If you’re visiting Mexico City and looking for a peaceful, nature-filled getaway, the Magic Town of Valle de Bravo is the perfect escape. Often called “The Hamptons of Mexico,” this beautiful mountain town is a favorite weekend retreat for Mexico City’s elite.
After a busy week exploring Mexico City, we spent 3 days in the top weekend escape for Mexico City locals and had the chance to stay in one of the town’s most stunning hotels.
In this guide, you’ll find everything you need to know to plan your perfect trip to Valle de Bravo, Mexico.
What is Valle de Bravo known for?
Valle de Bravo, a picturesque mountain town in the State of Mexico, is often seen as an upscale weekend escape for Mexico City’s elite—but it’s much more than that. As a designated Pueblo Mágico (Magical Town), it offers a mix of adventure, history, and natural beauty.
The town’s charming cobblestone streets are lined with well-preserved colonial buildings, while nearby Lake Avándaro provides endless opportunities for watersports.
Most importantly, Valle de Bravo is home to the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, where millions of monarch butterflies migrate between November and February each year, attracting thousands of local and international tourists.
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Is Valle de Bravo Mexico safe?
One of the most common questions we get on social media is whether certain parts of Mexico are safe. Our usual response? Aside from the occasional scam, most of Mexico is actually very safe.
During our trip to Valle de Bravo, we walked all over town—even at night—and were met with nothing but friendly faces and helpful locals. The town has a relaxed, slow-paced vibe, and the people are warm and welcoming.
In our experience, Valle de Bravo felt as safe as it gets. That said, as with any destination, it’s always smart to keep an eye on your belongings and stay aware of your surroundings.
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How to get to Valle de Bravo from Mexico City
Valle de Bravo is about 2.5 hours southwest of Mexico City, and there are a few ways to get there. The easiest and most convenient option is renting a car, which also gives you the flexibility to explore the nearby town of Avándaro.
Another option is taking a rideshare from Mexico City. Of the three rideshare apps available, we always recommend InDrive, as it usually offers the best rates and lets you negotiate your fare. The only catch? You might not find a rideshare back from Valle de Bravo to Mexico City if no one is traveling that day.
If you’d rather not drive or rely on a rideshare, you can take a bus, which is what we did. Head to Terminal Poniente Bus Station, about 40 minutes from Mexico City’s Centro Histórico. Once there, look for the Zina bus counter and buy an Excelencia ticket—it’ll get you to Valle de Bravo in about 2.5 hours.
We made the mistake of buying a second-class Zina ticket to save just 15 pesos ($1), only to end up on a bus that took over four hours, winding through tiny roads and stopping in every little town along the way. Trust us, it’s not worth it—just pay the extra dollar for Excelencia!
For your return trip, head to Valle de Bravo’s only bus station and grab the Zina Excelencia bus back to Mexico City. That small upgrade will save you a lot of time and hassle.
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Is Valle de Bravo worth visiting?
If you’re planning a longer stay in Mexico City and want to explore beyond the usual tourist spots, we highly recommend adding Valle de Bravo to your itinerary. This Pueblo Mágico (Magical Town) has a unique charm and offers a completely different side of Mexico compared to the fast-paced energy of the capital.
While you can visit Valle de Bravo as a day trip, it’s only worthwhile if you have a rental car, as the bus takes too long. Another great option is booking a guided tour with round-trip transportation from Mexico City. There are two full-day tours worth considering:
🦋 A seasonal Monarch butterfly tour (available December–March) that takes you to the breathtaking biosphere reserve.
🌊 An adventure tour that includes activities in the surrounding nature and a jet ski ride on Lake Avándaro.
That said, if you only have two or three days in Mexico City, an overnight trip to Valle de Bravo might not be the best use of your time—there’s already so much to see in the city itself.
When we recently spent 11 days in Mexico City, we knew we wanted to add Valle de Bravo to our itinerary since we had already explored much of the capital on previous trips. We’re so glad we did! Spending three nights in Valle de Bravo gave us the perfect slow-paced escape from the city’s hustle and bustle.
⛔️ Want to know exactly how to stay safe in Mexico City? Read this post next!
Where to stay in Valle de Bravo
Since Valle de Bravo is quite small, there aren’t a ton of accommodation options. While researching where to stay, Hotel Boutique Casa Chichipicas immediately caught our attention with its gorgeous, cozy outdoor area and bedrooms featuring a hammock and hot tub—perfect for the quiet, slow-paced getaway we had in mind.
The hotel is also intimate and private, with just 10 beautiful suites and exceptionally friendly, personalized service.
We were lucky to stay in the Chicuace Room (Suite 6), which turned out to be even more stunning than it looked in photos. Our favorite part? The indoor hot tub, where we unwound most evenings after exploring the town.
We also loved the convenience of room service, which we ordered almost every night—especially for their gourmet burger and the creamy tomato basil soup, one of the best soups we’ve ever had.
The property itself has a lovely communal space, featuring a cozy fireplace, soft background music, a TV room, an outdoor dining area, and a heated pool.
One afternoon, we spent hours lounging on the deck, soaking in the pool and hot tub, and simply enjoying the tranquillity of Valle de Bravo—truly one of the best ways to experience it.
If you’re planning a romantic getaway, we highly recommend Casa Chichipicas. The property is beautifully maintained and strikes the perfect balance between cozy and luxurious—we were truly impressed!
😴 You can also check out these hotels within Valle de Bravo and the neighbouring town of Avandaro:
Top things to do in Valle de Bravo Mexico
1️⃣ Walk through the downtown area: If you love quiet cobblestone streets and well-preserved colonial architecture, you’ll enjoy exploring downtown Valle de Bravo. It’s one of the cleanest, friendliest, and most beautiful small towns we’ve seen in Mexico so far.
One of the things that makes this pueblo mágico so charming is its uniform white-and-red buildings, which create a stunning contrast against the surrounding landscape. The town feels like it’s nestled right into the mountains, offering stunning views from almost every angle.
Be sure to wear comfortable walking shoes—the streets are uneven, and I nearly twisted my ankle on one of the steeper roads!
While you’re there, stop by the main plaza to grab a snack and do some people-watching. Then, take a stroll down to Lake Avándaro, where you’ll get gorgeous views of the water and mountains. You’ll also find striking Monarch Butterfly statues honouring the town’s connection to the butterfly migration—a sight worth seeing!
2️⃣ Take your picture at The Valle de Bravo Sign: While you’re down by the edge of Lake Avándaro, don’t miss the chance to snap a photo at the ‘I Love Valle de Bravo’ sign—it’s the perfect spot for the gram!
Pro tip: Visit in the afternoon when the sun shines on the letters, with the lake as a beautiful backdrop. We went in the morning, so we took our photo from the other side of the sign instead.
3️⃣ Visit the Municipal Market for breakfast: For an authentic and affordable local breakfast, there’s no better spot than the municipal market, just a short walk from the main plaza.
As soon as you step inside, you’ll be greeted by friendly local women enthusiastically inviting you into their restaurants, each claiming to serve the best breakfast. Don’t let this overwhelm you—take your time to walk around and check out what each place offers. Most serve similar dishes, just with their own unique twist.
We ordered chilaquiles—crispy tortilla chips soaked in homemade tomato sauce, traditionally topped with a fried egg or chicken—along with tamales, a classic breakfast staple in this region of Mexico. With both hearty meals, a large fresh orange juice, and a ‘café de olla’ (Mexican spiced coffee), we paid around $12 USD—pretty decent considering how much food we got!
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4️⃣ Buy handmade souvenirs from the artisan market: We’ve visited plenty of artisanal markets in Mexico, but this one truly stood out with its unique and beautiful finds—some of which we had never seen before.
While you’re there, be sure to check out the ceramics shop for gorgeous hand-painted mugs and bowls. We picked up a lovely little bowl that we now use to store our wedding rings. We also found a beautifully hand-knitted jersey for a very special little girl in our lives (Princess Jasmine).
Like most markets in Mexico, prices aren’t always displayed, so if you’re comfortable bargaining, you might be able to score a great deal!
5️⃣ Take a boat ride on Lake Avandaro: Lake Avandaro is pretty huge and is one of the main reasons that Mexico City locals like to visit this little town.
You’ll find many water activities available, like kayaking, yacht rental, speed boating, sailing, and much more. We didn’t get the chance to enjoy the lake because it was raining on the day we had planned to, however, we probably would have booked a sailboat tour of the lake given the chance.
⛵️ You can find some of the top-rated lake activities here:
6️⃣ Visit the waterfalls on The ChuChu train: There are two waterfalls in Valle de Bravo that you can usually hike to, but unfortunately, it was pouring on the day we had planned to go. However, we stumbled upon something even better—the ChuChu Train!
This adorable little red trolley is parked near the lake, and you can buy tickets from the booth right next to it. Tickets cost just MX$100 each (about $5 USD), and the ride starts once there are at least four passengers, so there’s no fixed schedule.
The ChuChu Train takes you on a scenic journey through Valle de Bravo to see the waterfalls. Normally, you’d get off for a quick five-minute walk to the second waterfall, but since it was absolutely pouring during our visit, we had to skip that part. The ride also passes by the homes of well-known Mexican celebrities and takes you through the neighboring town of Avándaro, which has a slightly more upscale feel compared to Valle de Bravo.
The whole tour lasts about 1.5 hours, and to our surprise, it turned out to be one of the best things we did here—highly recommend it!
The ChuChu Train takes you on a scenic journey through Valle de Bravo to see the waterfalls. Normally, you’d get off for a quick five-minute walk to the second waterfall, but since it was absolutely pouring during our visit, we had to skip that part.
The ride also passes by the homes of well-known Mexican celebrities and takes you through the neighboring town of Avándaro, which has a slightly more upscale feel compared to Valle de Bravo.
The whole tour lasts about 1.5 hours, and to our surprise, it turned out to be one of the best things we did here—highly recommend it!
7️⃣ Stay in a nice hotel: One of the main reasons we—and most visitors—come to the charming mountain town of Valle de Bravo is to relax, which makes finding the right place to stay essential.
While searching for accommodations, we noticed that many Airbnbs lacked outdoor seating—a dealbreaker for us since we wanted to take in the sights and sounds right from our room.
We ended up staying at Hotel Boutique Casa Chichipicas, and it was absolutely perfect. The cozy outdoor lounge, heated pool, and hot tub all offered beautiful views of the town below, making it the ideal spot to soak in the serenity of this pueblo mágico!
8️⃣ Go paragliding: This was the number one thing we wished we had done in Valle de Bravo but never got around to. Paragliding is one of the most popular activities here, and there are plenty of tour options available. We can only imagine how incredible the views must be from above, with the mountains and Lake Avándaro stretching out below!
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9️⃣ Visit the Monarch butterfly sanctuary (seasonal): The Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary attracts thousands of local and international visitors each year, and it’s one of the main reasons Valle de Bravo became so well-known.
We visited in October, so we missed the season entirely. However, if you’re in central Mexico between November and March, we highly recommend booking a tour to see the hundreds of thousands of monarch butterflies that migrate here from the north.
💡 Pro tip: Locals told us that January and February are the best months to visit, as that’s when you’ll see the most butterflies.
🦋 Here are the top-rated Monarch Butterfly tours:
Why This Town is the Perfect Weekend Trip from Mexico City
Valle de Bravo had been on our Mexico travel bucket list for a while, so our expectations were high—and we’re happy to say they were more than exceeded. First off, the town is incredibly beautiful, clean, and easy to walk around.
We loved the cobblestone streets and the charming white and red buildings. The locals were some of the friendliest we’ve met—everyone greeted each other, and you could tell people had a strong sense of community.
The surrounding mountains and forests made the town feel fresh and cozy. I think one of the main reasons we loved our trip to Valle de Bravo so much was because we stayed at what might be the most beautiful hotel in town—Casa Chichipicas.
The heated pool overlooking the town and the cozy fireplace at night were the perfect finishing touches to our stay!
If you’re planning an extended trip to Mexico City, don’t miss out on Valle de Bravo—it’s truly a beautiful and charming little getaway.
