Yucatán

Mérida, the state capital, is the cultural hub of the peninsula and one of Mexico's most appealing and safest cities — a colonial 'white city' founded on a Maya site, with a handsome historic centre of pastel buildings, a fortress-like cathedral (among the oldest in the Americas), shady plazas and bustling markets. The grand Paseo de Montejo, a tree-lined boulevard modelled on Parisian avenues, is lined with the belle-époque mansions built by henequen (sisal) barons, some now museums like the Palacio Cantón. Mérida is famous for its lively cultural life — free music, dance and the Vaquería folk performances fill its squares most nights, and there's a strong food and arts scene. Around the city, the old henequen haciendas — vast estates from the sisal boom — have been beautifully restored as boutique hotels and museums, and the colonial towns of the interior, above all the colourful, walkable Valladolid and the entirely golden-yellow town of Izamal (a 'pueblo mágico' built around a Franciscan monastery on a Maya pyramid), make rewarding bases and day trips.

Yucatán holds some of the greatest archaeological sites of the ancient Maya. Chichén Itzá, between Mérida and Valladolid, is the most famous — a vast ceremonial city dominated by the perfectly proportioned stepped pyramid of El Castillo (the Temple of Kukulcán), where the equinox sun casts a serpent of shadow down the staircase, alongside the great ball court, the Temple of the Warriors and the sacred cenote. A UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, it draws crowds, so arrive at opening time. To the south, Uxmal is a magnificent and far quieter site in the ornate Puuc style — the rounded Pyramid of the Magician, the elegant Nunnery Quadrangle and the Governor's Palace — and the Puuc Route links it to smaller, atmospheric ruins like Kabah and Sayil. Other sites such as Ek Balam (with its well-preserved stucco and a pyramid you can still climb) and Mayapán reward those wanting fewer visitors. Together they tell the story of one of the Americas' great civilisations, set in dry tropical forest.

Beneath Yucatán's flat limestone surface lies a hidden world of water: the cenotes, thousands of freshwater sinkholes formed where the cave roof collapsed, ranging from open turquoise pools to vast, dimly lit underground caverns hung with stalactites and tree roots. Sacred to the ancient Maya as gateways to the underworld, today the clearer ones are sublime swimming holes — among the most magical experiences in the region — clustered especially around Valladolid, Cuzamá and the 'Ring of Cenotes'. On the coasts, the state's lagoons are a wildlife spectacle: Celestún, on the Gulf, and Río Lagartos, on the north coast, shelter great flocks of pink Caribbean flamingos along with herons, ibis and pelicans, explored by boat through mangroves (Río Lagartos also has the surreal pink salt lakes of Las Coloradas nearby). The Gulf-coast town of Progreso, with its long pier and beach, offers an easy seaside day from Mérida. Add the distinctive Yucatecan cuisine — cochinita pibil (slow-roasted pork), sopa de lima, papadzules, panuchos and the smoky recado spices — and Yucatán is a feast for the curious traveller.