Justin Foulkes
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.
These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Northern Central Highlands.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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The Reserva de la Biosfera Sierra Gorda, in the rugged Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range, covers a huge swath of the northeastern third of Querétaro state. Known as the 'green jewel' of central Mexico, the reserve boasts 15 vegetation types, making it the most ecosystem-diverse protected area in the country. Its stunning wilderness areas encompass old-growth cloud forests, semideserts and tropical forests; jaguars, rare orchids and endemic cacti are just some of the fauna and flora on offer here.
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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.
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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.
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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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The remote and scenic ruins of La Quemada stand on a hill 45km south of Zacatecas. The exact history and purpose of the site are extremely vague and many suppositions surround the area – one theory is that it was where the Aztecs halted during their legendary wanderings toward the Valle de México. What is known for sure is that the constructions were destroyed by fire – and thus they came to be called La Quemada (meaning 'burned city').