M Visita México Find a hotel
Home/ Areas/ Central Highlands Highlands and volcanoes · Central Mexico

Central Highlands

The ring of states around the capital: mining towns, sixteenth-century monasteries and two volcanoes over five thousand metres, all of it under three hours away.

55 m average altitude 0 states in the ring 0 h from the capital 0 minimum days
In two minutes

What it is, and what it is not

The central highlands are not a destination: they are a ring of five states around Mexico City. Hidalgo to the north, Tlaxcala to the east, Morelos to the south, Guerrero to the south-west and the State of Mexico closing the circle. Nothing here is more than three hours from the middle of the capital.

What almost nobody says before you book: life here happens above two thousand metres, which means cold nights all year and afternoon storms from June to September. Popocatépetl is active and its cone has been closed for years. And half of these towns fill up with people from the capital every weekend.

State Five central states Airport Mexico City (MEX) Best time Nov – Feb Avoid Jun – Sep Minimum days 4 Currency Peso (MXN)
The places

Six stops around the ring

They run in a circle around the capital, from north to south-west. None is more than three hours from the next.

Mining town Pachuca and Real del Monte
01 / 06
01 Mining town Pachuca and Real del Monte Silver mines that brought Cornish miners over in the nineteenth century, and with them the pasty, which here turned into everyday food. 1 h 30 from the capital 2,700 m altitude
02 City and murals Tlaxcala and Cacaxtla The smallest state in the country, with an arcaded main square and, half an hour out, the best-preserved pre-Hispanic murals in Mexico. Cacaxtla murals 2 h from the capital
03 Volcanoes Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl Two snow cones visible from half the region. Popo is active and closed; Izta is climbed with a guide and a permit from the Paso de Cortés. Popo closed Izta by permit
04 Pueblo Mágico Tepoztlán A town tucked under a cliff wall, with a weekend market and a pyramid on top of the crag reached by two hours of stone steps. 2 h climb Market Sat and Sun
05 City and archaeological site Cuernavaca and Xochicalco Fifteen hundred metres up and mild all year round. Forty minutes away, the walled city of Xochicalco sits on its own hilltop. 1,500 m altitude Xochicalco 40 min
06 Silver town Taxco White houses on an impossible hillside, cobbled lanes too narrow for a bus, and three hundred silver workshops still working. 2 h 45 from the capital Very steep streets
When to go

The highlands have four seasons

Here the month decides the afternoon rain, and whether the volcanoes are visible or hidden.

The best November to February Dry and clear, with the volcanoes snow-capped and visible most mornings. In exchange, nights at freezing above two and a half thousand metres. —Bring a real coat —Long weekends: book ahead
With a caveat March to May The hottest, driest months, and the ones with the worst air: dust, crop burning and a haze that swallows the volcanoes for weeks at a time. —Volcanoes rarely visible —Holy Week: everything full
Risk June to September The rainy season: a storm most days from four in the afternoon. In September the remains of hurricanes reach this far inland and close mountain roads. —Plan for mornings —Landslides on the roads
Good value October The rain eases off and the countryside is still green from the season. It is the region at its best-looking, and prices have not moved yet. —Green and dry at once —End of month: Day of the Dead
Getting around

Legs, times and prices

Everything leaves from the capital's four terminals. A car only adds anything for the mountain villages.

Mexico City (MEX) → Pachuca 1 h 30 $10 Direct bus from Terminal Norte every twenty minutes. Real del Monte is half an hour further by combi. Mexico City → Cuernavaca 1 h 15 $8 Continuous departures from Taxqueña. The motorway crosses the pass and drops a thousand metres in forty kilometres. Cuernavaca → Tepoztlán 40 min $3 combi Combis every fifteen minutes from the Cuernavaca terminal. Cash, paid as you board. Mexico City → Taxco 2 h 45 $20 From Taxqueña, four departures a day. The bus drops you at the bottom: shared taxis run up to the centre. Mexico City → Tlaxcala 2 h $13 From TAPO, hourly. Cacaxtla is forty minutes on and has no direct transport.

Reference prices in dollars gathered in 2025, per person, economy class. First-class buses sell online; village combis are paid in cash as you board.

Where to sleep

Four bases, four different trips

See hotels →
From $60 Tepoztlán Guesthouses under the cliff, with breakfast and a garden. For walking the crag in the morning and never needing a car.
From $50 Cuernavaca Old houses with walled gardens and mild weather all year. For a southern base where the nights stay warm in midwinter.
From $40 Taxco Rooms on cobbled slopes, nearly all of them with a view. For two nights of silver and stepped lanes, if stairs are not a problem.
From $75 Valle de Bravo A mountain lake two and a half hours out, with sailing and paragliding. For a weekend, though Friday to Sunday it costs twice as much.
Before you book

What everybody asks

No. The volcano has been on alert for years and there is a twelve-kilometre exclusion radius around the crater. Iztaccíhuatl next door can be climbed with a guide and a permit from the Paso de Cortés, over two days.

Quite a lot for the first two days if you arrive from sea level. Pachuca and the Paso de Cortés are above two thousand seven hundred metres. Cuernavaca, at fifteen hundred, is where you will sleep best in the whole region.

You can, and plenty of people do, but you miss the best of it: these towns change character once the five o'clock coaches leave. Two nights outside the city makes it a different trip.

Not for Pachuca, Cuernavaca, Tepoztlán, Taxco or Tlaxcala: there is a first-class bus or a combi to all of them. Yes for Cacaxtla, Xochicalco and the Paso de Cortés, which sit off every regular route.

Four for two bases and three or four towns without rushing. A week fits the mining north and the mild south into one trip, with a day spare for the volcanoes.

Nearly. From June to September the morning usually dawns clear and the storm arrives between four and six. It lasts an hour or two and then clears: you plan around it rather than cancel for it.