Must-see attractions in Northern Central Highlands

  • Tamul waterfall.

    Cascada de Tamul

    La Huasteca Potosina

    Like something from a tropical postcard, Tamul is easily the Huasteca Potosina’s most spectacular waterfall. Milky-blue water plunges 105m into the…

  • Exterior of the Museo Federico Silva located at the Jardín San Juan de Dios in San Luis Potosí, Mexico.

    Museo Federico Silva

    San Luis Potosí

    This excellent museum devoted to the work of Mexican artist Federico Silva (b 1923) should not be missed. The 17th-century building was once a hospital…

  • Exterior of the Museo Nacional de la Máscara located in the historic Plaza del Carmen in San Luis Potosí, Mexico.

    Museo Nacional de la Máscara

    San Luis Potosí

    This superb museum displays a fascinating collection of ceremonial masks from across Mexico and around the world, and does a good job at explaining the…

  • Sótano de las Huahuas

    La Huasteca Potosina

    This huge jungle-fringed sinkhole is home to tens of thousands of swifts as well as many green parrots, and at dawn and dusk they surge in or out of the…

  • Museo y Casa de Diego Rivera

    Guanajuato

    Diego Rivera's birthplace is now an excellent museum honoring the famous artist, who was persona non grata here for years. Rivera and his twin brother…

  • Teatro Juárez

    Guanajuato

    Don’t leave Guanajuato without visiting the magnificent Teatro Juárez. It was built between 1873 and 1903 and inaugurated by the dictator Porfirio Díaz,…

  • MEXICO-Guanajuato State-Guanajuato: Templo de San Cayetano de la Valenciana Church- (b.1788) Church by the famous Valenciana Silver Mine- Exterior

    Templo La Valenciana

    Guanajuato

    On a hill overlooking Guanajuato, 5km north of the center, is the magnificent Templo La Valenciana. Its facade is spectacular and its interior dazzles…

  • MUCAL

    Querétaro

    While a museum of calendars might not sound riveting, this extraordinary museum is unexpectedly interesting. It takes a wide angle view of calendars and…

  • Museo Rafael Coronel

    Zacatecas

    The excellent Museo Rafael Coronel is not to be missed. Imaginatively housed in the ruins of the lovely 16th-century Ex-Convento de San Francisco, it…

  • Cascadas de Minas Viejas

    La Huasteca Potosina

    The stunning cascades of Minas Viejas are well worth the 78km trip northwest from Ciudad Valles, if only to see the gorgeous turquoise waters here. The…

  • Museo Histórico de San Miguel de Allende

    San Miguel de Allende

    This is the house where Mexican independence hero Ignacio Allende was born in 1769, a fact that draws a steady stream of Mexican pilgrims year-round. The…

  • Museo Pedro Coronel

    Zacatecas

    The Museo Pedro Coronel is housed in a 17th-century former Jesuit college and is one of provincial Mexico's best art museums. Pedro Coronel (1923−85) was…

  • Backpackers Hiking la Sierra Gorda in Querétaro State, Mexico.

    Reserva de la Biosfera Sierra Gorda

    Northern Central Highlands

    The Reserva de la Biosfera Sierra Gorda, in the rugged Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range, covers a huge swath of the northeastern third of Querétaro…

  • La Quemada

    Northern Central Highlands

    The remote and scenic ruins of La Quemada stand on a hill 45km south of Zacatecas. The exact history and purpose of the site are extremely vague and many…

  • Guanajuato City, Guanajuato, Mexico

    Museo de las Momias

    Guanajuato

    This famous museum is one of the most bizarre (some might say distasteful) sights in Mexico. The popular attraction is a quintessential example of Mexico…

  • Oratorio de San Felipe Neri

    San Miguel de Allende

    Located near the east end of Insurgentes, this multitowered and domed church dates from the 18th century. The pale-pink main facade is baroque with an…

  • Monumento a El Pípila

    Guanajuato

    The monument to El Pípila honors the hero who torched the Alhóndiga gates on September 28, 1810, enabling Hidalgo's forces to win the first victory of the…

  • Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel

    San Miguel de Allende

    San Miguel's most famous sight is its parish church, characterized by its pink 'wedding cake' towers that soar above the town. These strange pinnacles…

  • Cerro de la Bufa

    Zacatecas

    The most appealing of the many explanations for the name of the hill that dominates Zacatecas is that bufa is an old Basque word for wineskin, which is…

  • Museo del Pueblo de Guanajuato

    Guanajuato

    Located beside the university, this fascinating art museum displays an exquisite collection of Mexican miniatures, and 18th- and 19th-century artworks by…

  • Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Dolores

    Dolores Hidalgo

    The Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Dolores is the church where Hidalgo issued the famous Grito (a call to arms for the country's independence) and is the…

  • Santuario de Atotonilco

    San Miguel de Allende

    Known as Mexico's Sistine Chapel, this vitally important church in the hamlet of Atotonilco, 11km north of San Miguel, is defined by its connection to the…

  • Cuna De Tierra

    Dolores Hidalgo

    The first and biggest winery in Guanajuato opened in 2005, heralding the reintroduction of wine production in the area 200 years after the Spanish banned…

  • Escuela de Bellas Artes

    San Miguel de Allende

    This former monastery was converted into a fine-arts school in 1938. Don't miss the murals of Pedro Martínez, plus the Siqueiros Room, which features the…

  • Mina El Edén

    Zacatecas

    Visiting one of Mexico's richest mines (1586−1960s) provides an insight into a source of wealth and the terrible price paid for it. Digging for hoards of…

  • Parque Benito Juárez

    San Miguel de Allende

    The shady Parque Benito Juárez is a lovely place to relax and meander through, with benches, well-maintained pathways and a popular play area for children.

  • Templo de San Diego

    Guanajuato

    Built in 1663 by members of St Diego of Alcántara, the facade – carved pink quarry stone – exemplifies Mexican Churriqueresque and is quite lovely.

  • Mirador

    San Miguel de Allende

    One of the best views over the town and surrounding country is from the mirador southeast of town.

  • Jardín Botánico El Charco del Ingenio

    San Miguel de Allende

    San Miguel's 88-hectare botanical garden is also a wildlife and bird sanctuary. Pathways head through wetlands and magnificent areas of cacti and native…

  • Templo y Convento de la Santa Cruz

    Querétaro

    One of the city's most interesting sights, this convent was built between 1654 and about 1815 on the site of a battle in which a miraculous appearance of…

  • Catedral

    Zacatecas

    Built between 1729 and 1752, the pink-stone cathedral is an ultimate expression of Mexican baroque. The stupendous main facade is a wall of detailed…

  • Sótano de las Golondrinas

    La Huasteca Potosina

    The extraordinary limestone sinkhole, known as Swallows’ Cave, is located near Aquismón. One of the world’s deepest pits at over 500m (over 370m free fall…

  • Museo Virreinal de Guadalupe

    Northern Central Highlands

    This former convent now houses the Museo Virreinal de Guadalupe, with the building's original religious paintings by Miguel Cabrera, Juan Correa, Antonio…

  • Laguna de la Media Luna

    La Huasteca Potosina

    This surreal, mint-green colored lagoon is fed by six thermal springs with temperatures ranging between an appealing 27°C and 30°C (80.6°F and 86°F). Its…

  • Museo Regional Potosino

    San Luis Potosí

    This fetching museum was originally part of a Franciscan monastery founded in 1590. The ground floor – part of which is housed in the small Capilla de San…

  • Templo de la Compañía de Jesús

    Guanajuato

    Believed to be one of the largest constructions completed by the Jesuits in Mexico, this church was built between 1746 and 1765. However, just two years…