Veracruz City
Any exploration of Veracruz has to begin with its zócalo (also called the Plaza de Armas and Plaza Lerdo), the city’s unofficial outdoor ‘stage’ where…
Must-see attractions in Mexico
Reserva de la Biosfera Pantanos de Centla
Tabasco
This 3030-sq-km biosphere reserve protects a good part of the wetlands around the lower reaches of two of Mexico’s biggest rivers, the Usumacinta and the…
Alameda Central
A major showcase for folk art, this is a colorful museum that even kids love. Crafts are thematically displayed from all over Mexico, including carnival…
Northeast Mexico
Located within the Cuatrociénegas Reserve, these blinding-white gypsum sand dunes – the second largest in North America – contrast superbly with the six…
Puebla
Puebla’s impressive cathedral, which appeared on Mexico’s M$500 bill until 2019, occupies the entire block south of the zócalo. Its architecture is a…
San Luis Potosí
This excellent museum devoted to the work of Mexican artist Federico Silva (b 1923) should not be missed. The 17th-century building was once a hospital…
Veracruz
Only discovered in the early 1990s, this beautiful site dates back to AD 600–900 and was once home to peoples unknown. It consists of temples, platforms…
Veracruz
The remains of a major Totonac settlement of around 30,000 people date back to around AD 1200 and sit on the outskirts of modern-day Zempoala, reachable…
East of Mexico City
Inside the Palacio de Gobierno there are color-rich murals of Tlaxcala's history by Desiderio Hernández Xochitiotzin. His style is vividly realistic and…
Mazatlán
Mazatlán's restored old town is a picturesque compendium of noble 19th-century buildings and pretty plazas. It's set back from Playa Olas Altas, a small…
Zona Arqueológica de Iglesia Vieja
Chiapas
Believed to be the regional capital of the Zoque during the Classic period, these ruins were inhabited between AD 250 and AD 400. The site's most…
The Copper Canyon & Ferrocarril Chihuahua Pacífico
Around 7km east of San Ignacio's town center, through verdant farmland, is the Valle de los Monjes. A spectacular outcrop of vertical red rock formations…
Museo Internacional del Barroco
Puebla
This monumental white, architecturally spectacular museum is dedicated to the showy baroque movement – art, fashion, music and literature. The museum,…
Chihuahua & Central North Mexico
Housed in a spectacular colonial mansion, this well-conceived museum pays deep homage to the Mexican revolutionary hero Pancho Villa. Sixteen rooms worth…
San Cristóbal de las Casas
An atmospheric museum-research center, Na Bolom for many years was the home of Swiss anthropologist and photographer Gertrude Duby-Blom (Trudy Blom; 1901…
Veracruz
El Tajín’s most emblematic structure, the beautifully proportioned Pyramid of the Niches, is just off the Plaza Menor. The six lower levels, each…
Cabo San Lucas
Land’s End is the most impressive attraction in Cabo. Hop on a panga (skiff), kayak or stand-up paddleboard and head to El Arco (the Arch), a jagged…
Mulegé
One of the most stunningly beautiful stretches of coast in Baja for its blue-green waters, white sandy coves and lack of construction. Great for kayaking…
San Luis Potosí
This superb museum displays a fascinating collection of ceremonial masks from across Mexico and around the world, and does a good job at explaining the…
Southern Baja
Along with Laguna Ojo de Liebre and Bahía Magdalena, Laguna San Ignacio is one of the Pacific coast’s major winter whale-watching sites. The Mexican…
Campeche State
A collection of small but significant structures in 74 groupings, Río Bec covers a 100-sq-km area southeast of Xpujil, and is the only place where all…
La Paz
A treasure trove of shallow azure inlets and sorbet-pink cliffs, Espíritu Santo is one of La Paz’s gems. It’s part of a Unesco World Heritage site…
Chiapas
To take your evening paseo (stroll) with the locals, stop by this leafy plaza, just eight blocks west of Plaza Cívica. The whole city seems to turn out…
Manzanillo
Playa La Boquita is a beach with calm waters at the mouth of a lagoon where fishermen lay out their nets to dry by day, and shove off by night. The beach…
Aguascalientes State
The excellent Museo Nacional de la Muerte exhibits all things relating to Mexico's favorite subject – death – from the skeleton La Catrina to historic…
Chiapas
Standing beside the main plaza, Chamula’s main church is a ghostly white, with a vividly painted arch of green and blue. Inside the darkened sanctuary,…
Museo Arqueológico de Campeche & Fuerte de San Miguel
Campeche
Campeche’s largest colonial fort, facing the Gulf of Mexico some 4km southwest of the city center, is now home to the most important of Maya museums, the…
Zona Arqueológica de Palma Sola
Acapulco
One of Acapulco's best attractions is the least well-known and also the least expected. High above the city, on the La Cuesta hill, it's a ceremonial and…
Mahahual
Chacchoben means 'Place of Red Corn' in Maya and like so many ruins, its origin and use remain a mystery. It has several impressive structures, including…
Centro de Interpretación Uyotot-Ja
Tabasco
The Reserva de la Biosfera Pantanos de Centla visitor center, the Centro de Interpretación Uyotot-Ja, or ‘Casa de Agua, ’ is 13km along the road to the…
Taxco
A splendid, envy-inducing home-turned-museum, with an interesting collection of vintage art and craftwork from across Mexico, comes to life alongside…
Yucatán State & the Maya Heartland
If you visit one hacienda, make it this one. This vast estate grew and processed henequén (agave plant fibers, used to make rope); many of its numerous…
Zoológico Miguel Álvarez del Toro
Chiapas
Chiapas, with its huge range of natural environments, has the highest concentration of animal species in North America, including several varieties of big…
The Copper Canyon & Ferrocarril Chihuahua Pacífico
Five hundred years ago, over 550,000 sq km of dry tropical forest stretched down the coast from northern Mexico to Panama. Today only 2% of virgin forest…
Puebla
This superb private museum, housed in two linked 16th- and 17th-century colonial buildings, is loaded with pre-Hispanic artifacts, yet the interior design…
Veracruz
For a fab excursion, ride this cable car that glides smoothly from its riverside site across from the Palacio Municipal up to the top of the Cerro del…
Tijuana
For a glimpse at what a wall between neighbors really looks like, find your way to binational Friendship Park. On the Mexico side of the wall in Playas de…
Museo de Artes e Industrias Populares
Inland Michoacán
Highlights among the well-curated exhibits of this impressive folk-art museum include a room set up as a typical Michoacán kitchen, cases of gorgeous…
La Huasteca Potosina
This huge jungle-fringed sinkhole is home to tens of thousands of swifts as well as many green parrots, and at dawn and dusk they surge in or out of the…
Chihuahua & Central North Mexico
This impressive city museum features an interesting collection of interactive exhibits, from pre-Hispanic times through colonization to the present day,…
