Puebla

Puebla, two hours southeast of Mexico City through the dramatic Paso de Cortés between Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl volcanoes, is one of Mexico's most beautiful colonial cities and the birthplace of two of the country's most important culinary inventions: mole poblano (the complex chili-chocolate-spice sauce) and chiles en nogada (stuffed peppers in walnut cream sauce). The historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site of extraordinary quality — 2,619 buildings of historical significance, the magnificent baroque Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and the Talavera tile-covered church of Santo Domingo with its extraordinary Capilla del Rosario. The Biblioteca Palafoxiana (1646), one of the oldest public libraries in the Americas, is open to visitors. The covered market Mercado del Carmen and the Cholula pyramid (with a Spanish church on top) are excellent.