Must-see attractions in Mexico

  • Courtyard of the Secretaría de Educación Pública with series of arches paintings by Diego Rivera.

    Secretaría de Educación Pública

    Centro Histórico

    To the casual observer this little-visited government building holds nothing of interest but those in the know flock here to gaze at the 120 murals tucked…

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    Tulum Ruins

    Tulum

    Tulum is one of the most visited archaeological zones in Mexico and for good reason: it’s sublime. The ruins sit on seaside cliffs, high above turquoise…

  • Aerial of a path between palm trees on Isla Contoy.

    Parque Nacional Isla Contoy

    Cancún

    A white sand beach with manta rays gliding through the shimmering turquoise waters. No hotels. No nightclubs. No roads or cars of any kind. It’s hard to…

  • SFER IK

    Tulum

    Wandering barefoot through the contemporary art museum at Azulik hotel, you feel like you’re in a giant cocoon. Nature surrounds you, inside and out:…

  • Puerto Vallarta Botanical Garden.

    Jardín Botánico de Vallarta

    Puerto Vallarta

    For a change of scenery from the beach, head for the tropical highlands of the Sierra Madre mountains and wander the well-curated Jardín Botánico de…

  • Museo Maya de Cancún

    Cancún

    Surrounded by dense tropical forest, the contemporary Museo Maya de Cancún is a welcome respite from the beach and buffet lines of the neighboring high…

  • Beach in Yelapa, Mexico.

    Yelapa

    Puerto Vallarta

    Home to a small fishing community, the picturesque beach of Yelapa hugs an emerald coastline backed by jungle-shrouded mountains. The remote coastal…

  • Fountain in the courtyard of a government building, National Palace, Zocalo, Mexico City, Mexico

    Palacio Nacional

    Centro Histórico

    As the seat of the federal branch of the Mexican government, the Palacio Nacional (National Palace) is home to the offices of the president of Mexico and…

  • Torre Latinoamericana

    Centro Histórico

    The Torre Latinoamericana was Latin America’s tallest building when constructed in 1956, and remains the dominant focal point of Centro Histórico. It's an…

  • Museo Nacional de Antropologia (Anthropology Museum), District Federal, Mexico City, Mexico, North America

    Museo Nacional de Antropología

    Polanco & Bosque de Chapultepec

    This world-class museum stands in an extension of the Bosque de Chapultepec and is a highlight of visiting CDMX. Its long, rectangular courtyard is…

  • San Miguelito

    Cancún

    You don't have to leave the Zona Hotelera to find Mayan culture in Cancún. Before the beach umbrellas, resorts, banana boats and  Spanish conquistadors…

  • Destroyed jetty on a white sandy beach at Isla Blanca.

    Isla Blanca

    Cancún

    Driving down a narrow sand road, the turquoise Caribbean on one side, the glimmering Laguna Chacmuchuch on the other, you feel like you’re a thousand…

  • Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve

    Reserva de la Biosfera Sian Ka'an

    Tulum

    While floating down a canal that Mayans dug by hand centuries ago, you see tall grasses on either side and colorful birds flying overhead. You hear the…

  • Beautiful Cenote Manatee, ( a.k.a. Casa Cenote, and Cenote Manatí ), in Tankah Bay, Quintana Roo, Mexico.

    Tankah Tres

    Tulum

    At the end of a sand road is the hamlet of Tankah Tres (aka Tankah Bay), a seaside community of vacation homes and small hotels in Mexico, all facing a…

  • The ancient pyramids of Tonina, a Mayan Archaeological Site in Chiapas, Mexico.

    Toniná

    Chiapas

    The towering ceremonial core of Toniná, overlooking a pastoral valley 14km east of Ocosingo, is one of the most spectacular archaeological sites in…

  • Mexico, Quintana Roo State, Riviera Maya, Cancun, Playa Delfines

    Playa Delfines

    Cancún

    Unfolding from the base of a mild seaside bluff, Playa Delfines is one of the most scenic beaches in Cancún. A languid stretch of sand with turquoise…

  • Playa Palmares

    Puerto Vallarta

    Graced with golden sands and serene aqua-green shallows, Playa Palmares is one sweet strip of coastline. Hugging an undeveloped shore about 6km (4 miles)…

  • The ruins of the Templo Mayor in Mexico City.

    Templo Mayor

    Centro Histórico

    Before the Spaniards demolished it, the Aztec 'Great Temple' Teocalli of Tenochtitlán covered the site where the cathedral now stands, as well as the…

  • The archaeological zone of Cholula.

    Zona Arqueológica

    Cholula

    Located two blocks to the southeast of Cholula’s central plaza, the Pirámide Tepanapa looks more like a hill than a pyramid and has a domed church on top…

  • The peak of the Nevado de Colima volcano.

    Volcán Nevado de Colima

    Western Central Highlands

    Volcán Nevado de Colima (4260m) is accessible on foot from the last week of October till the first week of June. Patches of pine forest cover Nevado’s…

  • Temple of the Inscriptions. Ruins of the ancient Mayan city of Palenque, in the jungles of Chiapas, Mexico; Shutterstock ID 38923966; Your name (First / Last): Josh Vogel; Project no. or GL code: 56530; Network activity no. or Cost Centre: Online-Design; Product or Project: 65050/7529/Josh Vogel/LP.com Destination Galleries

    Palenque Ruins

    Chiapas

    Ancient Palenque stands at the precise point where the first hills rise out of the Gulf coast plain, and the dense jungle covering these hills forms an…

  • Yaxchilán

    Chiapas

    Jungle-shrouded Yaxchilán has a wonderfully atmospheric setting above a horseshoe loop in the Río Usumacinta. The control this location gave it over river…

  • The Finger of God at Maruata Beach in Michoacán.

    Playa Maruata

    Central Pacific Coast

    With clear turquoise waters and golden sandy beaches, Playa Maruata is arguably the most beautiful beach in Michoacán. The Nahua fishing village has a bit…

  • The Pyramid of the Niches at the EL Tajin archeological site.

    El Tajín

    Veracruz

    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…

  • The facade of the Museo Nacional de Antropología.

    Museo de Antropología

    Xalapa

    Attached to spacious gardens, 4km northwest of the center, this remarkable museum contains Mexico’s second-finest archaeological collection. The focus is…

  • Instituto Cultural Cabanas, Guadalajara, Mexico; Shutterstock ID 745346248; your: Sloane Tucker; gl: 65050; netsuite: Online Editorial; full: POI
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    Instituto Cultural de Cabañas

    Guadalajara

    Standing proudly at the eastern end of dramatic Plaza Tapatía is one of Guadalajara’s architectural landmarks, and a Unesco World Heritage site since 1997…

  • COYOACAN, MEXICO - NOV 1, 2016: Blue House (La Casa Azul), historic house and art museum dedicated to the life and work of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo
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    Museo Frida Kahlo

    Coyoacán & San Ángel

    Renowned Mexican artist Frida Kahlo was born in, and lived and died in, Casa Azul (Blue House), now a museum. Almost every visitor to Mexico City makes a…

  • Templo de las Inscripciones Group

    Palenque

    As you walk in from the entrance the vegetation suddenly peels away to reveal many of Palenque’s most magnificent buildings in one sublime vista. A line…

  • Templo de Santo Domingo, and Museo de las Culturas de Oaxaca, Calle Macedonio Alcala, Oaxaca, Oaxaca State, Mexico

    Museo de las Culturas de Oaxaca

    Oaxaca City

    Got two hours? You'll need it for the Museum of Oaxacan Cultures, housed in the beautiful monastery buildings adjoining the Templo de Santo Domingo. This…

  • Tamul waterfall.

    Cascada de Tamul

    La Huasteca Potosina

    Like something from a tropical postcard, Tamul is easily the Huasteca Potosina’s most spectacular waterfall. Milky-blue water plunges 105m into the…

  • Chinkultic ruins, Chiapas, Mexico.

    Chinkultic Ruins

    Chiapas

    With a dearth of other tourists, this is one of those magical archaeological sites where the sense of wild atmosphere is as enthralling as the stories…

  • Tlaxcalan mausoleum style tombs at Zona Arqueológica Quiahuiztlán, in La Antigua, Veracruz, Mexico.

    Quiahuiztlán

    Veracruz

    Perched like a mini–Machu Picchu on a plateau beneath a horn-shaped mountain, Quiahuiztlán is a pre-Hispanic Totonac town and necropolis. Enjoying a…

  • Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan, Mexico.

    Pirámide del Sol

    Teotihuacán

    The world’s third-largest pyramid – surpassed in size only by Egypt’s Cheops (which is also a tomb, unlike the temples here) and the pyramid of…

  • Comalcalco

    Tabasco

    Surrounded by jungle trees and little visited by tourists, the small but impressive Maya ruins of ancient Comalcalco are the most westerly known Maya…

  • Pirámide de Tepozteco, built on the peak of the Sierra de Tepoztlan, Mexico.

    Pirámide de Tepozteco

    Tepoztlán

    Tepoztlán's main sight is this 10m-high pyramid perched atop a sheer cliff at the end of a very steep paved path that begins at the end of Avenida del…

  • Pirámide Tepanapa

    Cholula

    The incredible Pirámide Tepanapa looks more like a hill than a pyramid, but it's still the town's big draw, and with miles of tunnels veining the inside…

  • Guadalajara Cathedral.

    Catedral de Guadalajara

    Guadalajara

    Guadalajara’s cathedral is the city’s most conspicuous landmark with distinctive neo-Gothic towers built after an earthquake toppled the originals in…

  • Temple of the Inscriptions. Ruins of the ancient Mayan city of Palenque.
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    Templo de las Inscripciones

    Palenque

    Perhaps the most celebrated burial monument in the Americas, this is the tallest and most stately of Palenque’s buildings. Constructed on eight levels,…

  • Guachimontones Archaeological Site

    Guadalajara

    Just 40km west of Guadalajara is the fascinating and distinctive archaeological site known as Guachimontones – one of the only ancient ruins in the world…

  • A woman walking toward the Church of Santo Domingo de Guzman, Oaxaca, Mexico.

    Templo de Santo Domingo

    Oaxaca City

    Gorgeous Santo Domingo is the most splendid of Oaxaca’s churches, with a finely carved baroque facade and nearly every square centimeter inside decorated…

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