Puebla

Sitting beneath the volcanic calderas of mighty Popocatepetl and Pico de Orizaba, the sprawling metropolitan centre of Puebla is a patchwork of charming post-colonial Spanish homes, earthy barrios and majestic churches, all clinging to the dusty peaks of the central Cuetlaxcoapan Valley. Once visitors have acclimatised to the breath-taking panoramas that abound around the city’s peripheries, they should be sure to ask their Puebla tourist guide about exploring the winding maze of streets at the town’s pretty 16th century centre, Zocalo. Here, angelic legends and UNESCO-attested buildings intermingle under the gaze of looming Puebla Cathedral, while locals cook up oodles of the fabled mole poblano sauce that’s this region’s culinary pièce de résistance. Away from the historic centre there are almost too many activities to list, with the famous Cinco de Mayo festival erupting every May at the Los Fuertes complexes on the Cerro de Guadalupe, mini Cuexcomate (the world’s smallest volcano) rising uneasily from the inner-city streets in La Libertad, and the eye-popping historical sites of Cholula, sprawling art houses of Los Sapos and bustling marketplaces of El Parian nearby.