Must-see attractions in Northern Central Highlands

  • 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…

  • Museo y Casa de Diego Rivera

    Guanajuato

    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…

  • Teatro Juárez

    Guanajuato

    Don’t leave Guanajuato without visiting the magnificent Teatro Juárez. It was built between 1873 and 1903 and inaugurated by the dictator Porfirio Díaz,…

  • MEXICO-Guanajuato State-Guanajuato: Templo de San Cayetano de la Valenciana Church- (b.1788) Church by the famous Valenciana Silver Mine- Exterior

    Templo La Valenciana

    Guanajuato

    On a hill overlooking Guanajuato, 5km north of the center, is the magnificent Templo La Valenciana. Its facade is spectacular and its interior dazzles…

  • Exterior of the Museo Federico Silva located at the Jardín San Juan de Dios in San Luis Potosí, Mexico.

    Museo Federico Silva

    San Luis Potosí

    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…

  • Exterior of the Museo Nacional de la Máscara located in the historic Plaza del Carmen in San Luis Potosí, Mexico.

    Museo Nacional de la Máscara

    San Luis Potosí

    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…

  • MUCAL

    Querétaro

    While a museum of calendars might not sound riveting, this extraordinary museum is unexpectedly interesting. It takes a wide angle view of calendars and…

  • Museo Rafael Coronel

    Zacatecas

    The excellent Museo Rafael Coronel is not to be missed. Imaginatively housed in the ruins of the lovely 16th-century Ex-Convento de San Francisco, it…

  • Sótano de las Huahuas

    La Huasteca Potosina

    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…

  • Cascadas de Minas Viejas

    La Huasteca Potosina

    The stunning cascades of Minas Viejas are well worth the 78km trip northwest from Ciudad Valles, if only to see the gorgeous turquoise waters here. The…

  • Museo Histórico de San Miguel de Allende

    San Miguel de Allende

    This is the house where Mexican independence hero Ignacio Allende was born in 1769, a fact that draws a steady stream of Mexican pilgrims year-round. The…

  • Museo Pedro Coronel

    Zacatecas

    The Museo Pedro Coronel is housed in a 17th-century former Jesuit college and is one of provincial Mexico's best art museums. Pedro Coronel (1923−85) was…

  • Casa Museo del Dulce

    Northern Central Highlands

    This museum in the town's former sweet factory allows you to wander through kitchens of old, see exhibits about the history of Mexico, candy production…

  • La Quemada

    Northern Central Highlands

    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…

  • Guanajuato City, Guanajuato, Mexico

    Museo de las Momias

    Guanajuato

    This famous museum is one of the most bizarre (some might say distasteful) sights in Mexico. The popular attraction is a quintessential example of Mexico…

  • Oratorio de San Felipe Neri

    San Miguel de Allende

    Located near the east end of Insurgentes, this multitowered and domed church dates from the 18th century. The pale-pink main facade is baroque with an…

  • Monumento a El Pípila

    Guanajuato

    The monument to El Pípila honors the hero who torched the Alhóndiga gates on September 28, 1810, enabling Hidalgo's forces to win the first victory of the…

  • Backpackers Hiking la Sierra Gorda in Querétaro State, Mexico.

    Reserva de la Biosfera Sierra Gorda

    Northern Central Highlands

    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…

  • Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel

    San Miguel de Allende

    San Miguel's most famous sight is its parish church, characterized by its pink 'wedding cake' towers that soar above the town. These strange pinnacles…

  • Callejón del Beso

    Guanajuato

    Narrowest of the many alleyways in Guanajuato's streets is this callejón, where the balconies of two houses practically touch. In a local legend, a fine…

  • Cerro de la Bufa

    Zacatecas

    The most appealing of the many explanations for the name of the hill that dominates Zacatecas is that bufa is an old Basque word for wineskin, which is…

  • Museo Bicentenario 1810–2010

    Dolores Hidalgo

    Previously the Presidencia Municipal, this museum was inaugurated in 2010 for Mexico's bicentennial celebrations. Despite its name, the majority of its…

  • Museo del Pueblo de Guanajuato

    Guanajuato

    Located beside the university, this fascinating art museum displays an exquisite collection of Mexican miniatures, and 18th- and 19th-century artworks by…

  • Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Dolores

    Dolores Hidalgo

    The Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Dolores is the church where Hidalgo issued the famous Grito (a call to arms for the country's independence) and is the…

  • Universidad de Guanajuato

    Guanajuato

    The main building of this university, whose ramparts are visible above much of the city, is one block up the hill from the basilica. The distinctive…

  • Santuario de Atotonilco

    San Miguel de Allende

    Known as Mexico's Sistine Chapel, this vitally important church in the hamlet of Atotonilco, 11km north of San Miguel, is defined by its connection to the…

  • Cuna De Tierra

    Dolores Hidalgo

    The first and biggest winery in Guanajuato opened in 2005, heralding the reintroduction of wine production in the area 200 years after the Spanish banned…

  • Templo de la Concepción

    San Miguel de Allende

    A splendid church with a fine altar and several magnificent old oil paintings. Painted on the interior doorway are a number of wise sayings to give pause…

  • Escuela de Bellas Artes

    San Miguel de Allende

    This former monastery was converted into a fine-arts school in 1938. Don't miss the murals of Pedro Martínez, plus the Siqueiros Room, which features the…

  • Hidalgo Statue

    Dolores Hidalgo

    The town's main square naturally boasts a statue of the man himself, Hidalgo (in Roman garb, on top of a tall column). Here too is a tree that, according…

  • Templo de San Francisco

    Guanajuato

    Templo de San Francisco was built in 1741 in a late baroque style, as noted in its decorative motifs and stone entrance, though neoclassical features were…

  • Capilla de la Tercera Orden

    San Miguel de Allende

    Built in the early 18th century, this chapel, like the Templo de San Francisco, was part of a Franciscan monastery complex. The main facade shows St…

  • Mina El Edén

    Zacatecas

    Visiting one of Mexico's richest mines (1586−1960s) provides an insight into a source of wealth and the terrible price paid for it. Digging for hoards of…

  • El Chorro

    San Miguel de Allende

    El Chorro was the spring where San Miguel was founded. Today it gushes out of a fountain built in 1960, and there are public washing tubs here that are…

  • Parque Benito Juárez

    San Miguel de Allende

    The shady Parque Benito Juárez is a lovely place to relax and meander through, with benches, well-maintained pathways and a popular play area for children.

  • Templo de San Diego

    Guanajuato

    Built in 1663 by members of St Diego of Alcántara, the facade – carved pink quarry stone – exemplifies Mexican Churriqueresque and is quite lovely.

  • Mirador

    San Miguel de Allende

    One of the best views over the town and surrounding country is from the mirador southeast of town.

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