7 Best Places to Visit in Mexico

Mexico stretches from Maya ruins on the Caribbean coast to colonial silver-mining towns in the highlands, with a capital built on the remains of an Aztec empire in between. Here are 7 places worth building a trip around.

1. Chichén Itzá

This Yucatán Peninsula archaeological site was one of the largest Maya cities and is dominated by El Castillo, a step pyramid built to honor the god Kukulcán. Twice a year, at the spring and autumn equinoxes, sunlight and shadow create the illusion of a serpent slithering down the pyramid's staircase. Chichén Itzá was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988 and voted one of the New7Wonders of the World in 2007.

2. Tulum

Tulum is home to one of the few Maya cities built directly on the Caribbean coast, with its walled clifftop ruins overlooking turquoise water and white-sand beach below. The site flourished as a trading port between the 13th and 15th centuries. Beyond the ruins, the town has grown into a popular base for exploring the region's cenotes — natural freshwater sinkholes formed in limestone bedrock.

3. Mexico City

The capital's historic center, the Zócalo, is one of the largest public squares in the world and sits atop the ruins of Tenochtitlan, the former Aztec capital. Nearby, the Metropolitan Cathedral and National Palace anchor a UNESCO-listed historic core, while just outside the city the pyramids of Teotihuacán — including the Pyramid of the Sun, one of the largest structures of its kind in ancient Mesoamerica — draw day-trippers year-round.

4. Cancún

Cancún's Hotel Zone is a narrow strip of land lined with white-sand beaches and calm Caribbean water, developed into a resort destination starting in the 1970s. It also serves as the most common gateway to the wider Riviera Maya, including nearby Isla Mujeres and the Yucatán's cenotes and Maya ruins.

5. Oaxaca

Oaxaca City's historic center, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987, is known for its green cantera-stone colonial buildings, the Santo Domingo church and convent, and a food scene built around mezcal, mole, and Oaxacan cheese. The surrounding valley is also home to the Zapotec ruins of Monte Albán, an ancient hilltop city.

6. Guanajuato

Built on the wealth of colonial-era silver mining, Guanajuato is famous for its steep, brightly colored houses stacked along narrow alleys and a network of underground tunnels originally built for flood control. Its historic center and nearby mines were named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988, and the city hosts the annual Cervantino arts festival, one of Latin America's largest.

7. Copper Canyon

Copper Canyon (Barrancas del Cobre) is a network of canyons in the Sierra Madre Occidental that is larger, and in places deeper, than the Grand Canyon. The Chihuahua al Pacífico railway, known as El Chepe, cuts through the region on one of the most scenic rail routes in the Americas, connecting small towns and lookout points across the canyon system.

Staying connected while you travel

Mexico's major carriers (Telcel, AT&T Mexico, Movistar) cover its main cities and tourist corridors well, though signal can thin out in remote stretches of Copper Canyon. An eSIM lets you land with data already active instead of hunting for airport Wi-Fi — compare current Mexico eSIM plans below.

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Airalo

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For more on how eSIMs work before your trip, see our beginner's guide to eSIMs. You can also browse the full list of Mexico eSIM plans sorted by price.