Mexico is no secret to North American travelers. The Cancun airport is one of the most popular ones in the world that’s not a major hub and there are dozens of direct international flights a day landing in Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, and Mexico City. They keep raising prices and putting in capacity controls at Chichen Itza because the Mayan site is so mobbed with tourists. There are good reasons to visit all those places and we do regularly, but if you want to get away from crowds, head to one of the lesser known Mexico destinations instead.
Mexico is a big country, about as wide as the USA and with almost as much geographic diversity. It has a few dozen international airports and good highways, so you can go direct to a place that only seems “off the beaten path,” or even fly into one of the “greatest hits of travel” in the country and still get somewhere interesting away from the crowds just by taking another fork in the road.
In some cases, as with Todos Santos and Valladolid, getting to a lesser-known Mexico destination only requires traveling a couple of hours or less from a place that’s thronged with short-stay vacationers. There are plenty of big cities that get few foreign tourists, plenty of beaches you can have almost to yourself, and “magic towns” where there won’t be many others experiencing the magic.
We’re based in Mexico, in a destination that could be considered a hidden gem on its own if it weren’t so popular with domestic tourists: Guanajuato City. Most visitors whiz right by it on the way to more famous San Miguel de Allende, but those who come here before or after often wish they had spent more time here. Here are some other lesser-known spots though that you might want to add to your next Mexico vacation list.
Before you go, see our page with links to interesting articles about tours in Mexico.
Todos Santos in Baja Sur
Drive north from Los Cabos, past the relentless construction of new tourist developments and housing for the people who support them, and soon you’ll reach the far different atmosphere of Todos Santos. “All Saints” is a smaller community of less than 10,000 people, the tourist infrastructure mostly confined to boutique hotels and guesthouses. Once an oasis that was a welcome sight for shipping vessels needing to restock, the area is still much greener than most of the Baja Peninsula and the tree-lined lagoon is a favored spot for migrating birds and waterfowl.
The beach here is seldom crowded and you can take some stunning hikes along the cliffs to a secret beach or two where you’ll rarely see more than a few other people. See our story on the area here: Todos Santos Hiking and Horseback Riding. The company Todos Santos Adventures runs multiple adventure trips in the area, including hiking trips and island explorations spanning several days.
A new beach resort recently opened up the coast a few miles in another village if you want a base that comes with great food (some of it from their organic garden), a gym, and two swimming pools. See our review of Kimpton Mas Olas Todos Santos.
The Ghost Towns of Real de Catorce and Mineral de Pozos
During Spanish Colonial times, Mexico was a major source of minerals, especially silver, at one point supplying most of it that went into silverware, serving trays, and jewelry around the world. When the veins were depleted or accidents closed the mines, some of the more remote areas saw a dramatic drop-off in population and buildings were left to Mother Nature.
The mysterious mountain ghost town of Real de Catorce is located in the state of San Luis Potosi in central Mexico, driving distance from the capital city or Monterrey. It was founded in 1772 when silver mining was actively developing. A flood of people poured into the city, but the War for Mexican Independence that broke out suspended work for many years.
In an independent Mexico, the city came back to life: a wealthy local population funded a theater, a cathedral, and fine homes, with a tunnel facilitating access to the city through the mountains. Eventually the mines ran out of riches, however, and people gradually left the city. The only people coming to visit were religious pilgrims: they visited an image of the face of St. Francis in the local church.
Eventually, a few pioneers moved in and opened facilities catering to tourists and now people make the journey here to explore the ghost towns. The most interesting is high on a hill overlooking the city, reached by a hike or horseback ride. Crumbling buildings surrounded by tumbled stone walls and cacti present an eerie sight. In the other direction, there are mining towns you can reach via a historic Willy Jeep before seeing an area where Huichol people harvest hallucinogenic peyote.
The back story is similar in Mineral de Pozos, pictured above, located about an hour from San Miguel de Allende in Guanajuato state. One mining settlement there dates back to the arrival of the Jesuitsin the 1500s. A few waves of abandonment and reactivation followed over two centuries, until in the early 20th century when the city turned into a collection of ghost towns. The population dropped from 50,000 to a few hundred.
Now you can explore old mining towns that are well-preserved in the dry climate, built of stone and brick, with the bones of the buildings still obvious. Wander through roofless churches, city halls, and hacienda buildings where wildflowers may be blooming in what were once the floors and streets.
Las Pozas and Huasteca Adventures
The ideal place for fans of surrealism is Las Pozas Sculpture Park, located in the “magic town” of Xilitla in the state of San Luis Potosi. At first glance, it may seem that it was created many centuries ago by ancient Indians or even aliens. The creator of the park was a person, although not quite ordinary. His name was Edward James, and he was a British poet and philanthropist, known for his commitment to surrealism in art. He invested millions of dollars of family wealth to create an outlandish sculpture park in the 1960s and ’70s.
The Las Pozas Gardens are located deep in the jungle on an area of about 40 hectares and consist of fantastic streets and gravity-defying structures that serve no purpose but to be a visual delight. Columns that seem to hold up natural rock outcroppings and outlandish spiral staircases to nowhere (see one of them at the top of this article) seem to be ruins preserved from a past civilization, but are really a tribute to the idea of surrealism.
Around two hours to the west, also in San Luis Potosi state, is central Mexico’s adventure playground of Huasteca, with Cuidad Valles as the base in the center of it all. In this area you can go whitewater rafting, scuba diving in a clear lake, rappelling down a waterfall, and tubing on waterways that are a striking blue color much of the year.
The really unique offering here, however, is the Mico River series of waterfalls you can jump off of into the froth. After you strap on a helmet and lifejacket, you progress through a series of higher falls, jumping off at the top and getting a soft landing at the bottom. And yes, the water really does look like this in some areas:
Valladolid and Yucatan State
While Cancun is one of the most popular destinations in the world, the area of the Yucatan Peninsula away from the Caribbean coast gets far fewer visitors except for day trippers heading to Chichen Itza. Those who do explore this area away from the big crowds almost always come away enchanted.
I’ve been to the area more times than I can count at this point and am always surprised by how much there is to do in Yucatan state. When it comes to hidden gems of Mexico, this state has dozens of them.
The main base is Merida, which is not exactly unknown, so plan to spend some time in a smaller city that’s also a good exploration base: Valladolid. You could do something different every day for a week striking out from here and end up with enough great photos to fill your Instagram feed for months.
First of all, it’s a quick hop to Chichen Itza from here, so you can get to that famous site before all the day-trippers from Cancun arrive on their tour buses or come in after they all leave. You’re also not far from Ek Balaam, another set of Mayan ruins that seldom gets crowded. Plus you can visit the yellow city of Izamal, which has its own major pyramid right in the center and its famous monastery a few blocks away.
There are multiple interesting cenotes nearby that you can visit and go swimming in, including Zazil Tunich and Chukum. Head up to Rio Lagartos by the Gulf for a boat ride to Las Colorados, colored lakes by a lagoon that are part of a sea-salt extraction operation, with flocks of flamingoes nearby at all times of the year. (You can also catch flamingos in Celestun, a day trip from Merida.)
Valladolid itself is a nice colonial town with good restaurants, coffee shops, and a brewpub even. It has its own station on the Maya Train and you’ll now find a luxury place to stay there: Oriundo Luxury Nature Villas.
To explore Yucatan state in style, connect with the best luxury tour company in the region: Catherwood Travels.
Oaxaca State and Its Beaches
While Oaxaca City is a popular destination in the interior of Mexico, even more so after the Pixar movie Coco came out, most visitors don’t venture out much to see the rest of the state. There are plenty of great excursions you can reach from the city though, including the ruins of Monte Alban and Mitla, the towns producing Oaxaca mezcal, and villages that create many of the best handicrafts from Mexico. See more on all that in our article Ruins and Recipes in Oaxaca.
Venture 70 km from the capital city for a series of fossilized waterfalls. They formed thousands of years ago from water highly saturated with minerals. There are two hot springs at the top of the Hierve el Agua waterfalls, looking out over a valley, a scene similar to the Pamukkale geothermal springs in Turkey.
While the Huatulco beaches in Oaxaca state are well-known to domestic vacationers, only a smattering of Canadian expats seem to venture there from up north, taking advantage of Huatulco real estate prices that are more attractive than in better-known Mexican beach destinations. There’s plenty to see and do around Huatulco though.
Puerto Escondido gets more popular each year, and it just got its first international flight, but it’s the surfers who have put it on the map, riding some of the biggest waves in North America. Only a smattering of other foreign vacationers seem to make it here, so the town is a far cry from the more built-up resort areas of Mexico, with mostly low-rise developments along the various beaches. Keep rolling along the coast to find even mellower options, like Zipolite (Mexico’s only official nude beach) and Mazunte.
It used to be quite an ordeal to get here overland from Oaxaca City, on winding roads over the mountains, but a new highway with tunnels is finally finished, cutting the trip down to a few hours without the car sickness.
These aren’t the only hidden gems in Mexico of course. We’d also recommend the colonial cities of Zacatecas, Morelia, Patzcuaro, and Taxco.
If you want a big city experience and you’ve already been to the capital, go explore Guadalajara or Queretaro, which both mix a Spanish Colonial center with modern attractions and amenities.
Adventure travelers will find plenty of ways to pump the adrenaline up in the Copper Canyons, Chiapas, and Baja Sur. Visit Cabo Pulmo in Baja for some of the best diving and snorkeling in Mexico.
Head to the bottom of Quintana Roo, near the Belize border, to the gorgeous lagoon that looks like the Caribbean Sea: Lake Bacalar. It has smaller crowds and hotel prices that actually make sense, even at the three best luxury hotels there.
How about you? What gems have you found off the beaten path in Mexico?
