The landmarks and experiences travelers rate highest — with photos, ratings, and where to find them.
Zócalo is the common name of the main square in central Mexico City. Prior to the conquest by Spain, it was the main ceremonial center in the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan. The plaza used to be known simply as the Plaza Mayor or Plaza de Armas, and today its formal name is Plaza de la Constitución.
The Palacio de Bellas Artes is a prominent cultural center in Mexico City. It hosts performing arts events, literature events and plastic arts galleries and exhibitions. "Bellas Artes" for short, has been called the "art cathedral of Mexico", and is located on the western side of the historic center of Mexico City which is close to the Alameda Central park.
Colonia Villa de Guadalupe (also known as La Villa de Guadalupe Hidalgo) is a former separate town, now a neighborhood in northern Mexico City which, in 1531, was the site of the alleged apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the most renowned Marian apparition in the Americas. She is venerated in the Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine, located in the villa (town). The word Guadalupe comes from Spain, where it was originally the name of a river. La Villa de Guadalupe is located in Mexico City (formerly called the Mexican Federal District) within the borough of Gustavo A. Madero. The town was founded in 1563 and chartered as the city of "Villa de Guadalupe Hidalgo" in 1828. The city was named after Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, the initiator of the Mexican War of Independence. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) which ended the Mexican–American War was signed there.
Chichen Itza was a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya people of the Terminal Classic period. The archeological site is located in Tinúm Municipality, Yucatán, Mexico. Chichen Itza was a major focal point in the Northern Maya Lowlands from the Late Classic (c. 600–900 AD) through the Terminal Classic (c. 800–900 AD) and into the early portion of the Postclassic period (c. 900–1200 AD). The site exhibits a multitude of architectural styles, reminiscent of styles seen in central Mexico and of the Puuc and Chenes styles of the Northern Maya lowlands. The presence of central Mexican styles was once thought to have been representative of direct migration or even conquest from central Mexico, but most contemporary interpretations view the presence of these non-Maya styles more as the result of cultural diffusion. Chichen Itza was one of the largest Maya cities and it was likely to have been one of the mythical great cities, or Tollans, referred to in later Mesoamerican literature. The city may have had the most diverse population in the Maya world, a factor that could have contributed to the variety of architectural styles at the site. The ruins of Chichen Itza are federal property, and the site's stewardship is maintained by Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (National Institute of Anthropology and History, INAH). The land under the monuments had been privately owned until 29 March 2010, when it was purchased by the state of Yucatán. Chichen Itza is one of the most visited archeological sites in Mexico, with over 2.6 million tourists in 2017.
Xcaret Park (Spanish: Parque Xcaret; Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpaɾke ʃkaˈɾet]) is a privately owned and operated theme park, resort and self-described ecotourism development located in the Riviera Maya, a portion of the Caribbean coastline of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. It is part of Xcaret Experiencias Group which also owns the Xplor Park, Xel-Ha Park, and Xenses Park; as well as the Xichen, Xenotes, Xavage and Xoximilco tours and activities. It is situated approximately 75 kilometres (47 mi) south of Cancún, and 6.5 kilometres (4 mi) south of the nearest large settlement Playa del Carmen along Highway 307. It is named after the nearby archaeological site Xcaret, a settlement constructed by the pre-Columbian Maya some of whose structures lie within the boundaries of the park's 81 hectares (200 acres) of land holdings. From 2010 to 2015, Xcaret Experiencias has been recognized as one of The Best Mexican Companies (Las Mejores Empresas Mexicanas), a recognition promoted by Banamex, Deloitte México and Tecnológico de Monterrey.
The National Museum of Anthropology is a national museum of Mexico. It is the largest and most visited museum in Mexico. Located in the area between Paseo de la Reforma and Mahatma Gandhi Street within Chapultepec Park in Mexico City, which is a wide-open natural park and has a great history, because it was the place where Aztec emperors spent time. The museum contains significant archaeological and anthropological artifacts from Mexico's pre-Columbian heritage, such as the Stone of the Sun and the Aztec Xochipilli statue.
Chapultepec Castle is located on top of Chapultepec Hill in Mexico City's Chapultepec park. The name Chapultepec is the Nahuatl word chapoltepēc which means "on the hill of the grasshopper". It is located at the entrance to Chapultepec park, at a height of 2,325 metres (7,628 ft) above sea level.
The Museo Soumaya is a private museum in Mexico City and a non-profit cultural institution with two museum buildings in Mexico City — Plaza Carso and Plaza Loreto. It has over 66,000 works from 30 centuries of art including sculptures from Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica, 19th- and 20th-century Mexican art and an extensive repertoire of works by European old masters and masters of modern western art such as Auguste Rodin, Salvador Dalí, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo and Tintoretto. It is called one of the most complete collections of its kind.
Xplor Park (Spanish: Parque Xplor) is a theme park in Riviera Maya, Quintana Roo, Mexico, 75 kilometres (47 mi) south of Cancún and 6.5 kilometres (4 mi) south of Playa del Carmen, opening in July 2009. It features entertainment built into the landscape of the Yucatán Peninsula, including rivers and cenotes, and includes two zipline circuits. It is operated by Xcaret Experiencias Group, who also operate other theme parks in Mexico, including Xcaret Park, the Xel-Ha Park, and the Xenses Park. By 2017, 2.5 million people had visited, and in 2018 over 2,000 people per day rode the zip-line courses.
Akumal is a small beachfront tourist resort community in Mexico, 100 km (62 mi) south of Cancún, between the towns of Playa del Carmen and Tulum. It is on Akumal Bay and Half Moon Bay on the site of a former coconut plantation in Tulum Municipality in the state of Quintana Roo, and is part of the Riviera Maya area. The 2010 census showed a population of 1,310. Akumal is famous as a destination for snorkeling. Visitors can swim with endangered green sea turtles, which visit the bay to feed on sea grass. Snorkeling's popularity has put environmental pressure on the fragile habitat.
Photos from Wikimedia Commons, used under Creative Commons licenses. Individual credits shown on each photo where available.