Inland Michoacán
The upstart Volcán Paricutín (2800m) might be less than 80 years old, but clambering up the volcanic scree slopes to its summit and looking out across…
Must-see attractions in Mexico
Campeche State
The Maya word for ‘canyon’ or ‘moat’ is becán, and indeed a 2km moat snakes its way around this must-visit Maya site. Seven causeways provide access…
Cholula
Located two blocks to the southeast of Cholula’s central plaza, the Pirámide Tepanapa looks more like a hill than a pyramid and has a domed church on top…
Western Central Highlands
Volcán Nevado de Colima (4260m) is accessible on foot from the last week of October till the first week of June. Patches of pine forest cover Nevado’s…
Central Pacific Coast
With clear turquoise waters and golden sandy beaches, Playa Maruata is arguably the most beautiful beach in Michoacán. The Nahua fishing village has a bit…
Xilitla
Take a wealthy English eccentric, an idyllic tract of Mexican jungle and an extremely hyperactive imagination, and you’d still struggle to come up with…
La Huasteca Potosina
Like something from a tropical postcard, Tamul is easily the Huasteca Potosina’s most spectacular waterfall. Milky-blue water plunges 105m into the…
Guanajuato State
Cañada de la Virgen is an intriguing pre-Hispanic pyramid complex and former ritual and ceremonial location, dating from around AD 300 and in use until…
Chiapas
With a dearth of other tourists, this is one of those magical archaeological sites where the sense of wild atmosphere is as enthralling as the stories…
Veracruz
Perched like a mini–Machu Picchu on a plateau beneath a horn-shaped mountain, Quiahuiztlán is a pre-Hispanic Totonac town and necropolis. Enjoying a…
Chihuahua & Central North Mexico
These ruins, in a broad valley with panoramas to distant mountains, contain the mazelike adobe remnants of northern Mexico’s most important trading…
Teotihuacán
The world’s third-largest pyramid – surpassed in size only by Egypt’s Cheops (which is also a tomb, unlike the temples here) and the pyramid of…
Tabasco
Surrounded by jungle trees and little visited by tourists, the small but impressive Maya ruins of ancient Comalcalco are the most westerly known Maya…
Hierve El Agua
Natural springs have never looked this good. Set in truly ethereal surroundings amid low brush-covered mountains, Hierve El Agua (meaning 'the water boils…
Tepoztlán
Tepoztlán's main sight is this 10m-high pyramid perched atop a sheer cliff at the end of a very steep paved path that begins at the end of Avenida del…
Cholula
The incredible Pirámide Tepanapa looks more like a hill than a pyramid, but it's still the town's big draw, and with miles of tunnels veining the inside…
Guadalajara
Guadalajara’s cathedral is the city’s most conspicuous landmark with distinctive neo-Gothic towers built after an earthquake toppled the originals in…
Guachimontones Archaeological Site
Guadalajara
Just 40km west of Guadalajara is the fascinating and distinctive archaeological site known as Guachimontones – one of the only ancient ruins in the world…
Oaxaca City
Gorgeous Santo Domingo is the most splendid of Oaxaca’s churches, with a finely carved baroque facade and nearly every square centimeter inside decorated…
Morelia
Morelia’s cathedral, considered by many to be the country's most beautiful, dominates the city center, where it flanks rather than faces the central plaza…
Monterrey
Blast Furnace No 3 in the former industrial site of the Parque Fundidora has been converted into Horno3, an exceptionally impressive high-tech, hands-on…
Yucatán State & the Maya Heartland
This is the Ruta Puuc site not to miss. Archaeologists believe that, at one point in the 9th century, some 3000 Maya lived at Labná. To support such…
Antiguo Convento Franciscano de Santa Ana
Inland Michoacán
South of the lake and just west of Hwy 120 lies this enormous religious compound built partly with stones from the Purépecha yácatas (temples) taken from…
Museo Casa Estudio Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo
Coyoacán & San Ángel
If you saw the movie Frida (2002), you’ll recognize this museum, designed by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera's friend, architect and painter Juan O’Gorman…
Taxco
The icon of Taxco, Santa Prisca is one of Mexico’s most beautiful and striking pieces of baroque architecture. Its standout feature (best viewed side-on)…
North of Mexico City
There’s a very simple reason to visit this wonderful, expansive museum comprising the restored Jesuit Iglesia de San Francisco Javier and an adjacent…
Chihuahua & Central North Mexico
Chihuahua’s former Palacio Federal (built 1908–10) has been used as a mint, a monastery, a military hospital and a post office, but is now a beautifully…
Coyoacán & San Ángel
The Trotsky home, now a museum, remains much as it was on the day when one of Stalin's agents, a Catalan named Ramón Mercader, caught up with the…
Mérida
A world-class museum celebrating Maya culture, the Gran Museo houses a permanent collection of more than 1100 remarkably well-preserved artifacts,…
Guadalajara
One of the city's most important churches, the Basílica de Zapopan, built in 1730, is home to Nuestra Señora de Zapopan, a petite statue of the Virgin…
Mazunte
This rocky cape, jutting out from the west end of Mazunte beach, is the southernmost point in the state of Oaxaca and a fabulous place to hike at sunset…
Toluca
At the northeast end of Plaza Garibay, the stunning and unique Cosmovitral Jardín Botánico was built in 1909 as a market. The building now houses 3500 sq…
Teotihuacán
The Pyramid of the Moon, at the north end of the Calzada de los Muertos, is smaller than the Pirámide del Sol, but more gracefully proportioned. Completed…
Monterrey
This stunning mountainside reserve is just 12km from downtown Monterrey. There's great hiking and mountain-biking on over 60km of well-marked trails…
Acapulco
The Fuerte de San Diego is home to this excellent 15-room museum, an enjoyable romp through history of the region, from its settlement by various pre…
Cuernavaca
Let’s face it, who wouldn’t want to be independently wealthy and spend their life traveling around the world collecting art for their lavish Mexican…
Alameda Central
This museum is home to one of Diego Rivera’s most famous works, Sueño de una tarde dominical en la Alameda Central (Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the…
Teotihuacán
Teotihuacán's third-largest pyramid is the most ornate. The four surviving steps of the facade (there were originally seven) are adorned with striking…
Monterrey
The stunning 2.3km promenade of Paseo Santa Lucía is a world-class example of urban regeneration. This (artificial) river forms a turquoise ribbon through…
Monterrey
This sleek modernist museum on the Plaza 400 Años presents an extensive but easily manageable chronological history of Mexico. In the heart of the museum…
