Things to Do in Mexico

Using the natural surrounding of Mexico's Riviera Maya, Xenses Park lets visitors lose themselves in the sounds and sights of optical illusions. The park's vision involves the fascinating neurological phenomena known as synesthesia, where a single sense has the ability to suddenly stimulate another. Colors seem to be heard, sounds felt and smells seem to be tasted. 

Tulum, the site of a Pre-Columbian Maya walled city and a port for Coba, is one of the best preserved coastal Mayan cities in the Yucatan, in tandem with Chichen Itza and Ek Balam. Highlights of this archaeological site include the Temple of the Frescoes, which has spectacular figurines of the 'diving god.'

Located on the Usumacinta River and surrounded by the dense Lacandon Jungle, the archeological area of Yaxchilán is reachable only by boat, a 40-minute cruise from the border town of Frontera Corozal. Getting there is all part of the experience and the journey is as spectacular as the destination, with howler monkeys swinging overhead, colorful birds swooping low over the waters and crocodiles crawling along the river banks, before scaling a grand riverside stairway to the site entrance.

High on a cactus-studded plateau, the ruins of Yagul offer a view of Oaxaca’s Tlacolula valley. Yagul dates back to at least 500 AD, but most of the existing structures were built several hundred years later, after the decline of the nearby city of Monte Albán . When the Spanish arrived in Oaxaca, Yagul still had a population of 6000.

Due to the easy-to-defend location and fortifications, archeologists believe Yagul was a military center. Like the other major ruins in the area, the site was occupied at various times by both the Zapotecs and the Mixtecs. The ruins include the second largest ancient ball court in Mesoamérica, several typically creepy tombs, and a labyrinthine stone palace with six small stone courtyards.

If you walk west from the Centro Historico along Avenida Juárez, you’ll come the University of Guadalajara campus and the University of Guadalajara Museum of the Arts. A two-story neoclassical building of white brick, the museum is designed on a cross formation and is home to two important works by Jose Clemente Orozco. The murals are located in the auditorium: Stone columns support a domed ceiling emblazoned with the dramatic "El Hombre Creador y Rebelde,” or “Man, Creator and Rebel.” Behind the lecture stage is Orozco’s famous fresco, “El pueblo y sus falsos líderes” or “The People and their false leaders.” The clever use of space creates the impression that you are inside an Orozco mural. In typical Orozco fashion, the effect is mesmerizing but slightly unsettling.

The museum also houses a rotation of traveling exhibits and a fine permanent collection with works by important Jaliscan artists such as Martha Pacheco, Javier Arévalo, and Carmen Bordes.