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.