Mexico is one of the world's great travel destinations — a country of staggering diversity where ancient pyramids rise from jungle, colonial silver cities gleam in the highlands, Pacific surf breaks peel for miles, and one of the world's most complex and celebrated food cultures feeds every corner of the country.
Mexico City, one of the world's largest metropolises, is experiencing a renaissance as a global cultural capital. The historic center, built directly over the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán, contains the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Templo Mayor ruins, and the Zócalo, one of the world's largest public squares. The city's neighborhoods — Coyoacán with its Frida Kahlo museum, Roma and Condesa with their Art Deco apartments and excellent restaurants, and Polanco with its world-class galleries — reward weeks of exploration. The food scene ranges from tlayudas in Oaxacan restaurants to five-course tasting menus at internationally acclaimed establishments.
Oaxaca state is arguably Mexico's richest cultural region. The Zapotec ruins of Monte Albán, a hilltop city overlooking the valley, date back to 500 BCE. Oaxacan cuisine — mole negro, tlayudas, memelas, chapulines (grasshoppers), and mezcal distilled in village palenques — is among the most sophisticated in the country. The city of Oaxaca itself, with its green-stone colonial church of Santo Domingo, is one of Mexico's most beautiful.
The Yucatán Peninsula offers a different dimension: Mayan cities like Chichén Itzá, Uxmal, and Palenque rank among the Americas' greatest archaeological sites. The Caribbean coast from Tulum to the Riviera Maya combines turquoise sea, cenotes (underground freshwater sinkholes), and jungle-backed beaches in a combination found nowhere else on Earth. Cenote diving is one of Mexico's most extraordinary experiences — crystal-clear freshwater passages through limestone caverns connected the ancient Mayan world to the underworld, Xibalba.
The colonial cities of the Bajío — Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, Querétaro, and Zacatecas — preserve extraordinary baroque and colonial architecture born from silver mining wealth.
Mexican food — declared a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage — varies radically by region: tacos al pastor, cochinita pibil, chiles en nogada, birria, pozole, and tamales represent just the beginning.
The best time to visit most of Mexico is November through March, the dry season, though Oaxaca's Day of the Dead celebrations in late October and early November are not to be missed.
