Find places in Mexico

Must-Haves

• Museo Nacional de Antropología (Bosque de Chapultepec)
  The finest collection of pre-Hispanic art in the Americas, including the Aztec Sun Stone.
• Museo Frida Kahlo (Coyoacán)
  The Blue House where Frida Kahlo was born and lived, best booked online well ahead.
• Palacio de Bellas Artes (Centro Histórico)
  A marble and art deco landmark with murals by Rivera and Siqueiros and the Ballet Folklórico on stage.

Off the Beaten Path

• Museo Anahuacalli (Coyoacán)
  Diego Rivera's volcanic stone temple to his pre-Hispanic collection, far from the crowds.

Must-Haves

• Zócalo and Templo Mayor (Centro Histórico)
  The vast main square beside the excavated ruins of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan.
• Teotihuacán (Estado de México)
  The Pyramids of the Sun and Moon, an easy day trip from the capital, best at opening time.

Fun for Everyone

• Xochimilco trajineras (Xochimilco)
  Colourful flat boats drift along ancient canals with mariachis and food boats alongside.
• Arena México lucha libre (Doctores)
  Masked wrestlers, roaring crowds and pure theatre on fight nights.

Fun for Everyone

• Bosque de Chapultepec (Miguel Hidalgo)
  A huge city park with a hilltop castle, lakes and several of the best museums.

Must-Haves

• Taquería El Califa de León (San Rafael)
  A tiny counter famed for its simple, perfect gaonera steak tacos.

Low Cost and Authentic

• El Huequito (Centro Histórico)
  A long-running spot for tacos al pastor carved from the spit.

Great for Date Night

• Contramar (Roma Norte)
  A buzzing long-lunch seafood favourite, known for its red and green grilled fish.
• Rosetta (Roma Norte)
  Elegant Mexican cooking in a romantic old mansion, with a much-loved bakery nearby.

Must-Haves

• Panadería Rosetta (Roma Norte)
  The guava and cheese roll and the cardamom bun are worth the queue.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Café de Tacuba (Centro Histórico)
  A grand old café dining room serving Mexican breakfasts and hot chocolate since the early 1900s.

Must-Haves

• Bar La Ópera (Centro Histórico)
  An ornate old cantina where, legend says, Pancho Villa shot a hole in the ceiling.

Great for Date Night

• Licorería Limantour (Roma Norte)
  A lively cocktail bar that put the city on the world drinks map.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Mercado de San Juan (Centro Histórico)
  A food market for adventurous eaters, with exotic meats, cheeses and stalls to taste at.

Off the Beaten Path

• La Ciudadela crafts market (Centro)
  Crafts from across the country under one roof, good for gifts before you fly home.

Must-Haves

• Día de Muertos parade (Paseo de la Reforma)
  A huge parade of skeletons, floats and marigolds in the days before 2 November.

Must-Haves

• Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzmán (Centro)
  A dazzling gold baroque church beside the city's cultural museum and ethnobotanical garden.
• Museo de las Culturas de Oaxaca (Centro)
  Set in the former convent of Santo Domingo, with treasures from Monte Albán.

Off the Beaten Path

• Jardín Etnobotánico de Oaxaca (Centro)
  A walled garden of native plants seen only on guided tours.

Must-Haves

• Hierve el Agua (San Isidro Roaguía)
  Mineral springs that look like frozen waterfalls, with pools on the cliff edge.

Fun for Everyone

• Árbol del Tule (Santa María del Tule)
  A cypress with one of the widest trunks in the world, in a village churchyard.

Must-Haves

• Monte Albán (Valles Centrales)
  The Zapotec hilltop city with sweeping views over the three valleys.

Off the Beaten Path

• Mitla archaeological site (Mitla)
  Zapotec ruins known for their intricate stone mosaics.

Must-Haves

• Mercado 20 de Noviembre (Centro)
  Choose your meat in the smoky grill hall and eat it with tortillas and salsa.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Mercado Benito Juárez (Centro)
  Chocolate, chapulines, mezcal and every chilli you can name.

Off the Beaten Path

• Tlacolula Sunday market (Tlacolula de Matamoros)
  One of the oldest and liveliest weekly markets in the valleys.
• San Bartolo Coyotepec (Valles Centrales)
  The village of black clay pottery, with family workshops to visit.
• Teotitlán del Valle (Valles Centrales)
  Zapotec weaving village where families dye wool with natural colours.

Great for Date Night

• Casa Oaxaca (Centro)
  Chef Alejandro Ruiz's modern Oaxacan cooking with a terrace view of Santo Domingo.

Must-Haves

• Criollo (Centro)
  A celebrated tasting menu restaurant in a calm courtyard.

Must-Haves

• Mayordomo (Centro)
  The famous chocolate mill where you can watch cacao being ground and drink it hot.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Boulenc (Centro)
  A beloved bakery and café with sourdough and generous breakfasts.

Must-Haves

• Mezcaloteca (Centro)
  A tasting room that explains small batch mezcal by producer and agave.

Great for Date Night

• In Situ (Centro)
  A huge mezcal library and a friendly place to learn the difference between agaves.

Must-Haves

• Guelaguetza (Cerro del Fortín)
  The July festival of dance and music from Oaxaca's regions.

Must-Haves

• Paseo de Montejo (Centro)
  A grand boulevard of mansions built in the henequen boom.
• Chichén Itzá (Tinum)
  The great Maya city and its pyramid of El Castillo, best at opening time.
• Uxmal (Ruta Puuc)
  Elegant Puuc style ruins and the rounded Pyramid of the Magician.

Off the Beaten Path

• Izamal (Izamal)
  The yellow town, with a vast convent and pyramids in the streets.
• Valladolid (Valladolid)
  A colourful colonial town with a cenote right in the centre.

Must-Haves

• Gran Museo del Mundo Maya (Norte)
  A modern museum that brings Maya history and life to life.

Off the Beaten Path

• Casa de Montejo (Plaza Grande)
  A conquistador's house with a striking carved façade, now a free museum.

Fun for Everyone

• Cenotes de Cuzamá (Cuzamá)
  Underground swimming holes reached by horse drawn cart on old rail tracks.

Off the Beaten Path

• Celestún (Celestún)
  Boat trips to see flamingos in a coastal biosphere reserve.
• Ek Balam (Temozón)
  Ruins with a remarkably preserved stucco jaguar mouth and a nearby cenote.

Must-Haves

• Las Coloradas (Río Lagartos)
  Pink salt lagoons near flamingo flats on the north coast.

Must-Haves

• La Chaya Maya (Centro)
  A classic place to try cochinita pibil, sopa de lima and papadzules.

Great for Date Night

• Manjar Blanco (Centro)
  Home style Yucatecan food in a pretty colonial house.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Mercado Lucas de Gálvez (Centro)
  The city's main market, with cheap breakfasts of panuchos and salbutes.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Marquesitas on Plaza Grande (Centro)
  Crisp rolled crêpes with cheese, a favourite evening snack.

Great for Date Night

• La Negrita (Centro)
  A lively old cantina with live son and salsa in the afternoons.

Great for Date Night

• Hacienda Temozón (Ruta Puuc)
  A restored henequen hacienda turned quiet country hotel.

Must-Haves

• Isla Mujeres (Isla Mujeres)
  A short ferry to a laid back island with the calm, clear Playa Norte.
• Isla Contoy (Isla Contoy)
  A protected bird island with limited daily visitors.

Off the Beaten Path

• Isla Holbox (Holbox)
  A car free island for whale sharks in season and bioluminescent beaches.

Fun for Everyone

• Playa Delfines (Zona Hotelera)
  A wide public beach with the famous Cancún sign.
• Cenote Azul (Riviera Maya)
  An open air swimming cenote that is good for families.

Off the Beaten Path

• MUSA underwater museum (Isla Mujeres)
  Hundreds of sculptures on the seabed, seen by snorkel or dive.

Must-Haves

• Museo Maya de Cancún (Zona Hotelera)
  A good museum with ruins in its grounds, a calm break from the beach.
• Cobá (Cobá)
  Jungle ruins you explore by bike, with the tall Nohoch Mul pyramid.

Fun for Everyone

• Xcaret (Playa del Carmen)
  A big eco park with underground rivers and an evening show of Mexican history.
• Puerto Morelos reef (Puerto Morelos)
  Snorkel a protected reef from a quiet fishing village.

Off the Beaten Path

• Playa del Carmen Quinta Avenida (Playa del Carmen)
  A pedestrian street for strolling, eating and people watching.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Parque de las Palapas (Centro)
  Evening food stalls with marquesitas, tacos and families.
• Mercado 28 (Centro)
  Souvenir stalls and simple local restaurants in downtown Cancún.

Great for Date Night

• La Habichuela (Centro)
  A garden restaurant with Caribbean and Mexican dishes.

Off the Beaten Path

• Taquería El Fogón (Playa del Carmen)
  Busy, cheap taquería beloved for its al pastor.

Fun for Everyone

• Coco Bongo (Zona Hotelera)
  A huge party show club with acrobats and live tribute acts.

Must-Haves

• Tulum archaeological site (Tulum)
  Maya ruins on a cliff above a turquoise sea, best at opening time.

Fun for Everyone

• Akumal Bay (Akumal)
  Snorkel with sea turtles over seagrass, with authorised guides.
• Cenote Calavera (Tulum)
  A small cenote where you jump in through holes in the rock.

Must-Haves

• Gran Cenote (Tulum)
  A clear cenote with caves, turtles and snorkelling through the rocks.
• Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve (Sian Ka'an)
  Lagoons, mangroves and dolphins in a vast protected area.

Fun for Everyone

• Cenote Dos Ojos (Tulum)
  Two linked cenotes famous for snorkelling and cave diving.

Off the Beaten Path

• Laguna Kaan Luum (Tulum)
  A turquoise lagoon with a deep dark sinkhole at its centre.
• Bacalar Lagoon (Bacalar)
  The lagoon of seven colours, a calm few hours south.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Antojitos La Chiapaneca (Tulum Pueblo)
  Cheap, busy tacos al pastor in the town centre.
• Taquería Honorio (Tulum Pueblo)
  Yucatecan breakfast tacos of cochinita and lechón.

Great for Date Night

• Hartwood (Zona Hotelera)
  Wood fired cooking under the stars in the beach jungle.
• Arca (Zona Hotelera)
  Creative Mexican cooking over an open fire.

Great for Date Night

• Batey (Tulum Pueblo)
  A lively bar with live music and mojitos made with sugar cane pressed in an old VW Beetle.

Off the Beaten Path

• Muyil (Sian Ka'an)
  Quiet Maya ruins on the edge of the reserve, with a float down a canal.

Great for Date Night

• Azulik (Zona Hotelera)
  Treehouse style villas built from wood and vines above the beach.

Must-Haves

• Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel (Centro)
  The pink neo Gothic church that is the symbol of the town.

Off the Beaten Path

• Santuario de Atotonilco (Atotonilco)
  A UNESCO listed sanctuary covered in murals, called Mexico's Sistine Chapel.

Must-Haves

• El Jardín (Centro)
  The main square, the place to sit and watch the town go by.
• Guanajuato (Guanajuato)
  A colourful university city of tunnels and alleys, an easy day trip.

Off the Beaten Path

• Cañada de la Virgen (San Miguel de Allende)
  An Otomí pyramid site in a quiet valley, by guided visit.
• Dolores Hidalgo (Dolores Hidalgo)
  Birthplace of Mexican independence, famous for odd ice cream flavours.

Must-Haves

• El Charco del Ingenio (San Miguel de Allende)
  A botanical garden and canyon reserve on the edge of town.

Fun for Everyone

• La Gruta hot springs (Carretera a Dolores)
  Thermal pools and a warm grotto for a relaxed day.

Must-Haves

• Fábrica La Aurora (Aurora)
  An old textile mill turned art and design centre.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Mercado de Artesanías (Centro)
  A lane of stalls with tin work, glass and textiles.

Great for Date Night

• The Restaurant (Centro)
  A courtyard restaurant with creative cooking.
• Áperi (Centro)
  Inventive tasting menus in Dos Casas hotel.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Mercado Ignacio Ramírez (Centro)
  A local market for fruit, juice and cheap comida corrida.

Must-Haves

• Lavanda Café (Centro)
  A favourite for coffee and breakfast, with a queue to prove it.

Great for Date Night

• Bekeb (Centro)
  A rooftop cocktail bar using Mexican spirits and botanicals.

Fun for Everyone

• Mama Mía (Centro)
  Live music in a courtyard bar with several rooms.

Must-Haves

• Fiesta de San Miguel Arcángel (Centro)
  The September festival with fireworks, dancers and processions.

Fun for Everyone

• Callejoneadas in Guanajuato (Guanajuato)
  Student minstrels lead singing walks through the alleys at night.

Great for Date Night

• Rosewood San Miguel de Allende (Centro)
  A luxury hotel with a rooftop bar overlooking the Parroquia.

Must-Haves

• Casa de Sierra Nevada (Centro)
  A collection of colonial houses turned into a historic hotel.