Taxco de Alarcón

Taxco de Alarcón is a whitewashed colonial silver-mining town about 95 km southwest of Cuernavaca, just over the border in neighboring Guerrero, reached in about 1.5 hours by car via Alpuyeca and Iguala or by an ORO or Costa Line bus from Cuernavaca's Central de Autobuses. The town's steep cobblestone streets climb a hillside around the pink-stone Santa Prisca church, and its economy has centered on silver working since the colonial era, with dozens of workshops and shops around Plaza Borda selling handcrafted silver jewelry.

A typical day trip starts with a morning walk through the historic center, taking in Plaza Borda and the Santa Prisca church's ornate Churrigueresque facade, before browsing the silver workshops that line the surrounding streets. Because the streets are steep and often narrow, comfortable walking shoes matter more here than in flatter Morelos towns. In the afternoon, a taxi or cable car ride climbs to a hillside viewpoint over the town's terracotta rooftops, a good spot for photographs and a break from the climbing before heading back down for a late lunch.

Taxco is a comfortable visit year-round, though November through Easter week brings cooler hillside evenings and, during Holy Week specifically, some of Mexico's most elaborate penitential processions, which also bring much larger crowds and fuller hotels for those extending the visit overnight. Restaurants and cafés cluster around Plaza Borda and along the main pedestrian streets, serving regional Guerrero dishes alongside the usual central Mexican staples, making it easy to find a lunch stop without leaving the historic core. Many day-trippers combine Taxco with a stop at the nearby Grutas de Cacahuamilpa, since both sites sit along the same southwestern route from Cuernavaca.