Arrive at Mexico City’s airport in the afternoon. Meet your driver and transfer about two and a half hours to Puebla. We checked into the Rosewood Puebla, a 78-room hotel on the edge of the historic center, and I enjoyed the colorful, friendly property immensely. However, since our anonymous stay, the hotel has changed management companies and is now called Banyan Tree Puebla. Hopefully service levels remain high. Even with the change, it is preferable over Cartesiano, which has a more extensive spa but rooms that are less comfortable.

Settle in, and then ascend to the rooftop to have an aperitif by the pool as the sun sets behind the domes and bell towers of Puebla. Have dinner in the hotel’s restaurant, where service can be slow but the Poblano cuisine is delicious.

Take a day to explore Puebla with a guide and driver. Start perhaps on the zocalo, the main square fronted by the ornate Biblioteca Palafoxiana, the hemisphere’s first and oldest public library, and huge baroque cathedral. It’s impressive, but even more so is the Templo de Santo Domingo’s Capilla del Rosario (Rosary Chapel). A UNESCO World Heritage site, the astonishing chapel’s vaults and dome are encrusted in an explosion of interwoven gold filigree.

After lunch, visit the Uriarte Talavera factory and showroom. A type of majolica, Talavera ceramics are one of Puebla’s most famous crafts, and a private tour of the factory — where objects are still created by hand — is fascinating. You might even take a few moments to paint your own piece, which the factory can then fire and ship to your home.

Have dinner tonight in one of our recommended restaurants.

The city of Puebla has deep culinary traditions, and I recommend indulging in a private food tour to introduce you to some of the town’s specialties. The venues you visit will mostly be very casual, but the food — tamales, cemitas, tacos árabes, molotes — will invariably be delicious. I recommend breaking up the food tour with a visit to the Museo Amparo, which houses a trove of exquisitely beautiful ancient Mexican art.

Take the rest of the afternoon to explore on your own. Walk through the Barrio del Artista, an artists’ quarter along Calle 8 Norte, and if you’re in need of inexpensive souvenirs, continue south and walk through the colorful El Parián market. If you continue southwest, Calle 6 Sur is one of the city’s prettiest streets. On the other hand, the Museo Internacional del Barroco, which has received a great deal of press and has impressive architecture, will likely be disappointing to those who have visited continental Europe.

Although Cholula feels almost like a suburb of Puebla these days, the city is much older than its larger neighbor and has indigenous origins. At its center is the world’s largest ancient pyramid (by area). Abandoned well before the arrival of the Spaniards and overgrown with vegetation, it now resembles a large hill, capped by the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Remedios.

Visit the new Museo Regional de Cholula, opened in 2017 near the pyramid’s base, as well as the archaeological park on the pyramid’s south side. If you’re not claustrophobic, explore the tunnels within the pyramid, which is actually composed of six ancient structures built one on top of the other.

After lunch in the garden patio of nearby Ciudad Sagrada, return to Puebla. I recommend taking the rest of the afternoon to relax at your hotel, lounging by the rooftop pool and perhaps indulging in a spa treatment.

After breakfast, check out of the Azul Talavera Hotel and head north with your driver to San Miguel de Allende, a drive of about four and a half hours. Consider breaking up the journey with a stop at Tula, the former capital of the Toltecs. Atop the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl are four monumental basalt sculptures representing Toltec warriors.

Arrive in San Miguel de Allende and check into one of our three recommended properties. All of them have fine restaurants, and since it’s been a long day of travel, I recommend taking it easy and having dinner at your hotel.

Take a full day with a guide to explore San Miguel de Allende. Visit the Parroquia San Miguel Arcángel, a surreal neo-gothic fantasy of a church carved from pink sandstone, and head up to a spectacular viewpoint overlooking the valley in which the town is set. Depending on your interests, you might visit the former home of Ignacio Allende, a leader of the Mexican revolution, or head to the Mercado de Artesanías, where you can shop for crafts and snack along the way.

Take a day to simply explore the center on your own, stopping in art galleries and perhaps reserving a tour in the privately owned mask museum La Otra Cara de México (“Another Face of Mexico”).

San Miguel de Allende stands on the edge of a developing wine region, and I’m surprised to report that some wines of real quality and interest are being created there. Arrange for your driver/guide to take you to Cuna de Tierra, which makes some credible whites and some absolutely excellent red blends. After your tour of the vineyards and winery, sit down to a lunch worthy of a Michelin star, paired with Cuna de Tierra wines (read more about our experience at Cuna de Tierra.

Return to San Miguel de Allende and take the rest of the afternoon on your own, to relax and continue exploring.

Transfer to Guanajuato’s airport, about two hours from San Miguel de Allende, and depart on your flight back to the United States.

Note that you could easily turn the Puebla portion of this itinerary into an extension of a stay in Mexico City. You could also add San Miguel de Allende into a more extensive itinerary exploring other colonial Mexico cities.