Isla Cozumel
Local and international artists backed by the PangeaSeed foundation created 36 large-scale public murals in 2015 to raise awareness about ocean…
Must-see attractions in Yucatán Peninsula
Puerto Morelos
About 23km south of the Cancún airport, this former crocodile farm now calls itself a conservationist zoo that protects some of the area's endangered…
Mérida
This living history house gives you a sense of the splendor and grandeur of the 'Oro Verde' (Green Gold) henequén era. The only original house of its kind…
Playa del Carmen
Emerald Point has become a favorite beach among Playa del Carmen locals, set on the northern edge of the city. Here, a shallow cenote provides a calm…
Cobá
Grupo Macanxoc is notable for its numerous restored stelae, some of which are believed to depict reliefs of royal women who are thought to have come from…
Cobá
An impressive ball court, one of several in the ruins. Don't miss the relief of a jaguar and the skull-like carving in the center of the court.
Cobá
Here you can see an exquisitely carved stela (AD 730) depicting a ruler standing imperiously over two captives.
Cancún
This avenue one block east of Avenida Tulum has emerged as one of the Centro's top restaurant and bar zones.
Isla Holbox
On the western edge of the island, about 2.5km from downtown, Punta Coco is a great sunset beach.
Mérida
On the site of a former Maya temple is Mérida’s hulking, severe cathedral, begun in 1561 and completed in 1598. Some of the stone from the Maya temple was…
Mérida
Casa de Montejo is on the south side of Plaza Grande and dates from 1540. It originally housed soldiers, but was soon converted into a mansion that served…
Valladolid
The Templo de San Bernardino and the adjacent Convento de Sisal are about 700m southwest of the plaza. They were constructed between 1552 and 1560 to…
Campeche
A popular path for joggers, cyclists, strolling friends and cooing sweethearts, the malecón, Campeche’s 7km-long waterfront promenade, makes for a breezy…
Riviera Maya
These two beautiful, protected bays are separated by a narrow point, 123km south of Cancún and 11km north of Tulum. To get here, head east (toward the…
Mérida
One of the nicest plazas in Mexico, huge laurel trees shade the park’s benches and wide sidewalks. It was the religious and social center of ancient T’ho;…
Mérida
Built in 1892, the Palacio de Gobierno houses the state of Yucatán’s executive government offices (and a tourist office). Don't miss the wonderful murals…
Mérida
The enormous Teatro Peón Contreras was built between 1900 and 1908, during Mérida’s henequén heyday. It boasts a main staircase of Carrara marble, a dome…
Isla Cozumel
About 17km south of San Miguel, Palancar is a great beach to visit during the week when the crowds thin out. It has a beach club renting snorkel gear (US…
Cancún
In the Zona Arqueológica El Rey, on the west side of Blvd Kukulcán, there’s a small temple and several ceremonial platforms. The site gets its name from a…
Mérida
The 17th-century Iglesia de Jesús was built by Jesuits in 1618. It's the sole surviving edifice from a complex of buildings that once filled the entire…
Isla Mujeres
At the island's southernmost point you’ll find a lighthouse, a sculpture garden and the worn remains of a temple dedicated to Ixchel, Maya goddess of the…
Cancún
A beach club and rustic cabins on a lovely stretch of white-sand beach overlooking Isla Mujeres. Get here before the big hotels attempt to completely take…
Celestún
This abandoned hacienda, a few kilometers southeast of town, once produced dyewood and salt, and served as a summer home for a Campeche family. It’s 5km…
Chichén Itzá
This group east of El Castillo pyramid takes its name – which means ‘Group of the Thousand Columns’ – from the forest of pillars stretching south and east…
Riviera Maya
Paamul, 87km south of Cancún, is a de facto private beach on a sheltered bay. Like many other spots along the Caribbean coast, it has signs prohibiting…
Chetumal
The Museo de la Cultura Maya is the city’s claim to cultural fame – a bold showpiece that's beautifully conceived and executed, though regrettably short…
Mérida
Paseo de Montejo, which runs parallel to Calles 56 and 58, was an attempt by Mérida’s 19th-century city planners to create a wide boulevard similar to the…
Chichén Itzá
Called El Caracol (the Snail) by the Spaniards for its interior spiral staircase, this observatory, to the south of the El Osario, is one of the most…
Chichén Itzá
Thought by archaeologists to have been a palace for Maya royalty, the so-called Edificio de las Monjas (Nunnery), with its myriad rooms, resembled a…
Laguna Bacalar
The fortress above the lagoon was built in 1733 to protect Spanish colonists from pirate attacks and rebellions by local indigenous people. It also served…
Chichén Itzá
The Ossuary, otherwise known as the Bonehouse or the Tumba del Gran Sacerdote (High Priest’s Grave), is a ruined pyramid to the southwest of El Castillo…
Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción
Campeche
Dominating Plaza Principal’s east side is the two-towered cathedral. The limestone structure has stood on this spot for more than three centuries and it…
Campeche
Shaded by carob trees and ringed by tiled benches and broad footpaths radiating from a belle-epoque kiosk, Campeche’s appealingly modest central square…
Riviera Maya
A rocky, reef-hugged point 65km south of Cancún, Punta Bete is reached by a dirt road that runs past a housing development and weaves 2.5km from Hwy 307 …
Campeche
The Baluarte de Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, designed to protect the Puerta del Mar, contains the fascinating Museo de la Arquitectura Maya. It provides…
Chichén Itzá
The Platform of Skulls (Tzompantli in Náhuatl, a Maya dialect) is between the Templo de los Jaguares y Escudos and El Castillo. You can’t mistake it,…
Museo de Arte Popular de Yucatán
Mérida
In a building constructed in 1906, the Museo de Arte Popular de Yucatán has a small rotating exhibition downstairs that features popular art from around…
Valladolid
The original edifice of Valladolid's main church was built in 1545, but was demolished and rebuilt in the early 1700s following a violent atrocity the…
Chichén Itzá
This ceremonial site directly in front of the El Castillo is most notable for its huge, ornate and superbly preserved plumed serpent heads extending on…
Baluarte de San Francisco & Baluarte de San Juan
Campeche
Once the primary defensive bastion for the adjacent Puerta de la Tierra, the Baluarte de San Francisco houses a pirate exhibition in both English and…
