Things to do in Mexico

Mexico City, the vast capital, is built over the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan, with great museums, murals, markets and outstanding food, and the pyramids of Teotihuacan nearby. On the Caribbean side, the Riviera Maya runs from Cancun's white beaches through Playa del Carmen to Tulum's clifftop ruins, with cenotes, reefs and Chichén Itzá within reach.

On the Pacific, Puerto Vallarta's cobbled old town and boardwalk sit on Banderas Bay below jungle-covered mountains, and Los Cabos, at the tip of Baja California, joins the busy marina of Cabo San Lucas with the older town of San José del Cabo between desert and sea. Oaxaca, Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende add colonial charm inland.

Mexican cooking, recognised by UNESCO as part of the world's intangible heritage, ranges from tacos and tamales to moles, ceviche and cochinita pibil. The dry season from late autumn to spring is the most popular on both coasts, and in winter millions of monarch butterflies gather in the mountain forests west of the capital; hurricanes are possible from early summer to late autumn.