The north of Mexico,
relatively speaking, is
dull, arid and sparsely
populated outside of a few
industrial cities - like
Monterrey
- which are heavily
American-influenced. The
Baja
California wilderness
has its devotees, the border
cities can be exciting in a
rather sleazy way, and there
are beach resorts on the
Pacific, but most of the
excitement lies in central
and southeastern Mexico.
It's in the highlands
north of and around the
capital that the first
really worthwhile stops
come, with the bulk of the
historic colonial towns and
an enticingly spring-like
climate year-round. Coming
through the heart of the
country, you'll pass the
silver-mining towns of Zacatecas
and Guanajuato , the
historic centres of San
Miguel de Allende and Querétaro
, and many smaller places
with a legacy of superb
colonial architecture. Mexico
City itself is a
nightmare of an urban
sprawl, but totally
fascinating, and in every
way - artistic, political,
cultural - the capital of
the nation. Around the city
lie the chief relics of the
pre-Hispanic cultures of
central Mexico - the massive
pyramids of Teotihuacán
; the main Toltec site at Tula
; and Tenochtitlan ,
heart of the Aztec empire,
in the capital itself. Guadalajara
, to the west, is a city on
a more human scale, capital
of the state of Jalisco
and in easy reach of Michoacán
: between them, these states
share some of the most
gently scenic country in
Mexico - thickly forested
hills, studded with lakes
and ancient villages - and a
reputation for producing
some of the finest crafts in
a country renowned for them.
South of the capital, the
states of Oaxaca and Chiapas
are mountainous and
beautiful, too, but in a far
wilder way. The city of Oaxaca
, especially, is one of the
most enticing destinations
in the country, with an
extraordinary mix of
colonial and indigenous
life, superb markets and
fascinating archeological
sites. Chiapas was
the centre of the Zapatista
uprising, though visitors
are little affected these
days, and the strength of
indigenous traditions in and
around the market town of San
Cristóbal de las Casas
, together with the
opening-Lip of a number of
lesser-known Maya cities,
continue to make it a big
travellers' centre. East
into the Yucatán
there is also traditional
indigenous life, side by
side with a tourist industry
based around the magnificent
Maya cities - Palenque,
Chichén Itzá and Uxmal
above all, but also scores
of others - and the
burgeoning new Caribbean
resorts that surround Cancún
. The capital, Mérida
, continues its provincial
life remarkably unaffected
by the crowds all around.
On the Pacific coast, Acapulco
is just the best known of
the destinations.
Northwards, big resorts like
Mazatlán and Puerto
Vallarta are
interspersed with hundreds
of miles of empty beaches;
to the south there is still
less development, and in the
state of Oaxaca are some
equally enticing shores. Few
tourists venture over to the
Gulf Coast, "despite
the attractions of Veracruz
and its mysterious ruins.
The scene is largely
dominated by oil, the
weather too humid most of
the time, and the beaches,
on the whole, a
disappointment.
