Veracruz

Attached to spacious gardens, 4km northwest of the center, this remarkable museum contains Mexico’s second-finest archaeological collection. The focus is on the main pre-Hispanic civilizations from the Gulf coast, principally the Olmecs, the Totonacs, the Huastecs and Classic Veracruz, and the beautifully displayed artifacts are presented in chronological order in a series of interconnecting galleries that descend the side of a lush hill.

No one knows for sure who built this mighty pre-Hispanic city of around 20,000 inhabitants (The Totonacs? The Huastecs?), which is why archaeologists refer to the civilization as Classic Veracruz. But one thing's for sure: this site, dating back to AD 800 and discovered by accident in 1785, is one of the most atmospheric, best-preserved and most thoroughly excavated pre-Hispanic cities in Mesoamerica. Seven kilometers away from Papantla, El Tajín's extensive ruins are easily reachable by frequent bus (M$20).

Waking up and smelling the coffee has rarely been this epiphanic. Cradled in the Sierra Madre foothills, Coatepec’s coffee production has long been its raison d’être, a fact that will become instantly clear as soon as you step off the bus and inhale. The settlement dates from 1701 and coffee has been grown in the surrounding cloud forests for almost as long. The crop has brought wealth to the town; Coatepec – which lies a mere 15km south of Xalapa – is adorned with rich, gaudily painted colonial buildings. In 2006 it was nominated as a pueblo mágico (magical village) by the Mexican government. It makes a laid-back alternative to nearby Xalapa.

In late September, Coatepec vivaciously celebrates its patron saint, San Jerónimo, making it an excellent time to visit.

At a cloud-scraping and breathless 5636m, snowcapped Pico de Orizaba is Mexico’s tallest mountain and the third tallest in North America after USA's Mt Denali and Canada's Mt Logan. It dominates the horizon for miles around, although to get a view of it from Orizaba itself you'll need to take the cable car up to Cerro del Borrego.

Sitting in a lush valley just 30km southeast of Xalapa, tiny Jalcomulco hugs the Río Antigua (this stretch known as the Río Pescados) and is surrounded by jungle-covered hills. The area is rich with caves and luscious swimming spots, but it’s most famous for its rapids – some of Mexico's best white water – which accommodate white-water enthusiasts from the beginner through to the more advanced.

Numerous operators offer multiday rafting packages and typically include other adventure activities, such as rappeling, horseback riding, mountain biking, canyoning and trekking.

While on weekends the place comes to life with numerous adventurers descending on it, the rest of the time Jalcomulco remains a soporific village amid mango plantations and sugarcane fields.

Wiggle your toes in the sand and dig into fish so fresh it may have just jumped onto your plate from the ocean in front of you. Whether grilled, or cooked al mojo de ajo (with garlic), and served with homemade salsa, fried plantain, rice and an ice-cold beer, it's as close as it gets to perfection.

The idea of launching yourself head first from a great height with only a rope tied around your ankles for support is popularly thought to have been conceived by bungee jumping New Zealanders in the 1980s. But in truth, Papantla’s Totonac voladores (fliers) have been flinging themselves off 30m-high wooden poles (with zero safety equipment) for centuries. Indeed, so old is this rather bizarre yet mystic tradition, no one is quite sure how or when it started.

The rite begins with five men in elaborate ceremonial clothing climbing to the top of the pole. Four of them sit on the edges of a small frame at the top and rotate the frame to twist the ropes around the pole. The fifth man dances on the platform above them while playing a chirimía, a small drum with a flute attached. When he stops playing, the others fall backward. Arms outstretched, they revolve gracefully around the pole and descend to the ground, upside down, as their ropes unwind.

One interpretation of the ceremony is that it’s a fertility rite and the fliers make invocations to the four corners of the universe. It’s also noted that each flier circles the pole 13 times, giving a total of 52 revolutions. The number 52 is not only the number of weeks in the modern year but also was an important number in pre-Hispanic Mexico, which had two calendars: one corresponding to the 365-day solar year, the other to a ritual year of 260 days. The calendars coincided every 52 solar years.

Voladores ceremonies are best observed at El Tajín, outside Papantla’s cathedral, and occasionally at Zempoala.

Once an important river port, this Uneco World Heritage town has changed little since the 1820s. The color palette is extraordinary here; the lucid sunsets over the adjacent Río Papaloapan add subtle oranges and yellows to the rainbow of single-story colonial houses, bringing to mind a more soporific Havana.

In September 2010, Tlacotalpan was hit by devastating floods, which inundated 500 historic buildings and prompted the evacuation of 8500 people. The recovery has been remarkable, with only a high watermark drawn onto a wall on Calle Alegre to show how disastrous the flooding was.

Its smattering of ho-hum museums aside, this is the kind of town where the greatest pleasure is found in walking the streets and taking in the atmosphere. Tlacotalpan has two appealing plazas, Parque Hidalgo and Plaza Zaragoza, directly adjacent to each other. Be sure to take a stroll by the riverside and down Cházaro.