For exceptional luxury travel experiences, Mexico is hard to beat. Its multi-billion-dollar tourism industry is one of the most developed of such industries in the world.
This large country, sandwiched as it is between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, has one of the most diverse weather systems in the world and straddles both temperate and tropical climate zones.
Mexico’s luxury tourism industry may bring to mind the warm sands and crystal-clear waters of the luxurious resorts of the Gulf Pacific Coasts, but deluxe trips do not stop at the city limits. Rural areas have begun to develop a variety of tourism schemes, such as activity-based tourism, community tourism and genuine ecotourism, and luxury hotels have seen this as an invitation to begin expanding into the smaller pueblos and remote beaches. Before catching a flight to Mexico City via Aeromexico, here is a glimpse of some of the best attractions that Mexico has to offer the vacationer.
Top tourist attractions in Mexico
Mexico had a number of ancient civilizations, including the Maya, the Aztecs, the Olmecs and the Teotihuacan. The ruins that these Mesoamerican people left behind are some of the top destinations in the country and include: Tulum, a Mayan port city perched above the Caribbean on the Yucatan Peninsula; and Palenque, home to some of the best examples of ancient Mayan architecture and sculpture. Chichen Itza is the most famous and most visited of the ancient Mayan sites. In addition to the landmark temple pyramid of El Castillo, Chichen Itza features a massive ball court and the astronomical observatory, El Caracol.
Credited as being the birthplace of tequila, the Mexican state of Jalisco also gave the world mariachi. Arguably the most well-known of Mexican musical styles, mariachi is played throughout the length and breadth of the country, with bands competing for attention in plazas and restaurants on a nightly basis.
Natural places and landscape attractions are also one of the biggest draws for travelers to Mexico, and with the rise of ecotourism they have become a huge part of the luxury vacation package. Travelers can arrange to enter into the warm-water filled sinkholes called Cenotes in Valladolid, or welcome the gray whales as they arrive in the winter to mate in the lagoons along the Pacific coast.
One of the most magnificent sights in the country occurs every year between November and April when the migrating Monarch butterflies arrive. Millions of the creatures fill the trees of the sanctuary, turning them a bright orange.
For travelers that wish to experience everything that is natural about Mexico, a trip to the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve is very rewarding. A massive coastal reserve, Sian Ka’an ranges from tropical forest to fresh and saltwater marshes to barrier reef. It is noteworthy for its birdwatching, but a wide variety of other wildlife also lives there.
When it comes to luxury vacations, luxury hotels and resorts, and all other things luxurious, nothing tops a visit to the coastal hotspots: Cancun on the Caribbean coast; Puerto Vallarta and Acapulco on the Pacific coast; and Los Cabos on the southern tips of the Baja Peninsula. Beautiful sandy beaches, sophisticated hotels and resorts, fine dining, lively bars and scores of attractions within easy reach, these deluxe destinations are some of the visited spots in Mexico, drawing tourists from all around the world.
