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Highlights
Mexico City
Mexico City is one of the world's largest cities. This expansive city of approximately 20 million people and over a mile high is built on the ruins of Tenochtitlan, the ancient Aztec capital. Reminders of past civilization pervade the city, particularly at the Templo Mayor excavation and Anthropological Museum at Chapultepec Park. Mexico City, called D. F. (for Distrito Federal; Federal District) or simply Mexico, is the capital, seat of government and the center of commerce, finance and the arts; in addition to being one of the largest cities in the world.
Teotihuacán
Teotihuacán, just an hour’s drive northeast of the capital, was Mexico's biggest ancient city and the capital of the country's largest pre-Hispanic empire, boasting 200,000 inhabitants at its peak in the 6th century. The city's main avenue - the famous Avenue of the Dead - is a thoroughfare lined with the former palaces of Teotihuacán's elite. To its south is the pyramid-bedecked La Ciudadela, believed to have been the residence of the city's supreme ruler. Enclosed within the citadel's walls is the Quetzalcóatl Temple, with its striking serpent carvings. Heading north, the avenue passes the world's third largest pyramid: the amazing 248-stepped Pyramid of the Sun. The pyramid was originally painted a suitably sun-drenched, bloody red. The avenue terminates at the Pyramid of the Moon, flanked by the 12 temple platforms of the Plaza de la Luna. Nearby are the beautifully frescoed Palace of the Quetzal Butterfly, the Jaguar Palace and the Temple of the Plumed Conch Shells. Teotihuacán's most famous mural, the Paradise of Tláloc, is in the Tepantitla Palace, a priest's residence northeast of the Pyramid of the Sun.
Oaxaca
Oaxaca, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, owes its fame to the beauty and harmony of its architecture, the richness of its cultural traditions, the wide variety of its typical foods, and its soft temperate climate - spring-like throughout the year. Situated in the rugged southern state of the same name, Oaxaca has a large indigenous population, flourishing markets and some superb colonial architecture. Not least of Oaxaca's attractions are the abundant local handicrafts. Centre of town is the shady, arcaded zócalo and the major landmark is the Iglesia de Santo Domingo, the most splendid of Oaxaca's many churches. There are many fascinating places within day-trip distance of the city, notably the Zapotec ruins at Monte Albán, Mitla, Yagul and Cuilapan.
San Cristóbal de las Casas
San Cristóbal de las Casas in the state of Chiapas is one of the most beautiful colonial cities in Mexico. It owes its magic to its vice regal atmosphere that coexists harmoniously with its powerful, deeply-rooted indigenous traditions, in which the dense Mayan past still makes its presence felt.
Lying in the Valley of Jovel, in the heart of the Chiapas Highlands, San Cristóbal de las Casas is one of the most interesting urban complexes in the country, since it still preserves its traditional churches, squares, cobbled streets, red-tiled roofs, houses with patios overflowing with flowers and magnificent buildings constructed between the 16th and 19th centuries. Formerly known as the Royal City, it was founded in 1528 by Diego Mazariego. Its current name honours Fr. Bartolomé de las Casas, the tireless defender of the Indians.
San Cristóbal is also synonymous with colourful handicrafts, exquisite gastronomy, and popular fiestas - ceremonies imbued with mysticism, refined legends and a brilliant history. Its many facets can be discovered by venturing into the highlands to explore its traditional markets, touring Indian villages on the outskirts of the city to buy textiles, ceramics and other handicrafts or visiting natural sites of unusual beauty that will delight ecotourists. Since 1994 San Cristóbal has been caught up in the Zapatista struggles. Regional crafts play a large part in the town's tourism, and dolls depicting the black balaclava'd Zapatista leader Subcomandante Marcos are as typical a souvenir here as the region's renowned Tzotzil textiles.
Yucatán Peninsula
When you arrive in the Yucatán, you enter the realm of the Maya. Heirs to a glorious and often violent history, the Maya live today where their ancestors lived a millennium ago. The Yucatán has surprising diversity: archaeological sites galore, colonial cities, tropical forests, fantastic snorkeling, seaside resorts, quiet coastlines and raucous nightlife. The region's famous Mayan sites are particularly impressive at Uxmal and Chichén Itzá, near the Yucatán state capital - the colonial city of Mérida. The coastal state of Quintana Roo attracts plane-loads of sun-loving tourists to its islands and white-sand Caribbean beaches, particularly Cozumel, Playa del Carmen and Cancún. The stunning cliff-top ruins at Tulum, overlooking a palm-fringed beach and turquoise sea, attract their fair share of visitors too.
Palenque
Surrounded by emerald jungle, Palenque's setting is superb and its Mayan architecture and decoration are exquisite. Evidence from pottery fragments indicates that the site was first occupied more than 1500 years ago, flourishing from 600 to 700 AD when  many plazas and buildings were constructed, including the elaborate Temple of Inscriptions pyramid crypt, the tallest and most prominent of Palenque's buildings. The best time to visit this sweltering, breezeless complex is in the early morning when a humid haze wraps the ancient temples in a mysterious mist. Only a handful of the almost 500 extant buildings have been excavated, and all were built without the use of metal tools, pack animals or the wheel.
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