2 Best Sights in Veracruz, Mexico

Avenida Juárez leads to Parque Reforma, where more than 100 tables are set beneath trees clipped into perfect cubes. As the sun goes down, noisy birds roost here and young couples buy ice cream from carts or slip off to secluded benches. The park has a memorial to Fausto Vega Santander, a member of the 201st Squadron of the Mexican Air Force and the first Mexican to be killed in combat during World War II.

Also known as the Plaza de Armas, this square has distinctive portales (colonnades) and bells that compete for your attention. The hands-down winners are the deafening chimes of the Catedral de Nuestra Senora de la Asunción, which sits on the square's southwest corner. It dates from 1721. The runners-up are the bells of the 1635 Palacio Municipal, which have a fainter but no less insistent tune. The tower originally did double duty as a lighthouse.