

Further south, roughly 2 to 3 hours (approximate). Taxco is a silver-mining town spilling white houses down a steep hillside, scenic and steep, better as an overnight than a rushed day. Cuernavaca is closer and warmer but has thinned out over the years. Verdict: Taxco worth it as an overnight, a day-trip skip; Cuernavaca skippable unless you want the warm-weather break.

If you only do one

Make it Teotihuacán. It is close, it is genuinely major, and nothing else in the region tops it. Everything on this list rewards an early start, because the difference between leaving at 8 and leaving at 10 is an hour of city traffic each way. For the rest of the state and its hub, see the cdmx overview.