Chiapas
Ancient Palenque stands at the precise point where the first hills rise out of the Gulf coast plain, and the dense jungle covering these hills forms an…
Must-see attractions in Chiapas
Chiapas
Jungle-shrouded Yaxchilán has a wonderfully atmospheric setting above a horseshoe loop in the Río Usumacinta. The control this location gave it over river…
Templo de las Inscripciones Group
Palenque
As you walk in from the entrance the vegetation suddenly peels away to reveal many of Palenque’s most magnificent buildings in one sublime vista. A line…
Palenque
Perhaps the most celebrated burial monument in the Americas, this is the tallest and most stately of Palenque’s buildings. Constructed on eight levels,…
Chiapas
The towering ceremonial core of Toniná, overlooking a pastoral valley 14km east of Ocosingo, is one of the most spectacular archaeological sites in…
Chiapas
With a dearth of other tourists, this is one of those magical archaeological sites where the sense of wild atmosphere is as enthralling as the stories…
Zona Arqueológica de Iglesia Vieja
Chiapas
Believed to be the regional capital of the Zoque during the Classic period, these ruins were inhabited between AD 250 and AD 400. The site's most…
San Cristóbal de las Casas
An atmospheric museum-research center, Na Bolom for many years was the home of Swiss anthropologist and photographer Gertrude Duby-Blom (Trudy Blom; 1901…
Chiapas
To take your evening paseo (stroll) with the locals, stop by this leafy plaza, just eight blocks west of Plaza Cívica. The whole city seems to turn out…
Chiapas
Standing beside the main plaza, Chamula’s main church is a ghostly white, with a vividly painted arch of green and blue. Inside the darkened sanctuary,…
Zoológico Miguel Álvarez del Toro
Chiapas
Chiapas, with its huge range of natural environments, has the highest concentration of animal species in North America, including several varieties of big…
Jardín Botánico Dr Faustino Miranda
Chiapas
The lush oasis of the Jardín Botánico Dr Faustino Miranda is a gorgeous place to visit, as well as being a nice respite from the city heat. The collection…
Chiapas
These mighty waterfalls tumble 120m off the edge of an escarpment 20km southwest of Comitán. In a region with a surfeit of impressive waterfalls, these…
Templo & Ex-Convento de Santo Domingo de Guzmán
San Cristóbal de las Casas
Located just north of the center of town, the imposing 16th-century Templo de Santo Domingo is San Cristóbal’s most beautiful church, especially when its…
Chiapas
A lovely water feature tucked 10km off the highway, where two rivers cascade dramatically from a high point of 35m and you can swim in clear blue water…
Chiapas
These sprawling Maya ruins feature three ball courts, a 20m tiered pyramid and other structures rising from a wooded hillside. Tenam Puente was one of a…
Chiapas
Thirty kilometers from Palenque, these 25m-high curtains of water aren't the most dramatic water features in the area, but the turquoise river pools make…
Chiapas
Although this excellent museum is very small it's crammed with treasures from the area’s many archaeological sites (Spanish signage only). It's arranged…
Museo de Sergio Arturo Castro Martínez
San Cristóbal de las Casas
The story behind this extraordinary collection – that's overseen by an even more extraordinary person, Don Sergio – is as interesting as the museum itself…
Chiapas
The remote Maya jungle ruins of Bonampak are spread over 2.4 sq km, but all the main ruins stand around the rectangular Gran Plaza. Never a major city,…
Palenque
Pakal’s son, Kan B’alam II, was a prolific builder, and soon after the death of his father started designing the temples of the Grupo de las Cruces…
Chiapas
The Sumidero Canyon is a spectacular fissure in the earth, found north of Tuxtla Gutiérrez. In 1981, the Chicoasén hydroelectric dam was completed at its…
Chiapas
The Sima de las Cotorras is a dramatic 160m-wide sinkhole that punches 140m down into the earth into a crater thick with rainforest. At sunrise, a green…
Palenque
In the jungle south of the Grupo de las Cruces is the Southern Acropolis, where archaeologists have made some terrific finds in recent excavations. You…
Palenque
East of the Grupo Norte, the main path crosses Arroyo Otolum. Some 70m beyond the stream, a right fork will take you to Grupo C, a set of jungle-covered…
Palenque
In 1999, in Templo XIX, archaeologists made the most important Palenque find for decades: an 8th-century limestone platform with stunning carvings of…
San Cristóbal de las Casas
On the north side of the plaza, the candy-colored cathedral was begun in 1528 but wasn't completed until 1815 because of several natural disasters. Sure…
Palenque
The Templo del Sol, on the west side of the Acrópolis Sur plaza, has the best-preserved roofcomb at Palenque. Carvings inside, commemorating Kan B’alam’s…
Palenque
Steep steps climb to the Templo de la Cruz, the largest and most elegantly proportioned in Grupo de las Cruces. The stone tablet in the central sanctuary…
Palenque
The corbel arches here are fully exposed, revealing how Palenque’s architects designed these buildings. A well-preserved inscribed tablet shows a king …
Palenque
This temple contains the tomb of a female dignitary, whose remains were found colored red (as a result of treatment with cinnabar) when unearthed in 1994…
Palenque
Largely unrestored and being reclaimed by the jungle, this temple is a photographer's favorite.
Palenque
Agua Azul is a breathtaking sight, with its powerful and dazzling white waterfalls thundering into turquoise (outside rainy season) pools surrounded by…
Chiapas
The remote Maya ruins of Plan de Ayutla sit on an evocatively overgrown site, with buildings in various states of excavation and abandonment. From the…
Chiapas
The small and peaceful pre-Hispanic ruins at Izapa contain three groups of ruins. The northern group (Grupo F) is on the left side of the road if you’re…
Palenque
Diagonally opposite the Templo de las Inscripciones is El Palacio, a large structure divided into four main courtyards, with a maze of corridors and rooms…
Chiapa de Corzo Archaeological Site
Chiapas
On a trade route between the Pacific and the Gulf, the sprawling Chiapa de Corzo settlement had close ties to neighboring Maya and Olmec cultures. At its…
Chiapas
Plunging into the sheer Río La Venta canyon, El Aguacero is a gorgeous series of frothy stairsteps that tumble and spray. You'll descend over 700 steps to…
Chiapas
The Río Santo Domingo is a beautiful, turquoise mess of cascades and rapids accessed from the community lodging at Las Nubes and Ecoturismo Xbulanjá. Some…
Chiapas
The entrance to this long cavern is situated in pine woods 9km southeast of San Cristóbal, a five-minute walk south of the Pan-American Hwy. The first…
