6 Days: Mexico City Day Trips
Six days takes the 5-day spine and finishes the split it started: Puebla and Cholula now each get their own dedicated day instead of sharing one, joining Tepoztlan and Cuernavaca as full standalone trips. That’s all six day trips in this family covered properly, one per day, before Taxco closes out the week. For the full seven-day version with an overnight added, see the 7-day plan .
Book these before you go
- The Teotihuacan sunrise balloon, sells out days ahead in high season: book the balloon flight
- Puebla and Cholula tours, useful for either day: check current tours
- A guided Taxco day trip if you’d rather skip the switchback drive: browse Taxco tours
- Your Mexico City base for all six nights: check rates in Mexico City
| Day | Trip | Distance / Travel Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Teotihuacan | ~50km NE, ~1hr each way |
| 2 | Puebla | ~130km SE, ~2h10min each way |
| 3 | Cholula | ~130km SE plus 20-30min from Puebla |
| 4 | Tepoztlan | ~82km S, ~1-1.5hrs each way |
| 5 | Cuernavaca | ~85km S, ~1-1.5hrs each way |
| 6 | Taxco | ~170-180km SW, ~2.5-3hrs each way |
Day 1: Teotihuacan
Balloon pickup around 4am (1,990 MXN weekdays, 2,300 MXN weekends) or Autobuses Teotihuacan from Terminal Central del Norte, Sala 8, every 15-30 minutes from 6am, up to 104 MXN one way, per the official archaeological zone page . Entry 210 MXN foreign, 105 MXN nationals and residents. Return buses stop around 2pm.
Day 2: Puebla
A full day in Puebla alone this time, no Cholula tacked on. Estrella Roja from TAPO, every 10-30 minutes, roughly 198-280 MXN, 2h10min each way. Walk the full UNESCO center properly, not the abbreviated version, add a real Talavera workshop visit and a sit-down mole poblano lunch instead of a rushed one. The official Puebla page has current museum hours worth building the day around.
Day 3: Cholula
Back out the same route, this time getting off short of Puebla center for Cholula’s Great Pyramid, the world’s largest by volume, a colonial church perched on top. Entry 210 MXN foreign per the official Cholula archaeological zone page . The underground tunnel section reopens in late July 2026 after six years closed, worth timing your visit around if your dates line up. A full day here also covers the site museum and Popocatepetl viewpoints rushed on shorter itineraries.
Is Doing Puebla and Cholula on Separate Days a Waste of Bus Time?
A fair trade, not a waste. You’ll ride the same route twice instead of once, but each day gets a genuinely unrushed visit rather than splitting attention between a colonial center and a 2,000 year old pyramid in one afternoon. If six days feels like too many for this family, our 4-day plan combines them back into one.
Day 4: Tepoztlan
Pullman de Morelos from Terminal Sur, roughly 200 MXN, 1 to 1.5 hours. El Tepozteco hike, 45-90 minutes to a hilltop pyramid, small cash entry at the top, plus a full look at the Sunday artisan market if your dates land right. See the official Tepoztlan destination page for current hours.
Day 5: Cuernavaca
Same Pullman de Morelos route, 17km past Tepoztlan. The Palacio de Cortes, now the Museo Regional Cuauhnahuac, holds Diego Rivera murals inside one of the Americas’ oldest colonial buildings, entry roughly 90-100 MXN, closed Mondays, per the official museum listing . A dedicated day also covers Cuernavaca’s colonial gardens at an actual pace.
Day 6: Taxco
Morning
The genuine outlier, 170-180km southwest, 2.5-3 hours on Highway 95D. Buses run from Terminal Sur via Costa Line, Futura, or Estrella de Oro, roughly 300-380 MXN one way, per the official Taxco destination page .
Afternoon
Hillside streets, the free Santa Prisca church, and silver workshops that make what they sell. Book a Taxco day tour if you’d rather not manage the switchback drive on the last day of a long trip.
Evening
Long bus back for a final Mexico City night, a proper dinner to close out six genuinely different landscapes in six days.
Is Six Days of Back-to-Back Day Trips Too Much Driving?
It’s the real trade-off of this itinerary. Five of the six days involve at least an hour each way, and fatigue by day 5 or 6 is genuine. If that sounds like too much, our 7-day plan actually adds a day rather than removing one, splitting Taxco into an overnight so the last leg isn’t also the longest single day.
Book your Taxco bus a day ahead specifically for day 6, Terminal Sur runs three operators on this route and the last reliable evening departure back to Mexico City fills faster than the outbound morning buses.