Experience the best of Atlixco

Atlixco lies in a valley south-west of the city of Puebla, in view of the cone of the Popocatépetl volcano. It is a town of tiled domes, arcaded streets and a tree-shaded central plaza, and it has long been called the City of Flowers because of the nurseries that supply plants and flowers to the rest of Mexico. Its mild climate is much praised.

The Cerro de San Miguel rises over the town, topped by a hilltop sanctuary, and each September its slopes host the Huey Atlixcáyotl, a large festival of folk dance and music in the dress of Mexico's regions. Cholula, with its great pyramid topped by a church, and Puebla's colonial centre lie to the north, and Popocatépetl, with Iztaccíhuatl beyond it, stands over the valley.

Puebla cooking is the pride of the table: mole poblano, a dark sauce of chilli and chocolate, cemitas, sesame rolls packed with meat, and in late summer chiles en nogada, stuffed peppers in walnut sauce. The valley's nurseries are colourful from spring, and the rains fall from June to September.