A note before you go
Day trips here carry the same caveat as the whole state: check current conditions before driving anywhere rural, travel only in daylight, and stick to toll roads. The city itself easily fills three days, so treat these as a bonus, not the reason you came. With that said, a couple are genuinely worth it and they sit close to town. Ranked by value.
Worth it
Guadalupe — about 15 to 20 minutes east
Practically a suburb of Zacatecas, reachable by a quick taxi, ride-hail, or a local city bus, so close it barely counts as leaving town. You come for the Convento de Guadalupe and its Museo de Guadalupe, which holds one of the finest collections of colonial-era religious painting in the country, inside a beautiful old Franciscan monastery with a gilded chapel next door. Allow a half-day. This is the low-effort, high-reward add-on. Verdict: do it without hesitation.
La Quemada (Chicomóztoc) — about 45 minutes to an hour south
A pre-Hispanic hilltop archaeological site with terraces, a columned hall (the Salón de las Columnas), and a steep ceremonial pyramid, set in open sierra country off the road toward Villanueva. Quiet, atmospheric, and rarely crowded, with a small site museum. Bring water, sun cover and real shoes for the climb. Allow half a day including the daylight drive. Verdict: worth it if you like ruins and the road is calm; go by day and check first.
Depends on you
Jerez de García Salinas — roughly an hour southwest
A traditional town with a strong ranchero and tamborazo-music character, birthplace of the poet Ramón López Velarde, and at its liveliest around its Easter-season and spring festivals. Genuinely charming, with a pretty center and good regional food. The catch is that it sits farther out into the state, so the drive is a bigger commitment. Verdict: rewarding around festival time, but weigh the distance and check conditions first; skip it if the roads look uneasy.
What a friend who lives here would tell you
Do Guadalupe without a second thought, it is almost part of the city and the museum alone justifies the trip. Treat La Quemada as a good half-day if the highway is calm and you go in daylight. Anything deeper into the state, Jerez included, is an “ask locally, go by day, or skip it” call, not something to lock in before you arrive. If a day trip falls through, that is fine, the center, the mine and the cable car are the point. For getting to any of these, see getting there and around, and for the safety reasoning, is it safe.