Must see attractions in Northern Belize

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Built in 1886, this fine old Spanish Colonial building once housed a bustling market beside the old customs house. It was one of only 11 buildings spared…

Perhaps the most fascinating Maya site in Northern Belize, Lamanai lies 24 miles south of Orange Walk Town up the New River (or 36 miles by unpaved road)…

The Mask Temple (Structure N9-56) was begun around 200 BC and modified several times up to AD 1300. It has two 13ft stylized masks of a man in a crocodile…

Run by a nonprofit organization, this large nature reserve, which protects 43 sq miles of semideciduous hardwood forests, wetlands, lagoons and coastal…

Santa Rita was an ancient Maya coastal town that once occupied the same strategic trading position as present-day Corozal Town, namely the spot between…

North of the ball court, across a plaza shaded by trees, is Structure N10-43, the highest at Lamanai, which rises 125ft above the jungle canopy. Few large…

This temple (Structure N10-9), fronting a 100yd-wide plaza, was built in the 6th century AD and modified several times up to at least the 15th century – a…

For a taste of how Belize's many majestic ruins may have looked to early explorers before being excavated and landscaped, head to this vast jungle-covered…

North of the elite residential complex, this temple was the original site of the intricately carved standing stone erected in AD 625 to commemorate the…

Close to Orange Walk Town, Cuello (kway-yo) is one of the earliest-known settled communities in the Maya world, probably dating back to around 2400 BC,…

In the northwestern corner of the RBCMA, La Milpa is the third-largest Maya site in Belize, believed to have had a population of 46,000 at its peak…

In the main administrative building where you pay your entrance fee, this small museum features artifacts unearthed throughout the Lamanai complex,…

The modern Banquitas House of Culture has an attractively displayed exhibit on Orange Walk's history. It's especially good on the local Maya sites, and…

Not far west of Stela 9 is Lamanai's ball court, one of the smallest in the Maya world – but with the largest ball-court marker found yet! A ceremonial…

At the far north end of the Lamanai site, and often missed by tour groups, this large platform, 120yd by 100yd in area, supports several large buildings…

Some 400yd south of Jaguar Temple are the remains of the thick stone walls of two Spanish colonial churches, which were built by Maya forced labor from…

Called 'A Window to the Past,' the exhibit at this little museum focuses on the experience of the East Indian population, who arrived around 1838 as…

A colorful and graphic mural by Belizean-Mexican artist Manual Villamor Reyes enlivens the lobby of the town hall. The mural depicts episodes from Corozal…

At the center of town, this fort was built in 1849 by Caste War refugees for protection from attacks by hostile Maya. Only the remains of the brick corner…

A small plaza behind the Town Hall that was once the site of Fort Cairnes, a British military post during the War of the Castes conflict.