843 Best Sights in Mexico

A riotously colorful and curious collection of some 45,000 toys, some dating back to the 19th century, fill this playful museum and ode to pop culture in the Doctores neighborhood. There's little rhyme or reason to the manner in which everything is arranged, other than, perhaps, the whimsical eye and sly sense of humor of the museum's founder, architect Roberto Shimizu Kinoshita. You'll find cases of Barbie dolls, model cars and planes, stuffed animals, dioramas, and tons of Lucha Libre and other elements of Mexican culture. The shop on the ground floor sells some very cool antique toys. The district is just a 15-minute walk east of Roma and although it is becoming safer and even an increasingly popular as a place to live, Doctores can be a bit dicey, especially at night or if you're walking alone. Consider taking an Uber.

The museum is named after Pantaleon Panduro, who's considered the father of modern ceramics in Jalisco. On display are prizewinning pieces from the museum's annual ceramics competition, held every June. It's possibly the best representation of modern Mexican pottery under a single roof. You can request an English-speaking guide.

A devoted collector of pre-Hispanic art, Diego Rivera built his own museum to house the more than 45,000 artifacts he collected over his lifetime—which, sadly, came to an end several years before this impressive volcanic-rock building with a design inspired by ancient Mexican pyramids was completed in 1964. The third-floor studio, with its massive wall of windows, displays sketches for some of Rivera's most celebrated murals. Be sure to make your way to the rooftop, which affords sweeping city and mountain views, especially if it's a clear day; look out for the museum's small adjacent nature reserve, which you can also walk through. During the weeks surrounding Día de Muertos, you can view a remarkable altar in honor of Rivera himself. Although located in the larger delegación of Coyoacán, the museum is in the neighborhood of San Pablo Tepetlapa, about a 15-minute Uber ride south of Coyoacán's historic center; it's also a short walk from the Nezahualpilli light rail station.

In Xochimilco, on the outskirts of the city, you'll find this superb collection of paintings by Frida Kahlo and the largest private collection of works by Diego Rivera. The museum was established by Dolores Olmedo, Rivera's lifelong model, patron, and onetime mistress. The lavish display of nearly 150 pieces from his cubist, postcubist, and mural periods hangs in a magnificent 17th-century hacienda with lovely gardens. Kahlo's paintings are in a separate, adjacent hall; the museum sometimes lends these for traveling exhibitions, so check ahead to ensure they're here if this is the main reason you're visiting. Concerts and entertainment for children are presented on many weekends, while gaggles of geese and strutting peacocks amble about the grounds, adding to the clamor. There is a lovely small café in a glassed-in gazebo, and a variety of compelling rotating exhibits are held in other buildings around the property. During the month of October, the museum presents one of the better Día de Muertos displays in the city. You can reach the museum by taking the metro to Tasqueña station, and then catching the light-rail to La Noria (not Xochimilco), which is a five- to seven-minute walk away. By car, it's about a 40- to 50-minute drive from El Centro, but many visitors combine a stop here with boating on the canals in Xochimilco or strolling around historic Tlalpan. Just note, however, that currently the museum has been closed since the pandemic; it's expected to reopen sometime in 2024, and visitors are advised to check the museum's Facebook page for updates. 

Casa Azul (Blue House), where the iconic artist was born in 1907 (not 1910, as she wanted people to believe) and died 47 years later, is both museum and shrine. Kahlo's astounding vitality and originality are reflected in the house itself, from the giant papier-mâché skeletons outside and the retablos (small religious paintings on tin) on the staircase to the gloriously decorated kitchen and the bric-a-brac in her bedroom. The house displays relatively few of Kahlo's original paintings, but you can admire her early sketches, diary entries, tiny outfits, and wheelchair at her easel, plus her four-poster bed fitted with a mirror above, and in a separate exhibit space across the garden, a collection of her dresses presented in the context of her physical disabilities. The relaxing garden also has a small but excellent gift shop and café.

The museum has become astoundingly popular in recent years and carefully limits ticket sales to avoid the house becoming too crowded at any given time. Tickets can only be purchased online. You can buy them from the museum website, but these tend to sell out quickly. If this happens, you can try buying tickets from a third-party tour site, such as  Tiqets.com,  GetYourGuide.com, or  Viator.com. You'll pay a surcharge, but these sites sometimes have tickets available on shorter notice, and they also sell tickets many weeks in advance, which the museum's official site does not. For all the hassle of buying tickets, it's worth the effort to visit this very special place, and once you're inside, you can explore at a leisurely pace (and be glad the museum is never allowed to become too crowded).

Located in a modern business district in Puebla's southwestern outskirts, a 15-minute drive from the city center, this striking white contemporary building with curving white-concrete walls facing a courtyard with a reflecting pool is arguably as famous for its architecture as for the collection within. Renowned Japanese architect Toyo Itō designed the museum, paying homage to Puebla's rich history of Baroque art and design, which traces back to the city's settlement by the Spanish in the 1530s. One exhibit that interprets this relationship with a particular flourish is an interactive scale-model of Puebla's Centro Histórico that lets you see just how many buildings have been influenced by this important movement that spanned the early 17th through the mid-18th centuries. Other galleries are devoted to Baroque paintings, classical music, literature, theater, and other disciplines. On the second level, a stylish restaurant continues the building's beautiful design and serves quite tasty contemporary Mexican cuisine.

Each one of Diego Rivera's Mexico City murals is equal parts aesthetic revelation and history lesson, offering large overviews of Mexican history, allegorical vignettes from daily life, or, in the case of the single mural on display at the Museo Mural Diego Rivera, a visual rolodex of important figures in the nation's history. That mural, Sueño de una Tarde Dominical en el Parque Alameda (Sunday Afternoon Dream in the Alameda Park), was originally painted on a lobby wall of the Hotel Del Prado in 1947–48 with the controversial inscription "God does not exist," which was later replaced with the bland "Conference of San Juan de Letrán" to placate Mexico's conservative Catholic elites. The 1985 earthquake destroyed the hotel but not the mural, and this small, laser-focused museum was built across the street to house it. Like most of Rivera's murals, this one serves a didactic purpose as well, providing a veritable who's who of Mexico's most important historical figures; their identities are helpfully outlined in English and Spanish on panels facing the painting.

Architect Pedro Ramírez Vázquez's outstanding design provides the proper home for one of the finest archaeological collections in the world. Each salon on the museum's two floors displays artifacts from a particular geographic region or culture. The collection is so extensive that you could easily spend days here, and even that might be barely adequate.

The 12 ground-floor rooms treat pre-Hispanic cultures by region, in the Sala Teotihuacána, Sala Tolteca, Sala Oaxaca (Zapotec and Mixtec peoples), and so on. Objects both precious and pedestrian, including statuary, jewelry, weapons, figurines, and pottery, evoke the intriguing, complex, and frequently warring civilizations that peopled Mesoamerica for the 3,000 years preceding the Spanish invasion. Other highlights include a copy of the Aztec ruler Moctezuma's feathered headdress; a stela from Tula, near Mexico City; massive Olmec heads from Veracruz; and vivid reproductions of Mayan murals in a reconstructed temple. Be sure to see the magnificent reconstruction of the tomb of 7th-century Mayan ruler Pakal, which was discovered in the ruins of Palenque. The nine rooms on the upper floor contain faithful ethnographic displays of current indigenous peoples, using maps, photographs, household objects, folk art, clothing, and religious articles.

Explanatory labels have been updated throughout, some with English translations, and free tours are available at set times from Tuesday through Saturday.

Surrounded by a park with mature trees and greenery, cannons, and a towering statue of General Anaya, this fascinating museum in San Diego Churubusco—a pleasant 15-minute walk east of Coyoacán's historic center—may just be the city's best museum you've never heard of. It's devoted to relating the surprisingly lengthy and storied history of Mexico's wars, dating from the 1810–21 War of Independence to the Mexican Revolution a century later. The exceptionally well-executed exhibits within the building's many galleries provide an impressive explanation of how exactly Mexico became, well, Mexico. But you don't need to be a history buff to appreciate the building, which occupies the former Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de Churubusco monastery, a glorious structure built in the late 1600s and converted into an ad-hoc military fort in 1847 during the Mexican-American War. In the exhibits, history is told through displays of uniforms, guns, flags, paintings, and other artifacts, including a diorama of the Battle of Churubusco and photos of Pershing's 1914 punitive expedition in search of the elusive Pancho Villa. The museum also contains a remarkable collection of original frescoes, religious paintings, and ex-votos from the building's period as a monastery. In addition, there's a tranquil community garden as well as galleries that host rotating shows. Part of the fun of touring the museum is observing the building's well-preserved sloping floors, beamed ceilings, fine tile work, and ancient arches.

Resting in the shadows of the Zona Arqueológica de Cholula, this engrossing museum inside a beautifully transformed 1910 psychiatric hospital has corridors connecting with the tunnels beneath the Great Pyramid. There are eight exhibit areas, each one touching on a different aspect of the region's art and history, including the nearby and quite active Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl volcanoes, Pueblan pottery and meticulously painted alebrijes folk art, and, of course, the fascinating history of the pyramids. It's a pleasure walking through this extensive property's tree-shaded pathways and landscaped grounds. The outstanding gift shop, which is filled with interesting books and artwork, is set inside a contemporary structure with a curving roof and glass walls.

On the southeast side of Plaza de Armas, you'll find this fascinating museum that reopened following a massive renovation that was needed after the building was badly damaged in the major earthquake that struck the region in 2017. Prior to that, the building was named Museo Regional Cuauhnáhuac, but it's also known as the Palacio de Cortés. The fortresslike building was constructed as a stronghold for Hernán Cortés in 1522, as the region had not been completely conquered at that time. His palace sits atop the ruins of Aztec buildings, some of which have been partially excavated. There are plenty of stone carvings from the area on display among the 19 exhibit galleries, with a highlight being the murals Diego Rivera painted between 1927 and 1930 on the second floor, depicting the history of Morelos.

This elegant 17th-century Franciscan monastery displays pre-Hispanic and indigenous artifacts from cultures of the region plus rooms dedicated to the colonial history of Querétaro and the general history of Mexico. There are early copies of the Mexican Constitution and the table on which the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed.

One of Mexico City's most well-known architectural icons, Museo Soumaya houses the valuable art collection of billionaire philanthropist Carlos Slim, as well as visiting exhibitions. The museum's Plaza Carso branch sits just beyond the edge of Polanco and contains sculptures by Rodin and Dalí and paintings from old masters to modernists and impressionists, including works from the likes of Leonardo da Vinci, El Greco, Tintoretto, Monet, and Picasso. But there are also many Mexican artists represented, including Diego Rivera. Each floor of the museum has a different layout, and you walk along curving ramps (not unlike those in the Guggenheim Museum in New York City) to get from one floor to another. Designed by the Mexican architect Fernando Romero, Slim's son-in-law, the $70 million building has a shape some have likened to a silver cloud, and is covered by thousands of hexagonal aluminum tiles.

Within its modernist shell, the sleek Rufino Tamayo Contemporary Art Museum contains paintings by noted Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo as well as temporary exhibitions of international contemporary art. The selections from Tamayo's personal collection, which he donated to the Mexican people, form the basis for the museum's permanent collection and demonstrate his unerring eye for great art; he owned works by Picasso, Joan Miró, René Magritte, Francis Bacon, and Henry Moore. 

Although this gleaming, expansive contemporary art museum on the campus of UNAM—in the same cluster of buildings that make up the university's cultural center—has no permanent installation, the several gallery spaces, some intimate and some enormous, are staged with exceptional changing shows throughout the year. Additionally, parts of the university's extensive collection are shown at different times. MUAC is on par with any of the city's contemporary art museums, partly thanks to the gorgeous, angular design of noted architect Teodoro González de Leon, who also designed Reforma 222, Torre Manacar, and—in collaboration—Museo Rufino Tamayo (which bears a resemblance to MUAC). The glass facade rises at a sharp angle over a long reflecting pool, facing a broad courtyard that leads to the cultural center's performance venues. A long curving window in the back of the building looks out over the volcanic landscape on which the museum and the university are built, and a grand, freestanding staircase leads to a lower-level museum restaurant (the food is fine, if not spectacular, but the space is beautiful) and some additional galleries as well as a lecture hall. There are usually five or six shows taking place at any given time, and these rotate two or three times per year. Past shows have been devoted to works by Ai Weiwei, Zaha Hadid, Anish Kapoor, Lawrence Abu Hamdan, and Pola Weiss. The museum shop is also superb and carries a number of reasonably priced household items.

Kids and adults alike enjoy wandering through the galleries, gardens, and animal enclosures of this offbeat natural history museum that's devoted to the region's remarkable biodiversity and incredible vast array of bichos, or critters. Insects, spiders, butterflies, scorpions, snakes, turtles, and lizards native to the area take center stage here, where you'll have the chance to actually touch and maybe even hold many creatures (at least the ones that don't pose any threat). There's also a well-tended botanical garden, a very cool shop that sells all sorts of dried animal specimens as well as cacti and other plants, and a terrace café serving light snacks (some of them made with insects) and refreshments. Be sure to try a "bichelada," the museum's version of a michelada---the rim of the glass is coated with sal de chapulines (grasshopper salt). 

No foreigner had as much of an impact on San Cristóbal as did the European owners of this famous home-turned-library-museum-restaurant-hotel, and now the city's best-known sight. Built as a seminary in 1891, the handsome 22-room house was purchased by Frans and Gertrude (Trudi) Blom in 1950. He was a Danish archaeologist, she a Swiss social activist; together they created the Institute for Ethnological and Ecological Advocacy, which carries on today. It got its name, Na Bolom (House of the Jaguar), from the Lacandón Maya with whom Trudi worked: Blom sounds like the Mayan word for jaguar. Both Frans and Trudi were great friends of the indigenous Lacandón, whose way of life they documented. Their institute is also dedicated to reforestation.

Both Bloms are deceased, but Na Bolom showcases their small collection of religious treasures. Also on display are findings from the Classic Mayan site of Moxviquil (pronounced mosh-vee-keel), on the outskirts of San Cristóbal, and objects from the daily life of the Lacandón. Trudi's bedroom contains her jewelry, collection of indigenous crafts, and wardrobe of embroidered dresses. A research library holds more than 10,000 volumes on Chiapas and the Maya. Tours are conducted daily in English and Spanish at 11:30 and 4:30.

Across from the museum, the Jardín del Jaguar (Jaguar Garden) store sells crafts and souvenirs. Look for the thatch hut, a replica of local Chiapan architecture. It consists of a mass of woven palm fronds tied to branches, with walls and windows of wooden slats, and high ceilings that allow the heat to rise. The shop here sells Lacandón crafts, as well as black-and-white photos taken by Trudi.

Revenue from Na Bolom supports the work of the institute. You can arrange for a meal at Na Bolom even if you don't stay at the hotel (accommodations here are quite basic). In addition, the staff is well connected within San Cristóbal and can arrange tours to artisans' co-ops, villages, and nature reserves that are off the beaten path.

Of all the monumental structures in Mexico City's city center, there is probably none more iconic than the Palacio Bellas Arts, with its orange dome, its elaborate belle epoque facade, and its magnificent interior murals. Construction on this colossal white-marble opera house began in 1904 under the direction of the Europhilic dictator Porfirio Díaz. The striking structure is the work of Italian architect Adamo Boari, who also designed the city's post office; pre-Hispanic motifs trim the facade, which leans toward the opulence of the belle epoque while also curiously hinting at the pared-down art deco style that would take hold in the Mexican capital in just a few years. The beginning of the Revolution in 1910 brought construction to a halt and threw the country into economic turmoil for a decade. By the time construction commenced again, the political, economic, and aesthetic world of Mexico had changed dramatically, resulting in an interior clad in red, black, and pink marble quarried in Mexico (the white exterior is from Carrara, Italy) and clear, straight lines that complement the murals by the great Mexican triumvirate of Siqueiros, Orozco, and Rivera, which you can visit for a fee. There are interesting temporary art exhibitions as well, plus an elegant cafeteria and a bookshop with a great selection of art books and magazines.

Palacio Bellas Artes is also home to the Museum of the Palace of Fine Arts, the National Architecture Museum, Ballet Folklorico, the National Opera Company, and many other cultural offerings.

The center of government in Mexico City since the time of the Mexica (aka Aztecs), Palacio Nacional's long, volcanic stone facade is both a symbol of political power and a staging ground for acts of resistance. Construction of the national palace was initiated by Cortés on the site of Moctezuma II's royal residence and remodeled by the viceroys. Its current form dates from 1693, although its third floor was added in 1926. If it's open to the public, the entire building is worth a look, even just for the novel experience of wandering freely through an influential nation's primary seat of government, but most visitors come for Diego Rivera's sweeping murals on the second floor of the main courtyard. For more than 20 years, starting in 1929, Rivera and his assistants mounted scaffolds day and night, perfecting techniques adapted from Renaissance Italy's frescoes. The result is nearly 1,200 square feet of vividly painted wall space, titled Epica del Pueblo Mexicano en su Lucha por la Libertad y la Independencia (Epic of the Mexican People in Their Struggle for Freedom and Independence). The paintings represent two millennia of Mexican history, filtered through Rivera's imagination; only a few vignettes acknowledge the more violent elements of some pre-Hispanic societies. As you walk around, you'll pass images of the savagery of the conquest and the hypocrisy of the Spanish priests, the noble independence movement, and the bloody revolution. Marx appears amid scenes of class struggle, toiling workers, industrialization (which Rivera idealized), bourgeois decadence, and nuclear holocaust. These are among Rivera's finest works—as well as the most accessible and probably the most visited. The palace also houses a minor museum that focuses on 19th-century president Benito Juárez and the Mexican Congress. Other exhibition spaces house rotating, and sometimes quite extraordinary, exhibitions, typically advertised on a large billboard in the Zócalo.

The liberty bell rung by Padre Hidalgo to proclaim independence in 1810 hangs high on the central facade. It chimes every eve of September 16, while from the balcony the president repeats "El Grito," the historic shout of independence, to throngs of citizens below.

The Palacio Nacional has historically been open to visitors, but the administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrado changed this and private tours are currently not allowed. This is likely to change with the next presidential election in June 2024.

Mexico City's main post office building, designed by Italian architect Adamo Boari and Mexican engineer Gonzalo Garita, is a fine example of Renaissance Revival architecture. Constructed of cream-color sandstone from Teayo, Puebla, and Carrara, Italy, it epitomizes the grand Eurocentric architecture common in Mexico during the Porfiriato—the long dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz (1876–1911). For many, it's one of Mexico's most splendid buildings. Tours in Spanish are available and can be booked on their website. 

Palenque is enormous and you could spend weeks exploring it all. The most stunning (and most visited) sights are around the Palacio and give a good overview, but if you have the stamina, it's worth winding your way up to the Northeastern Group, which is often deserted. Try to get here early when it's cooler as there may still be some clinging mist. Templo de la Calavera. As you enter the site, the first temple on your right is the reconstructed Temple of the Skull. A stucco relief, presumed to be in the shape of a rabbit or deer skull, was found at the entrance to the temple. It now sits at the top of the stairs. Like the rest of the buildings, the Templo de la Calavera is unadorned stone. When it was built, however, it was painted vivid shades of red and blue. Templo de las Inscripciones. At the eastern end of the cluster is this massive temple dedicated to Pakal. The temple's nine tiers correspond to the nine lords of the underworld. Atop this temple and the smaller ones surrounding it are vestiges of roof combs—delicate vertical extensions that are standard features of southern Mayan cities. You can descend the steep, damp flight of stairs to view the king's tomb. One of the first crypts found inside a Mexican pyramid, it contains a stone tube in the shape of a snake through which Pakal's soul was thought to have passed to the netherworld. The intricately carved sarcophagus lid weighs some 5 tons and measures 10 feet by 7 feet. It can be difficult to make out the carvings on the thick slab, but they depict the ruler, prostrate beneath a sacred ceiba tree. There's a reproduction in the site museum. To enter the Templo de las Inscripciones, you must obtain a permit first thing in the morning at the museum. Templo XIII. If you can't secure a permit to enter the Templo de las Inscripciones, you can always visit the unassuming Templo XIII. Attached to the Temple of the Inscriptions, this structure has a royal tomb hidden in its depths, the Tumba de la Reina Roja (Tomb of the Red Queen). The sarcophagus, colored with cinnabar, probably belonged to Pakal's wife or mother. Palacio. The smaller buildings inside the breathtaking Palacio are supported by 30-foot-high pillars. Stuccowork adorns the pillars of the galleries as well as the inner courtyards. Most of the numerous freizes inside depict Pakal and his dynasty. The palace's iconic tower was built on three levels, thought to represent the three levels of the universe as well as the movement of the stars. Río Otulum. To the east of the palace is the tiny Río Otulum, which in ancient times was covered over to form a 9-foot-high vaulted aqueduct. Cross the river and climb up 80 easy steps to arrive at the reconstructed Grupo de los Cruces. It contains the Templo del la Cruz Foliada (Temple of the Foliated Cross), Templo del Sol (Temple of the Sun), and the Templo de la Cruz (Temple of the Cross), the largest of the group. Inside the nearby Templo XIV, there's an underworld scene in stucco relief, finished 260 days after Pakal's death. The most exquisite roof combs are also on these buildings. Templo XIX. This temple has yielded some exciting finds, including a large sculpted stucco panel, a carved stone platform with hundreds of hieroglyphics, and a limestone table (in pieces but now restored) depicting the ruler K'inich Ahkal Mo' Nahb' III. The latter is on display in the site museum. Templo XX. Ground-penetrating radar helped locate a frescoed tomb covered in murals. Both temples are still being excavated and are only sporadically open to the public. To reach the cluster called the Grupo Norte (Northern Group), walk north along the river, passing on your left the Palacio and the unexcavated Ball Court. There are five buildings here in various states of disrepair; the best preserved is the Templo del Conde (Temple of the Court). A short hike northeast of the Grupo Norte lies Grupo C (Group C), an area containing remains of the homes of nobles and a few small temples shrouded in jungle. To maintain the natural setting in which the ruins were found, minimal restoration has been done. Human burials, funeral offerings, and kitchen utensils have been found here as well as in Grupo B (Group B), which lies farther along the path through the jungle. On the way, you'll pass a small waterfall and pool called El Baño de la Reina (The Queen's Bath). By far the most interesting of these seldom-visited ruins is the Grupo de los Murciélagos (Group of the Bats). Dark, twisting corridors beneath the ruins are ready to be explored. Just be aware that you might run into a few of the creatures that gave the buildings their names. A path from the Grupo del los Murciélagos leads over a short extension bridge to the Museum. You can also reach it by car or colectivo, as it's along the same road you took to the entrance. The museum has a remarkable stucco rendering of Mayan deities in elaborate zoomorphic headdresses, which was discovered in front of the Temple of the Foliated Cross. Also noteworthy are the handsome, naturalistic faces of Maya men that once graced the facades. Displays here and in the rest of the site are labeled in English, Spanish, and the Mayan dialect called Chol. There's also a snack bar and a crafts store.

Tuxtla’s Central Park (more plaza than park) shades in comparison to this one-block expanse a few blocks west of the city, especially as a gathering place. The lush vegetation makes the park a pleasant spot to catch a break from the daytime heat of Tuxtla but it really comes to life in the evenings from 6 to 9 when—per its name—live marimba music can be heard in the park’s gazebo. Grab a spot on one of the green wrought-iron park benches to watch the performance. Plenty of couples get up to dance, a few in chiapaneco folk costume; feel free to join in if the music so moves you. Children play. Vendors sell food and balloons. The spectacle makes for one of those quintessential tropical Mexican evenings, and it's all free.

Condesa's other green lung, the 22-acre Parque México lies just southeast of its slightly smaller and slightly older sister, Parque España. Among its many enchanting features, you'll find a gracious duck pond, a large children's playground, fountains, a strikingly ornate art deco iron clocktower, and dozens of footpaths passing by emerald gardens, topiary shrubs, and towering specimen trees. The park was constructed in 1927 on the site of a former racetrack, which explains the circular road, Avenida México, looping its perimeter and the name of the colonia in which its officially located, Hipódromo (hippodrome) Condesa. The park is lined with handsome buildings, including some of the best examples of art deco in the city. Dozens of cafés, taquerias, and bars are within a couple of blocks of the park, making it a great spot to enjoy a casual bite to eat.

At this 27 3/4-square-mile national park, a 20,000-year-old coral reef has been legally protected since 1995 and is home to more than 2,000 different kinds of marine invertebrates—as well as more than 800 species of marine life, from mantas and giant sea turtles to dolphins and sea lions, and most famously, bull sharks, who divers can get face-to-face with year-round. The park comprises both land and sea, and is renowned among diving aficionados for its eight fingers of hard coral reef, plus its immense abundance of colorful tropical fish. The best months to visit are August, September, and October, when visibility is highest. The park isn't difficult to access. Head southwest from La Ribera and it's just 8 km (5 miles) from the end of the paved road; it's bordered by Playa Las Barracas in the north and Bahía Los Frailes to the south. It can also be reached by the dirt road running along the coast from San José del Cabo. It'll take you two hours or more this way, but the coast along this route is unmatched. (Though, if it's raining, stick to the paved route.) Dive centers line Cabo Pulmo's main street, leading to the beach, all of whom offer dive trips and snorkeling tours, full gear rentals, and more.

The air is rare in this stunning alpine preserve, which in 1917 was declared Mexico's first national park. The 4,600-acre oasis of mostly conifer forest (with significant stands of oak trees as well) ranges in elevation between 2,600 meters (8,530 feet) and 3,700 meters (12,140 feet), and when you're scampering along the trails and beside the babbling brooks that lace this verdant wonderland, it's hard to believe that you're still completely within Mexico City limits (albeit close to the border with Estado de México). If the name had you picturing a vast arid plain of savage wild cats, note that "Desierto" is a reference to the distance from civilization, and while "leones" reportedly does relate to the one-time prevalence of wild critters living in the area, there were never any true lions out here, of course. The area was settled in 1606 by the Spaniards, who constructed a Carmelite convent nestled amid the pines. Now the focal point of the park and a must for any visitor, the current Ex-Convento del Desierto de los Leones—with its curving domes, high walls, and cloistered courtyards—was constructed in 1814, long after its predecessor had deteriorated through gradual weathering and wear. After exploring the ex-convent and the huge forest sanctuary behind it, stroll around the immediate grounds, where you'll find a number of crafts and food vendors as well as a colorful little restaurant with table service, El Leon Dorado. The park lies 20 km (12 miles) southwest of the city center, and just 10 km (6 miles) beyond the modern commercial district of Santa Fe, at the junction of the 134 and 57 federal highways.

Mexico's largest caverns are located within this 4,000-acre national park about 30 km (19 miles) northeast of Taxco. Guides (it's usually possible to arrange for one who speaks English) lead visitors along a 2 km (1 mile) illuminated walkway with fascinating limestone geological formations that ranks among the world's largest networks of caverns. A tour takes around two hours, after which you're free to spend more time on your own exploring. The road from Taxco is steep and winding but well-maintained and quite beautiful---it's also possible to visit the caverns as a side trip from Cuernavaca or Malinalco. If you don't have a car, it's easy to find taxis willing to make the trip here from any of these cities, and several tour operators also offer trips to Taxco that include an excursion to the caves.

Giant stone heads and other carvings were salvaged from the oil fields at La Venta, on Tabasco's western edge near the state of Veracruz. They're on display in the 20-acre Parque-Museo La Venta, a lush park founded by Carlos Pellicer Cámara in 1958. The views of the misty Lago de las Ilusiones (Lake of Illusions) are stirring, which is probably why young lovers come here to smooch in quiet corners. The 6-foot-tall stone heads, which have bold features and wear what look like helmets, weigh up to 20 tons. The park also contains a zoo displaying animals from Tabasco and neighboring states. The jaguars—including one that is jet-black—always elicit screams from children. Sadly, many of the animals housed here are in danger of extinction.

This church has dominated the town's Plaza Borda since the 18th century, and throughout the Spanish colonial era, it was Mexico's tallest structure. Usually just called Santa Prisca, it was built by French silver magnate José de la Borda after he literally stumbled upon a rich silver vein, although the expense nearly bankrupted him. According to legend, first-century Christian martyr St. Prisca appeared to workers during a storm and prevented a wall of the church from tumbling. Soon after, the church was named in her honor. The style of the church—a sort of Spanish baroque known as churrigueresque—and its pale pink exterior have made it Taxco's most important landmark. Its facade, naves, and bovedas (vaulted ceilings), as well as important paintings by Mexican Juan Cabrera, are slowly being restored. A soft light illuminates the church each night until midnight. Around Plaza Borda are several neverías where you can treat yourself to ice cream in such unique flavors as tequila, corn, avocado, and burnt-milk. Currently the church is undergoing renovations, and its twin spires and much of the exterior are cloaked in scaffolding; it'll likely be the end of 2024 or sometime in 2025 when you'll again be able to take clear photos of the spectacular facade.