What this section covers. The metropolitan area and the states around it — everything within reach of Mexico City for a day, which is a great deal more than most visitors realise.
Under an hour. Teotihuacán, one of the largest cities of the ancient world, already a thousand-year-old ruin when the Mexica found it and named it "the place where the gods were born". The Basilica of Guadalupe and Tlatelolco sit on the same northern axis, which is why the three are normally combined.
One to two hours. Tepoztlán, under a cliff with a pyramid on top of it. Cuernavaca, the "city of eternal spring". Tula, in Hidalgo, with its colossal Toltec atlantes. And the pulque haciendas of the Hidalgo plains.
Two to three hours. Puebla and Cholula — a World Heritage centre, the Capilla del Rosario, talavera, mole poblano, and the largest pyramid in the world by volume with a church on top. Taxco, the colonial silver town built down a hillside. Valle de Bravo, on a lake. And, from November to March, the monarch butterfly sanctuaries.
Practical notes. All are reachable by first-class coach from the Norte, TAPO, Taxqueña or Observatorio terminals — comfortable, punctual and cheap. Leave before 08:00 for anything beyond the valley.
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