Mexico City Day Trips: 4 Day Itinerary
Four days, four day trips, and this is the first version of this itinerary long enough to reach Taxco. Day 1 covers Teotihuacan, day 2 covers Puebla and Cholula, day 3 pairs Tepoztlan with Cuernavaca, and day 4 pushes further out to Mexico’s hillside silver town. Tighter schedule? Back up to 3 days . Got a full 5 to spread these out more? See the 5-day version .
Book these before you go:
- The Teotihuacan sunrise balloon, here , since pre-dawn hotel pickup gets booked days out, not decided the morning of.
- A Taxco day tour, here , useful on a 4-day trip specifically because it removes the only genuinely long transit day from your own logistics.
- A Roma Norte or Condesa hotel, here , close to Terminal Central del Norte, TAPO, and Terminal Sur, the three hubs this whole itinerary runs through.
| Day | Focus | Distance and travel time from CDMX |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Teotihuacan | 50km, about 1 hour each way |
| 2 | Puebla and Cholula | 130km, about 2 to 2.5 hours each way |
| 3 | Tepoztlan + Cuernavaca | 82-85km, about 1 to 1.5 hours each way |
| 4 | Taxco | 170-180km, a genuine 2.5 to 3 hours each way |
Day 1: Teotihuacan
Autobuses Teotihuacan leaves Terminal Central del Norte (Metro Line 5 to Autobuses del Norte, Gate 8, marked Piramides) every 15 to 30 minutes, 55 to 105 pesos one way. Entry is 210 pesos for foreign visitors, 105 for nationals and residents, an INAH rate that has applied since January 2026 regardless of the day, including the misleadingly named free Sunday. These pyramids sat abandoned for a thousand years before the Mexica arrived and named them; skip the Pyramid of the Sun’s crowded stairs for the Pyramid of the Moon, a shorter climb with the better view down the Avenue of the Dead.
Day 2: Puebla and Cholula
Estrella Roja and ADO run TAPO to Puebla’s CAPU terminal every 15 to 20 minutes for 200 to 320 pesos, roughly two to two and a half hours each way. Puebla’s UNESCO-listed centre gave the country mole poblano and Talavera pottery. Cholula, 13km on, has the Great Pyramid of Cholula, the largest by volume on earth and capped with a colonial church; entry runs about 85 pesos, tunnel access depending. Spend part of the visit on Cholula’s other churches, not just the hilltop one; the town’s 365-churches legend is exaggerated, but a walk past the Capilla Real’s domes makes the point anyway. Book a combined Puebla and Cholula day trip if two bus legs solo sounds like too much admin.
Day 3: Tepoztlan and Cuernavaca
Pullman de Morelos runs both routes from Terminal Sur (Taxqueña), about 200 pesos to Tepoztlan and slightly less to Cuernavaca, each 1 to 1.5 hours. Do the El Tepozteco hike above Tepoztlan first, a steep pyramid climb with a genuine view, timing it for Sunday if you can catch the market as a bonus. Continue to Cuernavaca, 17km away, for Diego Rivera’s murals in the Palacio de Cortes and the gardens at Jardin Borda, a calmer close to the day.
Day 4: Taxco, the town silver built
Taxco sits 170 to 180km southwest, a real two and a half to three hours each way on the switchbacks of Highway 95D from Terminal Sur via Estrella de Oro or a similar line, around 300 to 450 pesos one way. That distance is why this is the only day trip in the itinerary that gets a day entirely to itself. Santa Prisca’s Baroque towers anchor the plaza, but the better use of the afternoon is one of the working silver workshops off the square rather than the shops ringing it; several talleres will show you a piece being made if you ask, a different souvenir story than a receipt from a shop window.
Is Taxco too far for a 4-day trip?
It is doable but tight: budget the full day, leave Mexico City by mid-morning at the latest, and accept that you will spend roughly 5 to 6 hours of the day in transit for 3 to 4 hours in town. If that ratio bothers you, either drop Taxco from a 4-day trip and save it for a longer one, or turn it into an overnight, which the 6-day itinerary builds in properly.
Do these four day trips need a rental car?
No. Every one of them runs on a scheduled bus from a fixed terminal: Terminal Central del Norte for Teotihuacan, TAPO for Puebla, and Terminal Sur for both Tepoztlan/Cuernavaca and Taxco. A car adds flexibility for stopping along the toll roads but also adds Mexico City traffic and parking to days that do not currently need either.
End day 4 back in Roma or Condesa with something simple for dinner. Four straight days of buses, pyramids, and mountain roads earns an early night before you fly out.