Experience the best of Campeche

Campeche stands on the Gulf of Mexico on the western side of the Yucatán Peninsula, and its historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Spanish builders surrounded the city with walls and bastions in the seventeenth century after pirate raids, and sections of the wall, a land gate and several bulwarks survive. Streets of pastel-coloured houses lead to the cathedral on the main plaza.

The Fort of San Miguel, on a hill above the city, holds a museum of Maya art. A seafront promenade, the Malecón, runs along the water. Edzná, a Maya city with a five-storey pyramid, lies inland, and the great jungle city of Calakmul, deep in a biosphere reserve near the Guatemalan border, is a long journey to the south-east.

Seafood defines Campeche's cooking: pan de cazón, tortillas layered with shredded shark and beans under tomato sauce, shrimp, crab and fish in chilli sauces. Heat is constant here, and the Malecón fills with strollers once the sun drops. The drier months begin around November, while the rains and the hurricane season fall in the second half of the year.