843 Best Sights in Mexico

If you have time to visit just one vineyard in the region's increasingly acclaimed wine country, consider heading to this respected operation in the Ezequiel Montes countryside, which offers a variety of tours and tasting experiences, including one that lets you horseback around the property's 125 acres of fields and plantings. Freixenet is especially known for its champagne-style sparkling wines, but the winery also produces some excellent still wines, including a dry white blend of Macabeo, Chardonnay, and Muscat, and an inky Malbec that pairs well with steak and pastas.

Set within a typical-looking Roma house with an early 20th-century stone facade, Galería OMR has been a leader in the city's contemporary arts scene since it opened in 1983. It contains dramatic, light-filled exhibit spaces on two levels as well as an art library, a bougainvillea-filled courtyard, and a roof-deck with grand views of the neighborhood. The gallery also has a strong presence in international art fairs and art magazines.

Life in San Juan Chamula revolves around the Iglesia de San Juan Bautista, a white stucco building whose doorway has a simple yet lovely flower motif. The church is named for Saint John the Baptist, who here is revered even above Jesus Christ. There are no pews inside, because there are no traditional masses. Instead, the floor is strewn with fragrant pine needles, on which the Chamula sit praying silently or chanting while facing colorfully attired statues of saints. Worshippers burn dozens of candles of various colors, chant softly, and may have bones or eggs with them to aid in healing the sick. Each group of worshippers is led by a so-called "traditional doctor" (they don't like being called shamans), whose healing process may involve sacrificing a live chicken and always involves drinking Coca-Cola or other sodas; it is thought that the carbonation will help one to expel bad spirits in the form of a burp, and you'll see rows of soda bottles everywhere.

Before you enter, buy a $2 ticket at the tourist office on the main square. Taking photographs and videos inside the church is absolutely prohibited. Some tourists trying to circumvent this rule have had their film confiscated or even their cameras grabbed. Outside the church, cameras are permitted, but the Chamula resent having their picture taken except from afar. The exception are the children who cluster around the church posing for pictures for money—they expect a $1 tip.

With a 17th-century facade framed by two domed bell towers and an interior that's an energetic profusion of white and real gold leaf (typical of the Mexican baroque style), Santo Domingo is Oaxaca's most brilliantly decorated church. The interior of the dome is adorned with more than 100 medallions depicting various martyrs. Saturdays are usually wedding days. Pass by to see the wedding in process and the traditional dancing afterwards.

Look up at the ceiling just inside the front door to see a gilded rendering of the family tree of Santo Domingo. If you stop by as the sun sets in the afternoon, the light playing on the ceiling is the best show in town.

Financed by Bishop Juan Ruiz de Cabañas and constructed by Spanish architect-sculptor Manuel Tolsá, this neoclassical-style cultural center, also known as Hospicio Cabañas, was originally opened in 1810 as a shelter for widows, orphans, and the elderly. The Instituto's 106 rooms and 23 flower-filled patios now house art exhibitions. The main chapel displays murals by José Clemente Orozco, including The Man of Fire, his masterpiece. In all, there are 57 murals by Orozco, plus many of his smaller paintings, cartoons, and drawings. Kids can marvel at the murals, some which appear as optical illusions, and investigate the labyrinthine compound. The center was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.

Ask anyone living in La Paz for their favorite place or top recommendation and they're bound to reply with a passionate sigh, "La Isla." It's no wonder, as Espíritu Santo, an uninhabited island about an hour's boat ride into the ocean, is unbelievably special. It's a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site as well as a national park, and a number of tour operators will take you out for the day to snorkel or scuba dive at Los Islotes, a bustling sea lion colony, kayak across the still waters, or relax on a completely vacant beach. With a few, you can even camp overnight.

The most popular spot on Isla Ixtapa (and the one closest to the boat dock) is Playa Cuachalalate. An excellent swimming beach, it was named for a local tree whose bark has been used as a remedy for kidney ailments since ancient times. A short walk across the island, Playa Varadero hugs a rocky cove and is also good for swimming, but watch for coral-covered rocks on both sides of the cove. Just behind is Playa Coral, whose calmer, crystal clear water is great for snorkeling. Each of the above beaches is lined with seafood eateries eager to rent snorkel equipment. Playa Carey, toward the island's south end, is small and has no services. Pangas run between the boat landings at both Cuachalalate and Varadero beaches and Playa Linda on the mainland, where you'll find a few all-inclusive, high-rise hotels. The ride costs MXN$40 round-trip, and boats run from about 9 to 5 (later in high season). Amenities: food and drink; water sports. Best for: snorkeling; swimming.

Combining art and nature, sculptor Jason de Caires Taylor has created "underwater museums" off the shores of Punta Cancún, Punta Nizuc, and Manchones Reef near Isla Mujeres. Locally known as Museo Subacuático de Arte (MUSA), his main work features more than 480 lifelike statues that serve as artificial reefs to attract marine life. Within the 12 galleries is The Silent Evolution, a 120-ton work of more than 400 individual statues, as well as Anthropocene, a full-scale VW Beetle made from 8 tons of pH-neutral concrete. The displays have conveniently been placed in shallow areas for viewing by divers, snorkelers, and glass-bottom boats. The unusual artificial habitat also helps restore the natural reefs that have suffered damage over the years. Most local dive shops can organize excursions to the site starting at $95.

These infectiously festive plazas function as Coyoacán's zócalo and are barely separated from each other by a narrow street with slow-moving traffic. The Jardín, with its shady trees, an oft-photographed fountain with two snarling coyotes, and a fringe of lively patio bars and restaurants (of varying quality), is the more commercial of the two but also arguably prettier. Note the the often-overlooked concrete obelisk with a tile fountain and four coyote gargoyles. A wander through here is even more enjoyable while savoring a dish of traditional Mexican ice cream (mamey, leche quemada [burnt milk], and elote are among the unique flavors) from Tepoznieves, which is located on the Francisco Sosa side of Jardín Centenario. 

The larger Plaza Hidalgo hosts children's fairs, music and dance performances, clowns, bubble-blowers, and cotton candy and balloon sellers, especially on weekends and holidays. It's anchored by an ornate old bandstand and the impressive Parroquia de San Juan Bautista, one of the first churches to be built in New Spain. Each afternoon of September 15, before the crowds become suffocating at nightfall, these delightful plazas are perhaps the best place in the capital to enjoy Independence Day celebrations. More recently, they've become a must-visit for Día de Muertos in early November, with throngs of people of all ages cavorting about in costume and face paint. Both plazas are filled with landscaped courtyards, sculptures, and dozens of park benches, and they're a memorable destination for people-watching. You'll see passersby of all ages and backgrounds, from multigenerational families and young couples of all sexual orientations cuddling, kissing, and holding hands to tourists from all over the world, and locals walking their dogs (who are often gussied up in sweaters and bows). Of the streets emanating from the plazas, Felipe Carrillo Puerto—which runs due south—has the best selection of high-quality shops and restaurants, including branches of popular Mexico City businesses like Churrería El Moro, Boicot coffeehouse, and Gandhi bookstore.  There are public bathrooms (for a small fee) in the lovely, landscaped courtyard beside the Parroquia.  

Renowned architect Alberto Kalach (of Biblioteca Vasconcelos fame) converted this former lumber yard into an internationally acclaimed contemporary art gallery in San Miguel Chapultepec, using polished wood, cement floors, and a curving metal-plated spiral staircase to set a dramatic stage for the well-attended exhibits. Often ranked among Latin America's most influential art spaces, Kurimanzutto represents about three dozen established and emerging talents and has a second location on New York City's Upper East Side. The on-site bookstore has a small but carefully curated collection of titles.

Turtles sunning themselves on logs, crocodiles masquerading as logs, water-loving birds, and exotic orchids make the maze of green-brown canals that is La Tovara—an out-of-town must for nature lovers. Launches putter along these waterways from El Conchal Bridge, at the outskirts of San Blas, about a three-hour drive from Marina Vallarta, or from the nearby village of Matanchén. After cruising along for about 45 minutes—during which you'll have taken way too many photos of the mangrove roots that protrude from the water and the turtles—you arrive at the spring-fed freshwater pools for which the area is named. You can hang out at the restaurant overlooking the pool or play Tarzan and Jane on the rope swing. Most folks take the optional trip to a crocodile farm on the way back, stretching a two-hour tour into three hours.

Some 42 km (26 miles) long but no more than 2 km (1 mile) wide, Laguna de Bacalar is the town’s focal point—renowned for both its vibrant green-and-blue waters and for the age-old limestone formations (stromatolites) that line its shores. Fed by underground cenotes, the mix of fresh water and salt water here creates ideal conditions for a refreshing swim. Most hotels along Laguna de Bacalar rent kayaks and paddleboats; however, there are no beaches or amenities other than those found in rental properties or hotels. English-speaking guide Victor Rosales ( 983/136–2827), who organizes custom excursions throughout the Costa Maya, offers a particularly fascinating tour of the lake's 3.5-billion-year-old stromatolites.

One of the most leisurely day trips from Puerto Escondido is a journey to this tranquil lagoon surrounded by mangroves and lush wetlands just 20 minutes from town. It's home to more than 300 species of migrant and resident birds such as pelicans, hawks, and roseate spoonbills. Although a half-day tour by motorboat, kayak, or canoe with Lalo Ecotours or Canadian naturalist Michael Malone of Hidden Voyages Ecotours (December–March) is the most convenient way to visit, you can also take public transportation and hire a local guide once you arrive. At certain times of the year, the lagoon glows with luminescent plankton and a night-boat tour offers the opportunity for the truly intrepid to jump in and swim amid the phosphorescence.

In Doctores just a block from Roma and Avenida Álvaro Obregón, this historic textile factory has been transformed into a collaborative art and design space that serves as both showcase and incubator. From the street you'd hardly know it was here—you need to knock on the door to gain entry. But the public is welcome to drop in, order a well-crafted latte from the cool café (which is also an inviting spot to work on your laptop), check out the bookstore specializing in titles about design, and explore the building's unique architecture. Many of the galleries and studios inside sell their works to the public, but Laguna also hosts a wide range of cultural activities, including dance classes, art workshops, design expos, and various lectures. Above all else it offers visitors a terrific opportunity to interact with the city's constantly evolving creative scene.

Land’s End sightseeing is at the heart of nearly every local boat tour. Everybody knows El Arco (The Arch), the naturally occurring granite arc that's defined the vista for millions of years, but there's more to see here, too. Granite pinnacles Pelican Rock and Neptune’s Finger jut out from the sea and are home to marine life galore. Numerous beautiful beaches—most famously Playa del Amor (Lover’s Beach) and Playa del Divorcio (Divorce Beach)—are dotted along the base. There's also a keyhole-shape opening known as The Window to the Pacific; a rock that purportedly looks like the famous cartoon canine, Scooby Doo; and a spade-shape opening on the Pacific side known as the Pirate’s Cave, reputed to be the site of long-buried treasure. Sightseers will also notice the ruins of the old fish cannery, which was the center of local commerce before the age of tourism. The beaches below it are popular among Mexican tourists, separate from the hubbub of nearby Médano.

You can hike the peak at Land's End called Mt. Solmar (or traditionally Cerro del Vigía, which means "lookout hill"; it was a lookout point for the pirates who would attack Spanish ships) for lovely views of the Cabo San Lucas Bay. A local man named Enrique Morales, who owns the private property leading up to Mt. Solmar, leads free, dog-friendly morning hikes every day except Saturday.

You can't walk here from town so plan to hire a car to take you there, and back.

Mitla, 46 km (27 miles) southeast of Oaxaca, expanded and grew in influence as Monte Albán declined. Like its predecessor, Mitla is a complex started by the Zapotec and later taken over by the Mixtec. Unlike Monte Albán, Mitla's attraction lies not in its massive scale, but in its unusual ornamentation; the stonework depicts mesmerizing abstract designs with a powerful harmony. The striking architecture, which dates as late as the 1500s, is almost without equal within Mexico thanks to the exquisite greca workmanship on the fine local volcanic stone, which ranges in hue from pink to yellow.

The first structure you enter is the Grupo del Norte, where the Spanish settlers built Mitla's Catholic cathedral literally on top of the Zapotec structure, integrating the foundation. It's comparable to having the history of Oaxaca laid out before you in one building—truly remarkable. Mitla's name comes from the Nahuatl word mictlan, meaning "place of the dead." Don't expect to see anything resembling a graveyard, however; the Zapotec and Mixtec typically buried their dead under the entrance to the structure where the deceased resided.

There are a few underground tombs in the impressive Grupo de las Columnas (Group of the Columns), the main section of the ruins that are fun to climb down into. In that group is also the palace that forms the most striking architectural achievement of Mitla.

Known as El Angel, this Corinthian column topped by a gilt angel is the city's most uplifting monument, built to celebrate the 100 anniversary of Mexico's War of Independence. Beneath the pedestal lie the remains of the principal heroes of the independence movement; an eternal flame burns in their honor. As you pass by, you may see one or more couples dressed in their wedding apparel, posing for pictures on the steps of the monument. Many couples stop off here before or after they get married, as a tribute to their own personal independence from their parents.

The bronze art deco dome of the monument commemorating Mexico's bloody, decade-long revolution, which began in 1910, gleams like a beacon at the end of Avenida Juárez, one of the Alameda's busiest thoroughfares. Take an elevator to the observation deck up top, which offers 360-degree views of the city, or admire the Oliverio Martinez sculptures that adorn the four corners of the monument from below. There's also a small café and museum devoted to the history of the Revolution accessible at an additional cost. Lit up nightly at 10 pm, the monument is a moving sight. At the base of the pillars lie the remains of important figures from 20th-century Mexican history, including those of Pancho Villa.

Querétaro has a number of smaller museums with idiosyncratic themes, and this one with an impressively extensive collection set among the many rooms, courtyards, and gardens of a historic house in the city center is one of the best. Exhibits touch on the history of calendars and calendar-making in different cultures around the world. You'll also find a vast array of framed calendars from the past century or so, including quite a few kitschy ones depicting pets, families, and suggestively posed women that were often distributed as advertising material. There's a nice view of the city skyline from the rooftop terrace, and a small café in the peaceful back garden serves coffee and light food.

This impressive art and history museum is housed in a pair of adjoining Spanish Colonial hospital buildings from the 1800s with a gorgeous contemporary atrium, several galleries, and a dramatic rooftop terrace with a bar, glass walls, and grand views of the Zócalo. Home to the private collection of pre-Columbian and colonial-era art of Mexican banker and philanthropist Manuel Espinoza Yglesias, Museo Amparo exhibits unforgettable pieces from all over Mexico, including nearly 5,000 pre-Hispanic artifacts. The collection includes colonial-era painting, sculpture, and decorative objects as well as a small modern art section notable for works by Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Miguel Felguérez, and Vicente Rojo.

From the house's original entrance on Calle Morelos (around the corner from the current museum entrance) with its forbidding high walls and turrets for armed guards, you get a sense of just how precarious life was for its final resident, León Trotsky, one of the most important figures of the Russian Revolution. Living in exile, Trotsky moved his family here in 1939 at the behest of his friends Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo (who resided in Casa Azul, just a few blocks away). Less than a year later, he would be assassinated. The house and adjoining exhibit galleries make for an eerily fascinating glimpse of Trotsky's later life and death. As you walk through the house, which looks largely as it did the day of his death, you'll see bullet holes still in the walls from the first assassination attempt, in which the muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros was implicated. The rooms include his bedroom, his wife's study, the dining room and kitchen, and the study where assassin Ramón Mercader (a man of many aliases) drove a pickax into Trotsky's head. On his desk, cluttered with writing paraphernalia and an article he was revising in Russian, the calendar is open to that fateful day: August 20, 1940.

This small museum compound is where Diego and Frida lived, painted, loved, and fought (they divorced briefly in 1939) from 1934 to 1940; its three angular red and blue buildings with large multipane windows and a cacti-filled courtyard is stylistically the antithesis of the traditional Spanish Colonial Museo Frida Kahlo just a few miles away in Coyoacán. In the red main house, some of Rivera's final paintings rest on easels, and you can see his denim jacket and shoes on a wicker chair with his modest little bed and side table made up as though the artist might return at any moment. In the building's studio you can view giant papier-mâché sculptures (some of the pre-Hispanic pottery that Rivera collected) and other curious figurines and colorful folk art. The buildings' unusual, and at the time highly avant garde, designs are a big part of what makes a visit here so interesting. Architect Juan O'Gorman, who devised these buildings in 1931, was a close friend of Rivera's and lived on the property in a third structure that today, like the blue house that Frida resided in, contains rotating exhibits.

Interesting architectural features include several curving concrete exterior and interior staircases, and a bridge that connects the rooftops of Diego's and Frida's homes—a convenient passageway that allowed the two simultaneous access to and space from one another.

Xalapa's Museo de Antropología is second only to the archaeological museum in Mexico City. Its collection of artifacts covers the three main pre-Hispanic cultures of Veracruz: Huasteca, Totonac, and most important, Olmec. It's filled with magnificent Olmec stone heads, carved stelae and offering bowls, terra-cotta jaguars and cross-eyed gods, and cremation urns in the form of bats and monkeys. Especially touching are the life-size sculptures of women who died in childbirth (the ancients elevated them to the status of goddesses). Written explanations appear only in Spanish, but bilingual guides are available. The museum is about 3 km (2 mi) north of Parque Juárez.

Set in an art deco former fire station (the building itself is reason enough for a visit), the Muso de Arte Popular maintains a gloriously diverse collection of folk art from all of Mexico's 32 states. Expect to find elaborately painted pottery from Guerrero, trees of life fashioned from clay in Mexico State, textiles woven in Oaxaca and Chiapas, and carved masks from Michoacán. Don't forget to stop at the on-site store on your way out for an exceptional collection of crafts sourced directly from communities around the country, by far the highest quality products you'll find in the city.

One of Centro's most beautiful colonial palaces, built on land originally owned by Hernán Cortés's son Juan Gutiérrez de Altamirano, the Museo is both an excellent example of Mexico City's baronial 18th-century architecture and an interesting place for rotating exhibitions covering a wide range of subjects and interests. The original building was lost, with the current structure dating from 1778 when it was rebuilt as a palatial home for the counts of Santiago y Calimaya. By the early 20th century, the expansive structure had been broken into small, modest apartments, including one where the painter Joaquín Clausell (1866–1935) lived after arriving in Mexico City to study law. Claussel never finished his degree, instead going into exile due to his vocal opposition to the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz. While in Europe, he learned to paint and ended up becoming one of the most important Impressionist painters in Mexican history. The museum displays historical objects from Mexico City, including antique maps. Clausell's studio is also open to the public, and its walls are covered with his work. Keep an eye out for the stone serpent's head, likely pilfered from the nearby Templo Mayor, embedded in the building's foundations on the corner of Pino Suárez and El Salvador.

Dedicated to the complex world of the Maya, this interactive museum is outstanding. Exhibits in Spanish and English trace Maya architecture, social classes, politics, and customs. The most impressive display is the three-story Sacred Ceiba Tree, a symbol used by the Maya to explain the relationship between the cosmos and Earth. The first floor represents the tree's roots and the Maya underworld, called Xibalba; the middle floor is the tree trunk, known as Middle World, home to humans and all their trappings; on the top floor, leaves and branches evoke the 13 heavens of the cosmic otherworld.

This gorgeous museum is laid out in a series of galleries around the cloister of the labyrinthine Ex-Convento de Santo Domingo. On the ground floor are temporary exhibits and a collection of antique books. On the second floor you'll find rooms dedicated to Oaxacan music, medicine, indigenous languages, and pottery. More than a dozen other salons have been organized chronologically.

Here you'll find such Monte Albán treasures as the stunning gold jewelry from Tomb 7.

Signage is in Spanish only, but English-language audio tours are available. Several lovely second-floor balconies have views of the botanical garden. The on-site shop has a wonderful collection of books, including coffee-table volumes on the art and architecture of Oaxaca. There are also plenty of maps and travel guides.

Erected by Carmelite friars with the help of an Indigenous chieftain between 1615 and 1628, this church—with its domes, frescoes, vaulted archways, fountains, and gardens—was never actually a convent, despite its name. Though some locals might tell you otherwise, nuns never actually lived here. The church still operates (you can enter it for free from a separate entrance next door), but part of the church complex has been converted into Museo del Carmen, with a fine collection of 16th- to 18th-century religious paintings and icons. Much of the religious art (along with a captivating collection of photos that depict San Ángel and the southern portions of the city during the early 20th century) is on the second floor of the adjoining Casa de Acueducto, which overlooks another courtyard fringed by an interesting ancient aqueduct. It's also worth visiting the dozen-or-so mummified corpses tucked away in the crypt—a creepy but fascinating sight, for sure. For a perhaps much-needed breath of fresh air, saunter out to the gracious rear garden, with its shady trees and benches. There's usually an excellent temporary exhibit as well, typically touching on some element of Mexico City history and culture.