843 Best Sights in Mexico

Better known by its initials, MAZ, the large and modern Art Museum of Zapopan is Guadalajara's top contemporary art gallery. The museum regularly holds expositions of distinguished Latin American painters, photographers, and sculptors, as well as occasional international shows.

The Modern Art Museum's permanent collection has many important examples of 20th-century Mexican art, including works by Mexican school painters like Frida Kahlo—her Las dos Fridas is possibly the most famous work in the collection—Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and Olga Costa. There are also pieces by surrealists Remedios Varo and Leonora Carrington.

This entrancing folk-art museum is a must for anyone interested in Mexican culture and handicrafts. It's brimming with original works by the country's finest artisans, which are arranged in fascinating tableaux. The collection represents different regions of Mexico—from nativity scenes sculpted from Oaxacan clay to the intricate árbol de la vida (tree of life) sculptures crafted in Metepec. Children will love the toy room, which includes an impressive display of alebrijes (fantastical wood carvings). Since this is one of the many attractions inside Xcaret, the only way to visit the museum is by purchasing a day pass to the theme park.

You'll find a wonderfully displayed collection of pre-Hispanic pottery and sculpture at this carefully restored colonial mansion. The courtyard, dominated by a fountain guarded by a quartet of stone lions, is shaded with pink and white oleanders. Originally this was the private collection of the painter Rufino Tamayo. Especially interesting are the tiny figurines of women with children from Guerrero, some perhaps dating from more than 3,000 years ago, and the smiling ceramic figures from Veracruz.

This former convent (sometimes called Ex-Convento de Santa Mónica) opened in 1688 as a spiritual refuge for women whose husbands were away on business. Despite the Reform Laws of the 1850s, it continued to function until 1934. It is said that the women here invented the famous dish called chiles en nogada, a complex recipe that incorporates the red, white, and green colors of the Mexican flag. In the museum's 23 permanent exhibit galleries, curiosities include the gruesome display of the preserved heart of the convent's founder and paintings in the Sala de los Terciopelos (Velvet Room), in which the feet and faces seem to change position as you view them from different angles.

This Moorish-style 18th-century house with archways, an ornate fireplace, soaring beam ceilings, and a finely detailed facade contains a wonderful little art museum that includes a mix of colonial works, historic photographs, and rotating contemporary exhibits. The space also occasionally hosts music and cultural events. It's also commonly known as Casa Humboldt, in honor of the German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, who stayed here in 1803.

The 16th-century home of the Colegio de San Nicolás Obispo now displays colonial and contemporary crafts, such as ceramics, masks, lacquerware, paintings, and ex-votos in its many rooms. Information is in Spanish only. Behind this building is a troje (traditional Purépecha wooden house) braced atop a stone platform.

The Stamp Museum in Oaxaca is located on a quiet street alongside the botanical garden. It is a small, free museum that celebrates all that is good about letter writing. The collection of Asian mailboxes in the entrance sets the scene for a world tour of miscellany about our communication. Highlights of the museum include its collection of Frida Kahlo’s letters, its ever-changing exhibitions, and its wonderful children’s programs—all offered free.

Operated by the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the city's geology museum features multiple mammoth skulls and an entire hadrosaurid dinosaur fossil. Gems and minerals from around the world, but mostly Mexico, adorn impeccably preserved antique glass and wooden showcases. The large and expertly polished pieces of selenite from northern Mexico are particularly impressive, as is the architecture of the building itself, built in 1906. The beautiful colonial building enjoys a privileged location overlooking Santa María la Ribera’s central park.

Covered with dazzlingly elaborate cobalt tiles, the building housing the Museo de Historia de Tabasco was originally called the Casa de los Azulejos (House of the Tiles). The mansion would be over the top even without the cherubs reclining along the roof. The museum's collection is a bit sparse, but the individual pieces—an anchor from the days that pirates patrolled the Gulf of Mexico, a carriage from the reign of dictator Porfirio Díaz—help bring the past to life.

Commonly referred to by English speakers as The Whale Museum, this popular malecón-adjacent attraction actually celebrates myriad forms of marine life, from dolphins and sharks to sea lions and endangered sea turtles. The enormous whale skeletons, built from bones sourced from specimens that washed up on nearby shores, are undoubtedly the most spectacular items on display, however. Sperm, humpback, and other whale re-creations hang suspended from the high ceilings, with brains and other organs preserved in accompanying exhibits. Guided tours provide a wonderful introduction to the region’s aquatic abundance, and are available in several languages, including English. The gift shop next door, meanwhile, offers souvenir T-shirts and other cetacean-theme memorabilia.

This museum in a lovely colonial-era building tells the city's history through artifacts, displays, and scale models. Also exhibited are copies of pre-Columbian statues and contemporary art. There are no explanatory materials in English, however.

The compact Museo de la Historia Natural is just outside the entrance to the Parque-Museo La Venta. Of the most interest at this Natural History Museum are the displays of Tabasco's native plants and animals.

Filling two floors of a former hotel, Cozumel's museum has displays on natural history—the island's origins, endangered species, topography, and coral-reef ecology—as well as human history during the pre-Columbian and colonial periods. The photos of the island's transformation over the 20th and 21st centuries are especially fascinating, as are the exhibit of a typical Maya home and a room devoted to the island's carnaval traditions. Guided tours are available.

About a block south of Plaza Ángel Albino Corzo is a massive church called the Ex-Convento de Santo Domingo de Guzmán. It houses the Museo de la Laca, which has a modest collection of carved and painted jícaras (gourds). The foreign examples are from as close as Guatemala and as far away as Asia.

Few travelers venture here—a shame, because the Museum of Mayan Medicine is fascinating. Displays describe the complex system of medicine employed by the local indigenous cultures. Instead of one healer, they have a team of specialists who are called on for different illnesses. The most interesting display details the role of the midwife, who assists the mother and makes sure the child isn't enveloped by evil spirits. The museum is about 1 km (½ mile) north of the Mercado Municipal. Taxis are plentiful.

To the west of Plaza Xicohténcatl is this fascinating museum with a colonial-era facade but a strikingly modern interior. By focusing on the folklore and festivals of various indigenous cultures, its displays recount the region's past and present.

At the top of Cerro de la Bufa is the Museo de la Toma de Zacatecas, which has 10 rooms of historic objects such as guns, newspapers, furniture, and clothing from the days of Pancho Villa.

The University of Guadalajara's contemporary art museum is in this exquisite early-20th-century building. The permanent collection includes several murals by Orozco. Revolving exhibits have contemporary works from Latin America, Europe, and the United States.

Mummified human corpses—once buried in the adjacent municipal cemetery—are on display in this unique and fascinating museum at the town's west end. In 1865 the first corpse, that of a French doctor, was removed to make room for new arrivals because the burial fee hadn't been maintained. Because of the mineral properties of the local soil, the cadaver was in astonishingly good condition upon exhumation. Today this and 100 other mummies are displayed: everything from tiny babies to old crones. The museum has been upgraded several times over the years, and despite the macabre subject matter, is artistically presented and well worth a visit. You'll need to catch a cab to get here; it's atop a steep hill.

The Museo de los Abuelos, or Sauza Museum, has memorabilia from the Sauza family, a tequila-making dynasty second only to the Cuervos. The museum is open daily 10–3. Admission costs about 50¢; for this low price they offer tours in English as well as Spanish, depending on the needs of the crowd.

Even though it occupies a colonial-era building, the Museum of Oaxacan Painters isn't interested in simply reveling in the city's glorious past. Instead, this small gallery finds connections between the past and present, subtly linking Miguel Cabrera's 18th-century religious paintings, which incorporated a few dark-skinned cherubs, to 20th-century portrayals of indigenous people in works by Rodolfo Morales.

For a crash ethnography lesson, poke around the interesting—if haphazard—collection of photographs, musical instruments, artwork, baskets, clothing, and dioramas in the Museo de los Seris. Be prepared to practice your Spanish, as there are no descriptions in English.

Officially called the Museo Universitario Dr. Luis Mario Schneider and located near the entrance to Zona Arqueológica de Malinalco, this small but informative museum installed within a gracious orange mansion with galleries surrounding a plant-filled courtyard makes an excellent companion piece to the archaeological site. Exhibits are filled with both original and reproduced artifacts and artwork dating back to the Aztec period as well as photos and dioramas that interpret the region's history right up until the present day. 

A block beyond the other end of the plaza, the Museo Arqueologico de Mascota is worth a look. It has some pictures of petroglyphs of the area as well as remnants of the pre-Hispanic era.

The best viewpoint in the city is the top of Cerro de la Campana (Hill of Bells), where you'll also find the Museo de Sonora. The museum is in a former penitentiary; the cells hold 18 permanent exhibits on astronomy, anthropology, history, geology, geography, and culture, all with a Sonoran slant. The bulk of the exhibits are graphic displays, including charts and maps of trade routes and native populations. Each display has a short summary in English.

The Museo de Textil contains a notable array of traditional textiles from the state of Oaxaca and, on selected days, visitors can see textiles being made, using historic techniques, by indigenous people from across the state working in the museum's sunlit central patio. The museum has an impressive restoration and conservation facility where visitors can see the care taken to restore antique textiles to their former glory. There is a constantly changing program of exhibitions at the museum—check ahead to see what’s on.

Passing by this unsigned and slightly ramshackle colonial-era house, you'd never guess it was one of the city's best museums. It's also one of the hardest to get into—you need to call a day ahead for an appointment. But the effort is well worth it. Sergio Castro's collection of colorful clothing from the villages surrounding San Cristóbal is unparalleled. He explains how different factors—geography, climate, even the crops grown in a certain area—influenced how locals dressed. In explaining their dress, he is explaining their way of life. Each ribbon hanging from a hat, each stitch on an embroidered blouse has a meaning. Castro has spent a lifetime working with indigenous peoples; he currently runs a clinic to treat burn victims. Many of the ceremonial costumes were given to him as payment for his work in the communities. Castro gives 90-minute tours in English, Spanish, Italian, and French.

Next to the graceful Ex-Convento de la Merced, this museum has exhibits showing how and where amber is mined, as well as its function in Mayan and Aztec societies. You'll see samples of everything from fossils to recently quarried pieces to sculptures and jewelry. Labels are in Spanish only; ask for an English-language summary. The volunteer staff can explain how to distinguish between real amber and fake.

In this small, slightly quirky museum and aquarium inside Parque Ecológico Presa Tarango, in a hilly west-side neighborhood between Santa Fe and San Ángel, you can learn about one of Mexico's strangest and seemingly unlikely creatures, the axolotl. This small (averaging about 10 inches in length) and entirely aquatic relative of a tiger salamander once proliferated in the lakes beneath Mexico City, but rampant urbanization has almost entirely destroyed their natural habitats and axolotls have become nearly extinct in the wild. Lake Xochimilco and Lake Chalco, on the southeast side of the city, are the only places in the world where these underwater animals are still found. In the three geodesic-dome buildings and surrounding gardens that make up this museum, you can view exhibits about these unique amphibians and their conservation, and view them up-close in aquariums. The easiest way to get here is by Uber---it's a 15- to 20-minute ride from Santa Fe and San Ángel (or its nearest Metro stop, Barranca del Muerto).