5 Days: CDMX and Its Best Day Trips
Five days fits all four real CDMX day trips, one per day after you land: Teotihuacan, Puebla and Cholula, Tepoztlan and Cuernavaca, then Taxco on its own, the way the 2.5-3 hour drive actually deserves. Only have 4 days, see the 4-day version that drops Taxco; want to turn that last leg into an overnight instead of a long single day, the 6-day plan does exactly that.
Book these before you go
- Teotihuacan sunrise balloon, sells out 2-4 weeks out: balloon flights on GetYourGuide
- Puebla and Cholula in one loop without timing two buses yourself: day tours on Viator
- A guided option for Taxco if you’d rather not manage the switchback drive yourself: Taxco day tours on GetYourGuide
- Roma or Condesa hotel for all four nights: check rates on Booking.com
Day 1: Land, settle in, adjust to the altitude
Buy your official Sitio taxi ticket in Arrivals, or use the airport’s marked Uber/Didi pickup zone. Roma Norte or Condesa keep you within reach of Central del Norte, TAPO, and Taxqueña, the three terminals covering all four day trips ahead. At 2,240m, keep the first evening light, hydrate, and skip a demanding first night out. Mexico’s federal tourism office posts current advisories worth a quick check before you fly.
Day 2: Teotihuacan, early and on foot
Terminal Central del Norte (Metro Linea 5 to Autobuses del Norte), Sala 8, buses run every 15-30 minutes from around 6am, roughly 55-60 MXN one-way, about an hour each way. Entry is 210 MXN for foreign visitors; arrive by the 8am opening for the Pyramid of the Sun before the 10am tour buses. INAH’s official listing has current hours and closures.
Day 3: Puebla and Cholula, the trip that earns a full day
TAPO terminal, Estrella Roja or ADO, every 10-30 minutes, roughly 2h10 direct, fares 198-280 MXN one-way; booking 30+ hours ahead saves 20%. Puebla’s UNESCO historic center is the birthplace of mole poblano and Talavera pottery; Cholula, 13km further, holds the Great Pyramid of Cholula, the world’s largest by volume.
Day 4: Tepoztlan and Cuernavaca, a hike then eternal spring
Terminal Taxqueña, Pullman de Morelos, Tepoztlan about 82km and 1-1.5 hours, fares 140-200 MXN; Cuernavaca about 85km, similar drive time, fares around 155 MXN. The two sit 17km apart, one day covers both. Climb El Tepozteco before 10am, then continue to Cuernavaca’s Palacio de Cortes for its Diego Rivera murals. visitmexico.com lists current hours for both towns.
Day 5: Taxco, the trip that deserves its own day
Terminal Taxqueña again, Estrella de Oro, a genuine 2.5-3 hours each way on Highway 95D’s mountain switchbacks, fares around 230 MXN one-way. Leave by 7am; this is a long day, and arriving in Mexico’s silver capital by mid-morning gives you real time in the hillside streets and silver workshops around the Santa Prisca church before the return bus. INAH’s archaeological zones list is useful background if you’re pairing the trip with any regional history reading beforehand.
Is one long Taxco day better than skipping it?
Yes, if you can commit to the early start. Six hours round trip on a bus sounds like a lot, but Taxco’s hillside layout and silver trade don’t exist anywhere else on this itinerary, and a rushed afternoon still beats not going. If a single long day feels like too much driving, the 6-day itinerary splits it into an overnight instead.
Can you swap the order of these four day trips?
Yes, with one exception: don’t put Taxco right after Tepoztlan and Cuernavaca. Both involve real driving and an early start, and stacking two long travel days back to back is where trips like this actually wear people down. Put a lighter day, or your Day 1 settling-in slot, between the two longest trips if your dates allow it.
Your four day trips, side by side
| Day trip | Distance from CDMX | Bus time | What it costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teotihuacan (Day 2) | ~50km NE | ~1h each way | 210 MXN entry + ~55-60 MXN bus |
| Puebla and Cholula (Day 3) | ~130km SE | ~2h10 each way | 198-280 MXN bus |
| Tepoztlan and Cuernavaca (Day 4) | ~82-85km S | ~1-1.5h each way | 140-200 MXN bus |
| Taxco (Day 5) | ~170-180km SW | ~2.5-3h each way | ~230 MXN bus |
Set an alarm for the Taxco bus. It’s the one day on this itinerary where missing an early departure genuinely costs you daylight in the town itself.