Justin Foulkes

Northern Central Highlands

From cobbled lanes and shaded plazas to vast deserts and cloud forest, Mexico's northern central highlands is a region as varied as its history, cuisine and cultures. It was here that enormous mineral wealth created rich colonial cities before revolutionary activity left ghost towns in its wake. Known as the Cuna de la Independencia (Cradle of Independence), the territory is renowned for its part in the country's fight for autonomy, spurred on by the famous Grito de Dolores, which called the Mexican people to arms against the Spanish.

Unmissable highlights of the region include arty and achingly gorgeous San Miguel de Allende, the waterfalls and the turquoise-colored water of the Huasteca Potosina and the grand colonial silver cities of Guanajuato and Zacatecas. Elsewhere you'll find pre-Hispanic sites, art museums, nightlife, crowded festivals and artesanías shopping to rival anywhere else in the country. Get ready to join the (exceptionally loud) party.

Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Northern Central Highlands.

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Las Pozas
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 the audacious, bizarre and – frankly – madcap experiment that is Las Pozas. Situated on the sweeping slopes of the Sierra Madre Oriental, Las Pozas is a monumental sculpture garden built in thick jungle that links a series of concrete temples, pagodas, bridges, pavilions and spiral stairways with a necklace of natural waterfalls. The surreal creation stands as a memorial to the imagination and excessive wealth of Edward James (1907−84). A drop-out English aristocrat and poet, he became a patron of Salvador Dalí in the late 1930s and subsequently went on to amass the largest private collection of surrealist art in the world. In 1945 James’ adventures took him to Xilitla where he met Plutarco Gastelum, who helped build Las Pozas. It began with 40 local workers crafting giant, colored concrete flowers beside an idyllic jungle stream. Then, for 17 years, James and Gastelum created ever larger and stranger structures – many of which were never finished – at an estimated cost of US$5 million. James died in 1984, leaving no provision to maintain his creation, which, since 2008, has been in the hands of a Mexican-run nonprofit foundation. The magical labyrinth of surreal sculptures and edifices with swirly stairways leading nowhere and gates opening the way to dead ends covers 36 hectares and is worth a significant diversion for anyone with the vaguest creative inclinations. If you’re in fairly good shape, you could spend the whole day contemplating the lovely swimming holes and mazelike trails.
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Cascada de Tamul
Like something from a tropical postcard, Tamul is easily the Huasteca Potosina’s most spectacular waterfall. Milky-blue water plunges 105m into the pristine Río Santa Maria (which becomes the Tampaón). Its setting, in a canyon surrounded on all sides with thick forest, is simply breathtaking. Best of all, you'll often have the place to yourself, due to its remote location. To see the falls, you can drive almost all the way to the top entrance (you'll need to pay M$20 to drive along this private dirt track). When you reach the river, you'll need to park, wade across to the campsite on the other side (if the river is flowing heavily, it's best to be helped across by one of the campsite employees), from where it's an easy 1km hike to the waterfall itself. You'll emerge at its top, where there is a lovely pool to swim in, but be sure to take the rickety wooden ladder down to the bottom of the valley and see the falls from there, where they are truly a spectacular sight with thousands of butterflies flapping about in the spray. Another way to reach the waterfall is to paddle upriver in a wooden lancha (boat), a return journey of around 3½ hours (M$800 to M$1000 per boat depending on your haggling skills). You can arrange trips on arrival into Tanchachín or La Morena. If you don’t have your own transportation, MS Xpediciones arranges excellent day trips from Ciudad Valles, complete with lunch at the home of a hospitable local (M$950 per person including transportation; minimum two people). It also arranges rafting trips in the area.
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Cañada de la Virgen
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 around 1050. Bones, believed to be from sacrificial ceremonies, and remnants were discovered here. The most interesting aspects include the alignment of the main temple to the planets, and the design of the site, which reflects the surrounding landscape. Although not as physically impressive as some Mexican pyramids the site has its own special magic. The site is around 25km southeast of San Miguel: possibly the easiest and most rewarding visit for non-Spanish speakers is to take a tour with Albert Coffee Archaeotours or Coyote Canyon Adventures. The guides include archaeologists and anthropologists who discuss the site's fascinating cultural and historical context. Expect to pay around US$50. However, it's perfectly possible to visit completely independently. A taxi to the ticket office from San Miguel will cost around M$300. A shuttle bus is the compulsory transportation for visitors at the site. It runs between the ticket office and the ruins (several kilometers away); these depart on the hour between 10am and 4pm. At busy times you might have to queue for a seat so take a good book to read while you wait! Wear sensible shoes as you'll be walking on cobbled surfaces and steep steps. Note that larger bags are not allowed into the site due to some recent theft of relics.
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Museo Nacional de la Muerte
The excellent Museo Nacional de la Muerte exhibits all things relating to Mexico's favorite subject – death – from the skeleton La Catrina to historic artifacts and modern depictions. The contents – over 2500 items, drawings, literature, textiles, toys and miniatures – were donated to the Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes by collector and engraver, Octavio Bajonero Gil. Over 1200 are on display. They span several centuries, from Mesoamerican to contemporary artistic interpretations. A section on the funeral rites of children is a little harrowing – not to mention pictures of a dead Frida Kahlo elsewhere – but otherwise the tone is surprisingly light. In the second to last room, look out for the (very) miniature crystal skull. It's believed to be from Aztec times and there are only two like it in the world. The upstairs gallery includes an interesting section on the different representations of death from countries around the world, and it becomes apparent that an obsession with the macabre is far from unique to Mexico. All up this wonderfully eccentric place provides a colorful, humorous and insightful encounter with the fate that awaits us all!
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Sótano de las Huahuas
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 cave in huge swirling, noisy flocks. It's much less touristy than Sótano de las Golondrinas, and so is in many ways the more appealing of the two to visit although it does require a little more effort to reach. A favorite for rappelling enthusiasts, the chasm itself is around 478m deep and the cave mouth is around 60m across. To reach the cave from the car park you must walk 1km through remarkable jungle – but it’s worth it for its beautiful cedar and local tree and bird species.
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Museo Federico Silva
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 and later a school, but has been exquisitely transformed into a museum of sculpture, ingeniously integrating the building's previous neoclassical finish with the haunting monolithic sculptures of Silva. As well as the permanent exhibition on the ground floor, the museum hosts high-quality temporary exhibitions of international sculptors upstairs. Signage is in Spanish only.
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Museo Nacional de la Máscara
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 evolution of pre-Columbian masks in Mexico. There are good descriptions in English of the Mexican masks though explanations of the non-Mexican masks could definitely be improved upon.
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Museo y Casa de Diego Rivera
Diego Rivera's birthplace is now an excellent museum honoring the famous artist, who was persona non grata here for years. Rivera and his twin brother were born in the house in 1886 (Carlos died at age two) and lived here until the family moved to Mexico City six years later. The museum's ground floor is a re-creation of the Rivera family home, furnished with 19th-century antiques. The labyrinth of upper floors exhibit a permanent collection of his original works and preliminary sketches (completed for some of his famous murals in Mexico City), plus there's a nude of Frida Kahlo. Several salas (halls) also host temporary exhibitions of work by Mexican and international artists. An intimate theater upstairs features black-and-white photographs of Kahlo and Rivera.
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Teatro Juárez
Don’t leave Guanajuato without visiting the magnificent Teatro Juárez. It was built between 1873 and 1903 and inaugurated by the dictator Porfirio Díaz, whose lavish tastes are reflected in the plush red-and-gold interior. The outside features 12 columns with brass capitals, lamp posts and eight of the nine muses; inside the impression is Moorish, with the bar and lobby gleaming with carved wood, stained glass and precious metals. It’s only open when no performances are scheduled. Entertaining guided tours of the theater (in Spanish only) take place at regular intervals throughout the day. Posters outside the theater advertise upcoming performances. Tickets normally cost between M$50 and M$100.