UNESCO World Heritage Magical Towns
Towns, convents, missions, archaeological sites and traditions recognized by UNESCO: from the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro and the monasteries on the slopes of Popocatépetl to the Parachicos of Chiapa de Corzo and the Peña de Bernal.
GuanajuatoSan Miguel de Allende
A UNESCO World Heritage town: the neo-Gothic Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel, cobbled streets, galleries, great food and the nearby Atotonilco sanctuary.
Estado de MéxicoTeotihuacán de Arista
Gateway to the City of the Gods: the UNESCO-listed Pyramids of the Sun and Moon, sunrise hot-air balloon flights, obsidian crafts and local food.
Estado de MéxicoSan Martín de las Pirámides
Shares with Teotihuacán de Arista the Teotihuacan archaeological zone, one of the largest cities of the ancient Americas and a World Heritage Site.
ChiapasPalenque
A great gateway to the Maya world: the UNESCO-listed Palenque ruins in the rainforest, a site museum, dynastic inscriptions and nearby waterfalls.
VeracruzPapantla
The Totonac heart of Veracruz: the UNESCO-listed El Tajín and its Pyramid of the Niches, the Voladores ritual and vanilla.
ChihuahuaCasas Grandes
Home of UNESCO-listed Paquimé: an adobe city with T-shaped doorways, water systems and the Museum of the Cultures of the North.
JaliscoTequila
Birthplace of tequila and the UNESCO-listed Agave Landscape: blue agave fields, historic distilleries, museums and Jalisco's tequila culture.
Estado de MéxicoTepotzotlán
A jewel of New Spain baroque on the UNESCO-listed Camino Real de Tierra Adentro: a former Jesuit college that now houses the National Museum of the Viceroyalty.
QuerétaroJalpan de Serra
Heart of Querétaro's Sierra Gorda: the Mission of Santiago de Jalpan, earliest of the five UNESCO-listed Franciscan Missions.
HidalgoZempoala
The UNESCO-listed Padre Tembleque Aqueduct, a masterpiece of colonial engineering, plus pulque haciendas and the Todos Santos convent.
JaliscoLagos de Moreno
A UNESCO-listed historic center and bridge on the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro: stone churches, haciendas and Porfirian architecture.
ZacatecasSombrerete
Colonial mining and movie-set scenery in Zacatecas: a historic center on the UNESCO Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the Sierra de Órganos and local brujitas.
ZacatecasPinos
A mining town on the UNESCO-listed Camino Real de Tierra Adentro: plazas, churches, ore haciendas with their tall chimneys and a mezcal tradition.
MorelosTepoztlán
Sacred mountain and Tepozteco pyramid, the UNESCO-listed Natividad convent, a lively market, temazcal baths and Morelos cooking an hour from Mexico City.
MorelosTlayacapan
Birthplace of the chinelo dancers in Morelos: the UNESCO-listed San Juan Bautista convent, neighborhood chapels, La Cerería, pottery and a lively carnival.
PueblaHuejotzingo
A 16th-century Franciscan convent, the famous Huejotzingo Carnival, cider and chiles en nogada, just outside the city of Puebla.
OaxacaSan Pablo Villa de Mitla
The Zapotec “place of the dead”: stone fretwork unique in Mesoamerica, Yagul, valley mezcal, and close to Hierve el Agua and the Tule Tree.
ChiapasChiapa de Corzo
Gateway to the Sumidero Canyon: the Mudéjar fountain, one of the oldest towns in the Americas and the UNESCO-listed Parachicos of the Great January Festival.
QuerétaroBernal
Home of the Peña de Bernal, one of the world's largest monoliths and sacred Otomí-Chichimeca land (UNESCO), plus cheese, wine and crafts.