There is a little bit for everybody in Mexico:
There are many
resort beach areas, around the three seas that touch Mexico, such as Cancun, Cozumel, Isla Mujeres and the Mayan Riviera on the
Caribbean coast; Los Cabos, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco, Zihuatanejo or Puerto Escondido on the
Pacific coast and even some nice but undeveloped beaches near the port cities of Veracruz or Tampico in the
Gulf of Mexico. All of them include water sports and outdoor activities: fishing, snorkeling, scuba diving or kayaking are some of them.
There are many ancient
Mayan ruins and pyramids, such as Chichen Itza, Tulum or Uxmal on the Yucatan Peninsula. There are also many other ruins in or around central and southern Mexico, such as Teotihuacan, Monte Alban or The Tajin, belonging to other ancient civilizations such as the
Teotihuacans,
Zapotecs or
Olmecs.
There is a vibrant
night life in and around major cities, including discos, casinos, bars and restaurants on Cancun, Cozumel, Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara or Tijuana.
There are many beautiful
natural landmarks in Mexico, including the Copper Canyon or Barranca del Cobre in the state of Chihuahua, the Cañon del Sumidero in Chiapas or La Bufadora in Baja California, as well as many
national parks and
biologic reserves such as El Chico, La Malinche, El Vizcaino or El Cielo biosphere and natural reserves. You can go for outdoor biking, hiking or mountain climbing in many of these places.
All throughout Mexico you can look for their
culture and traditions, including
gastronomy - which has nothing to do, and is much tastier, than the 'Mexican food' you are accustomed to. There are also many
handcrafts you can find and take home such as the ponchos or zarapes, fashionable
huipil clothing, the all-too-famous Mexican sombreros, Oaxacan black pottery, Taxco silver jewelry, Chiapas amber jewelry or Zacatecan gold trinkets.
If you want to find out about the
history of Mexico, you should go to Mexico City, where you can find some of the largest repositories of Mexican memory, including the Castillo de Chapultepec Museum, the National Museum of Anthropology, the
Templo Mayor Aztec ruins and many other museums throughout Mexico City, such as Frida Kahlo's Museum,
Museo de Bellas Artes or Modern Arts Museum, which are devoted to the
arts.
There are of course, thousands of natural and man-made
landmarks throughout Mexico that you can visit, such as:
- The Monumento de la Independencia (Independence Monumenr) and Monumento a la Revolucion (Revolution Monument) in Mexico City.
- Forts of Loreto and Guadalupe, where the legendary Cinco de Mayo or Battle of Puebla took place.
- Many colonial downtowns in cities such as Guadalajara, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato or Queretaro.
- Former prison of San Juan de Ulua on the city and port of Veracruz.
- Cenote Dzitnup - underground water spring - on Valladolid.
- Sotano de las Golondrinas (Cave of the swallows) in San Luis Potosi.
- Velo de Novia waterfall in Chiapas, where the famous Predator (1987) movie was filmed.
- Cueva de los Cristales (Cave of the Chrystals) where out-of-this world giant selenite chrystals are found.
- Agua Azul Falls - Chain of powerful beautiful waterfalls located in the Chiapas rainforest. Water of the falls has bright blue color and is rich with lime. Lime is sedimented along the way of the falls, creating unusual natural sculptures and encasings for trees and other objects.
- Arbol del Tule. Located in the southern state of Oaxaca, this Montezuma cypress (Taxodium mucronatum) is one of the oldest trees in the world (1,400 - 1,600 years).
- Monarch butterfly wintering parks. Located in the western and central states of Michoacan and State of Mexico, there are twelve wintering habitats of the monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) with some trees covered with a thick layer of millions of butterflies.
- Coyuca Lagoon. Located on the northern outskirts of the resort city of Acapulco, it is a fresh water lagoon where people can enjoy a wide variety of aquatic activities such as snorkeling, yachting or fishing.
- The Land's End Arch, unique landmark of Cabo San Lucas on the Baja California Peninsula.