L
Las Pozas
Take a wealthy English eccentric, an idyllic tract of Mexican jungle and an extremely hyperactive imagination, and you’d still struggle to come up with…
Justin Foulkes
Northern Central Highlands
From cobbled lanes and shaded plazas to vast deserts and cloud forest, Mexico's northern central highlands is a region as varied as its history, cuisine and cultures. It was here that enormous mineral wealth created rich colonial cities before revolutionary activity left ghost towns in its wake. Known as the Cuna de la Independencia (Cradle of Independence), the territory is renowned for its part in the country's fight for autonomy, spurred on by the famous Grito de Dolores, which called the Mexican people to arms against the Spanish.
Unmissable highlights of the region include arty and achingly gorgeous San Miguel de Allende, the waterfalls and the turquoise-colored water of the Huasteca Potosina and the grand colonial silver cities of Guanajuato and Zacatecas. Elsewhere you'll find pre-Hispanic sites, art museums, nightlife, crowded festivals and artesanías shopping to rival anywhere else in the country. Get ready to join the (exceptionally loud) party.
Explore Northern Central Highlands
- LLas Pozas
Take a wealthy English eccentric, an idyllic tract of Mexican jungle and an extremely hyperactive imagination, and you’d still struggle to come up with…
- CCascada de Tamul
Like something from a tropical postcard, Tamul is easily the Huasteca Potosina’s most spectacular waterfall. Milky-blue water plunges 105m into the…
- CCañada de la Virgen
Cañada de la Virgen is an intriguing pre-Hispanic pyramid complex and former ritual and ceremonial location, dating from around AD 300 and in use until…
- MMuseo Nacional de la Muerte
The excellent Museo Nacional de la Muerte exhibits all things relating to Mexico's favorite subject – death – from the skeleton La Catrina to historic…
- SSótano de las Huahuas
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…
- MMuseo Federico Silva
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…
- MMuseo Nacional de la Máscara
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…
- Museo y Casa de Diego Rivera
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
Don’t leave Guanajuato without visiting the magnificent Teatro Juárez. It was built between 1873 and 1903 and inaugurated by the dictator Porfirio Díaz,…
Top attractions
These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Northern Central Highlands.
- See
Las Pozas
Take a wealthy English eccentric, an idyllic tract of Mexican jungle and an extremely hyperactive imagination, and you’d still struggle to come up with…
- See
Cascada de Tamul
Like something from a tropical postcard, Tamul is easily the Huasteca Potosina’s most spectacular waterfall. Milky-blue water plunges 105m into the…
- See
Cañada de la Virgen
Cañada de la Virgen is an intriguing pre-Hispanic pyramid complex and former ritual and ceremonial location, dating from around AD 300 and in use until…
- See
Museo Nacional de la Muerte
The excellent Museo Nacional de la Muerte exhibits all things relating to Mexico's favorite subject – death – from the skeleton La Catrina to historic…
- See
Sótano de las Huahuas
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…
- See
Museo Federico Silva
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…
- See
Museo Nacional de la Máscara
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…
- See
Museo y Casa de Diego Rivera
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…
- See
Teatro Juárez
Don’t leave Guanajuato without visiting the magnificent Teatro Juárez. It was built between 1873 and 1903 and inaugurated by the dictator Porfirio Díaz,…
