Ancient sites in Mexico off the beaten path.
Less-touristed ancient sites in Mexico, for travelers seeking fewer crowds but all the beauty.
Chiapa de Corzo holds the earliest known inscribed date in Mesoamerican history and the earliest known tomb burial of any Mesoamerican civilization — a weight of firsts that sets the tone for this list of 11 ancient sites across Mexico. From Texcoco, where the palace and baths of Nezahualcoyotl still stand, to the rainforest-wrapped Maya zone near Palenque and the pre-Columbian circles of Los Guachimontones outside Teuchitlán, these are places where the archaeological record runs deep and the towns around them remain genuinely livable.
San Miguel del Milagro
This small village in Tlaxcala, Mexico, San Miguel del Milagro is home to the Santuario Nacional de San Miguel Arcángel, one of the two most visited Catholic…
Chiapa de Corzo
Sitting on the bank of the Grijalva River in the Chiapas highlands, Chiapa de Corzo is a walkable Mexican town with a centre full of cafés and restaurants.
Teuchitlan
A small town in Jalisco, central-western Mexico, Teuchitlán sits close to Los Guachimontones, the pre-Columbian archaeological site associated with the ancie…
Nuevo Tulancingo
Domed colonial-era church glows at the heart of this mid-sized Mexican highland city at dusk, with upland country nearby and an archaeological site adding de…
Palenque/Temp
A town in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, Palenque sits close to one of the country's most visited Maya archaeological sites, a UNESCO-recognised zone…
Poza Rica
A modern industrial city in northern Veracruz, Poza Rica sits within easy reach of several Gulf coast beaches — Tecolutla, Tuxpan, and Cazones among them — a…
Texcoco
Once a major Aztec city on the shores of Lake Texcoco, this city in the State of Mexico carries a deep pre-Hispanic past visible in sites such as the palace…
Cuetzalan
Founded by Franciscan friars in 1547, Cuetzalan is a colonial highland town in the hills of northern Puebla state, with steep cobblestone streets lined by wh…
Mitla
Mitla's pre-Hispanic archaeological ruins — built by the Zapotecs and later occupied by the Mixtecs, and known to the Aztecs as Mictlán, "land of the dead" —…
Papantla de Olarte
Founded in the 13th century by the Totonacs, Papantla de Olarte is a town in northern Veracruz known as the origin region of natural vanilla and home to the…
Tula de Allende
Tula de Allende, in the state of Hidalgo in central-eastern Mexico, is best known for its Tula archaeological site, noted for its Atlantean figures.