Campeche State
A cooperative known as Koolel Kab produces honey with indigenous melipona bees, which take up residence in hollow trees. Using techniques much like those…
Must-see attractions in Yucatán Peninsula
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…
Iglesia de San Antonio de Padua
Yucatán State & the Maya Heartland
Because of the number of Maya ruins in the vicinity, from which building blocks could be acquired, and the number of Maya in the area 'needing' conversion…
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…
Yucatán State & the Maya Heartland
Just 5km from San Felipe, tiny Isla Cerritos was an important Maya port city back in the day. And while the entire island was covered with buildings…
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…
Ciudad del Carmen
Playa Norte, on the Gulf of Mexico, is Carmen's beach area. It's rather bleak looking, with wide expanses of coarse sand, murky green water, parking areas…
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…
Ciudad del Carmen
Parque Zaragoza has a handsome 19th-century kiosk and is one of the city's most pleasant areas to hang out. On its north side is the 1856 Santuario de la…
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…
Campeche
During the prerevolutionary era, when this mansion was occupied by an upper-class campechano family, Número 6 was a prestigious plaza address. Wandering…
Cancún
A favorite spot for Cancun athletes. Set where the Zona Hotelera meets Cancún Centro, Kilometer Zero has a lush green outdoor gym in the middle of the…
Yucatán State & the Maya Heartland
Six kilometres northwest of Tizimín, this community-run cenote comes as a lovely surprise after the grittier town. It's well run, clean, set in pretty…
Izamal
Just across the square from the monastery, this cultural center and museum showcases popular art from around Mexico. Explanatory cards in English give an…
Iglesia de San Francisco de Asis
Yucatán State & the Maya Heartland
Constructed at a snail's pace from 1640 to 1693, this Franciscan convent is remarkable for its ornamental facade, at the center of which is a stone statue…
Cancún
Beloved by local nature-lovers and fitness-lovers alike, this jungle park in the city remains mostly untouched. Runners and walkers flock to the 1.9-km…
Mérida
The pretty little Parque Santa Lucía has arcades on the north and west sides; this was where travelers would get on or off the stagecoaches that linked…
Museo Fernando García Ponce-Macay
Mérida
Housed in the former archbishop’s palace, the attractive museum's impressive collection holds permanent exhibitions of three of Yucatán’s most famous…
Isla Cozumel
To reach the far northeast of the island you're best off heading out on an off-road tour to avoid getting stranded on the remote dirt road. The tour makes…
Yucatán State & the Maya Heartland
West of the Gran Pirámide sits a structure whose roofcomb is latticed with a pattern reminiscent of the Moorish pigeon houses built into walls in Spain…
Mérida
The Museo de la Ciudad is housed in the old post office and offers a great reprieve from the hustle, honks and exhaust of this market neighborhood. There…
Calakmul
The palatial Estructura III consists of a dozen rooms atop a raised platform. Archaeologists found a tomb inside the 5th-century structure that contained…
Mérida
Founded as a livestock ranch in 1683 and converted into a henequén plantation in the 19th century, today Hacienda Teya is a restaurant, hotel and popular…
Campeche
Directly behind Iglesia de San Juan de Dios, the Baluarte de San Pedro served a post-piracy defensive function when it repelled a punitive raid from…
Yucatán State & the Maya Heartland
The two-lane road to Xcambó is flanked by gorgeous wetlands often inhabited by flamingos. The seldom-visited ruins, 3km south of Hwy 27, formed part of a…
Puerto Morelos
About 5km south of Puerto Morelos you can wet your whistle at this roadside Mexican craft-beer brewery, where they run daily tours at noon and 3pm…
Plataforma de las Águilas y los Jaguares
Chichén Itzá
Adjacent to the Platform of Skulls, the carvings on the Platform of the Eagles and Jaguars depict those animals gruesomely grabbing human hearts in their…
Cancún
In the middle of the north end of Zona Hotelera, Playa Langosta is a gem of a place for swimming. Facing Bahía de Mujeres, the beach is coated with Cancún…
Mérida
Across from Parque de la Mejorada stands Iglesia La Mejorada, a large 17th-century church. The building just north of it was a monastery (el Convento de…
Playa del Carmen
Playa del Carmen’s most iconic park is bordered by the famous Quinta Avenida on one side and by a popular local beach on the other side. Here, kids can…
Calakmul
Estructura I is Calakmul’s second great pyramid (surpassed by Estructura II). American botanist Cyrus Lundell named the site Calakmul, Maya for ‘two…
Playa del Carmen
Two blocks west of the highway, this pretty park has play areas for kids, shady picnic spots and walking trails as well as activities such as movie…
Tulum
This is the temple where Stela 1 was found, an artifact now on display in the British Museum. Based on the stela's inscriptions, it is believed it was…
Baluarte de Santiago & Jardín Botánico Xmuch Haltún
Campeche
Completed in 1704 – the last of the bulwarks to be built – the Baluarte de Santiago houses the Jardín Botánico Xmuch Haltún, a botanical garden with…
Ex-Templo de San José & Bazar Artesanal
Campeche
Faced with blue-and-yellow tiles, the Ex-Templo de San José is a wonder; note the lighthouse, complete with weather vane, atop the right spire. Built in…
