Top 10 Things to See in the Yucatan

The only major Maya archaeological site built on a Caribbean cliff above a beach, Tulum's walled ceremonial center was a thriving post-Classic port city when the Spanish first arrived and its Temple of the Descending God is one of the finest small-scale Maya structures surviving in the Yucatan. The view from the cliff behind the main temple — turquoise sea above the wall on one side, jungle on the other — is the most photographed archaeological vista in Mexico.

Yucatan's capital city offers the finest concentration of Spanish colonial architecture in Mexico's southeast, anchored by the Palacio de Gobierno housing Fernando Castro Pacheco's Maya history murals, the enormous cathedral built from stones of the Maya pyramid it replaced, and the Paseo de Montejo boulevard of French belle époque mansions. The Sunday Gran Paseo closing the Paseo de Montejo to traffic for cycling, music, and food transforms the avenue into the largest weekly urban festival in southeastern Mexico.

The finest example of Puuc Maya architecture in the Yucatan, Uxmal's Governor's Palace facade of 20,000 individually carved interlocking mosaic stones depicting Chaac rain god masks is considered the highest achievement of architectural decoration in pre-Columbian America. The Pyramid of the Magician's unique oval base, the Nunnery Quadrangle's Venus symbols, and the Iguana House combine into a site of extraordinary intellectual complexity.

The estuary system on Yucatan's northern coast hosts Mexico's largest flamingo colony — over 20,000 birds breeding annually in the mangrove shallows — alongside large crocodile populations and over 400 bird species in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The low-season boat tours at dawn when flamingos take flight collectively across the pink-tinted water are one of Mexico's most spectacular wildlife experiences.

A colonial city built almost entirely over Maya temples — and painted uniformly in ochre yellow — Izamal's San Antonio de Padua Franciscan monastery was constructed directly atop the platform of the Ppapp-Hol-Chac pyramid and its cobblestone atrium is the largest enclosed church courtyard in the Americas. The small pyramid of Kinich Kakmó rising above the city center, still partially unexcavated, creates the most intimate coexistence of Maya and Spanish colonial architecture in the Yucatan.

The most powerful Maya city in the Classic period, Calakmul in Campeche at its peak in 700 CE controlled a political sphere extending across half the Maya world and rivaled Tikal in Guatemala as the supreme power of Mesoamerica. The site's remote jungle location means visitor numbers remain low and the sound of howler monkeys punctuates the climb of its 55-metre Structure II — the largest Maya pyramid by base footprint in the Americas.

The Laguna de Bacalar — the Lake of Seven Colors — in southern Quintana Roo produces different shades of blue across its 42-kilometre length due to varying depths and dissolved minerals, creating the most visually spectacular inland body of water in Mexico. The town of Bacalar's 18th-century Spanish fort, built to defend against English pirates operating from Belize, overlooks the lagoon from a hilltop that provides the finest panoramic view of the color gradients.

A Classic Maya city deep in Quintana Roo jungle connected by an ancient 100-kilometre sacbé road system, Cobá's Nohoch Mul pyramid at 42 metres is the tallest climbable Maya structure in the Yucatan and its summit view over an endless flat jungle canopy produces the most overwhelming sense of the Maya civilization's territorial scale. Unlike Chichen Itza's El Castillo, climbing is still permitted with the aid of a rope on the steep staircase.

The Puuc Route connecting four Classic Maya sites within 30 kilometres of Uxmal — Sayil's multi-story colonnaded palace, Labná's freestanding triumphal arch, Kabah's Codz Poop building entirely covered in interlocking Chaac masks, and the geometric facades of Xlapak — represents the finest concentrated archaeology touring circuit in the Yucatan for visitors who have exhausted the headline sites.

The only major Maya archaeological site built on a Caribbean cliff above a beach, Tulum's walled ceremonial center was a thriving post-Classic port city when the Spanish first arrived and its Temple of the Descending God is one of the finest small-scale Maya structures surviving in the Yucatan. The view from the cliff behind the main temple — turquoise sea above the wall on one side, jungle on the other — is the most photographed archaeological vista in Mexico.

Yucatan's capital city offers the finest concentration of Spanish colonial architecture in Mexico's southeast, anchored by the Palacio de Gobierno housing Fernando Castro Pacheco's Maya history murals, the enormous cathedral built from stones of the Maya pyramid it replaced, and the Paseo de Montejo boulevard of French belle époque mansions. The Sunday Gran Paseo closing the Paseo de Montejo to traffic for cycling, music, and food transforms the avenue into the largest weekly urban festival in southeastern Mexico.

The finest example of Puuc Maya architecture in the Yucatan, Uxmal's Governor's Palace facade of 20,000 individually carved interlocking mosaic stones depicting Chaac rain god masks is considered the highest achievement of architectural decoration in pre-Columbian America. The Pyramid of the Magician's unique oval base, the Nunnery Quadrangle's Venus symbols, and the Iguana House combine into a site of extraordinary intellectual complexity.

The estuary system on Yucatan's northern coast hosts Mexico's largest flamingo colony — over 20,000 birds breeding annually in the mangrove shallows — alongside large crocodile populations and over 400 bird species in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The low-season boat tours at dawn when flamingos take flight collectively across the pink-tinted water are one of Mexico's most spectacular wildlife experiences.

A colonial city built almost entirely over Maya temples — and painted uniformly in ochre yellow — Izamal's San Antonio de Padua Franciscan monastery was constructed directly atop the platform of the Ppapp-Hol-Chac pyramid and its cobblestone atrium is the largest enclosed church courtyard in the Americas. The small pyramid of Kinich Kakmó rising above the city center, still partially unexcavated, creates the most intimate coexistence of Maya and Spanish colonial architecture in the Yucatan.

The most powerful Maya city in the Classic period, Calakmul in Campeche at its peak in 700 CE controlled a political sphere extending across half the Maya world and rivaled Tikal in Guatemala as the supreme power of Mesoamerica. The site's remote jungle location means visitor numbers remain low and the sound of howler monkeys punctuates the climb of its 55-metre Structure II — the largest Maya pyramid by base footprint in the Americas.

The Laguna de Bacalar — the Lake of Seven Colors — in southern Quintana Roo produces different shades of blue across its 42-kilometre length due to varying depths and dissolved minerals, creating the most visually spectacular inland body of water in Mexico. The town of Bacalar's 18th-century Spanish fort, built to defend against English pirates operating from Belize, overlooks the lagoon from a hilltop that provides the finest panoramic view of the color gradients.

A Classic Maya city deep in Quintana Roo jungle connected by an ancient 100-kilometre sacbé road system, Cobá's Nohoch Mul pyramid at 42 metres is the tallest climbable Maya structure in the Yucatan and its summit view over an endless flat jungle canopy produces the most overwhelming sense of the Maya civilization's territorial scale. Unlike Chichen Itza's El Castillo, climbing is still permitted with the aid of a rope on the steep staircase.

The Puuc Route connecting four Classic Maya sites within 30 kilometres of Uxmal — Sayil's multi-story colonnaded palace, Labná's freestanding triumphal arch, Kabah's Codz Poop building entirely covered in interlocking Chaac masks, and the geometric facades of Xlapak — represents the finest concentrated archaeology touring circuit in the Yucatan for visitors who have exhausted the headline sites.