Places to Explore

• Agua Azul

• Bonampak

• Chiapa de Corzo

  The town of Chiapa de Corzo (then known as Chiapa de los Indios) was founded in 1528 by Diego de Mazariegos, who one month later fled the heat and mosquitoes and settled instead in San Cristóbal... (more)

• Chinkultik

  46 km (29 mi) southeast of Comitán.... It's a steep hike of about 15 or 20 minutes to the hilltop pyramid that crowns this Maya city. From here you're rewarded with a fabulous view of sheer cliffs... (more)

• Comalcalco

• Comitán

  After a string of dusty little towns, Comitán comes as a surprise. The road into the city is lined with laurels and masses of red and purple bougainvillea. Founded by the Spanish in 1527, the city... (more)

• Lagos de Montebello

  The 56 lakes and surrounding pine forest of the Lagos de Montebello (Lakes of the Beautiful Mountain) constitute a 2,437-acre park that's shared with Guatemala. Each lake has a slightly different tint—emerald... (more)

• Ocosingo

  Although Ocosingo is on the tourist trail, most people pass right by on their way to San Cristobál or Palenque. That's a shame, because Ocosingo sits in one of the prettiest valleys in Chiapas... (more)

• Palenque Town

  Palenque Town's days as a sleepy little village are far behind. Locals have obliged the needs of travelers in search of the ruins at Palenque, Bonampak, and Yaxchilán by opening a string of restaurants... (more)

• Paraíso

  As you head toward the Gulf of Mexico coast and Paraíso, stop at one of the cacao plantations and chocolate factories. On the coast you'll get a glimpse of small-town life. Climb the Cerro Teodomiro... (more)

• San Cristóbal de las Casas

  A pretty highland town in a valley where pine forests are interspersed with vegetable fields, San Cristóbal straddles two worlds. Here indigenous women with babies tied tightly in colorful shawls... (more)

• Toniná

• Tuxtla Gutiérrez

  In 1939 writer Graham Greene characterized Tuxtla Gutiérrez as "not a place for foreigners—the new ugly capital of Chiapas, without attractions." The accuracy of that bleak description is slowly... (more)

• Villahermosa

  The capital city of Villahermosa epitomizes the development of Tabasco, where the airplane arrived before the automobile. Thanks to oil and the money it brought in, the cramped and ugly neighborhoods in... (more)

• Yaxchilán