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MX · Curated travel guide

Mexico: 10 places worth the journey

Teotihuacan, Popocatépetl, Pico de Orizaba and 7 more — what each one is, and why it is worth the detour.

Places
10
World Heritage
4
Language
Nahuatl, Spanish
Currency
MXN
Teotihuacan, Mexico
Teotihuacan · Ancient Mesoamerican city · Hdlrosa, CC BY-SA 4.0

What to see in Mexico

Chosen from everything Wikidata knows about Mexico and ranked by how many Wikipedia language editions describe them, which is about as close to "famous" as open data gets. 4 are on UNESCO's World Heritage list.

Teotihuacan World Heritage

Teotihuacan

Ancient Mesoamerican city

Lying 40 kilometers (25 mi) northeast of present-day Mexico City, an ancient city of Mesoamerica in a side valley of the Valley of Mexico, in the State of Mexico.

Photo: Hdlrosa, CC BY-SA 4.0

Popocatépetl

Popocatépetl

Stratovolcano in Puebla, Mexico

An active stratovolcano in central Mexico, in the states of Mexico, Morelos and Puebla, in the eastern half of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt.

Photo: Jakub Hejtmánek, CC BY-SA 3.0

Pico de Orizaba

Pico de Orizaba

Highest peak in Mexico and highest volcano in North America

Also called Citlaltépetl, an active volcano, the highest in North America and the highest mountain in Mexico; among North American peaks only Denali in the United States and Mount Logan in Canada are higher. It rises 5,636 metres (18,491 ft) above sea level at the east end of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, on the Puebla–Veracruz border.

Photo: México en Fotos, CC BY-SA 2.0

Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral

Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral

Catholic church building in Mexico City

Properly the “Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven”, the cathedral church of Mexico's Catholic Archdiocese. Built over what was the Aztecs' sacred precinct, close to the Templo Mayor, it faces the Plaza de la Constitución (Zócalo) from the north, in Mexico City's historic centre.

Photo: ProtoplasmaKid, CC BY-SA 4.0

Chicxulub crater

Chicxulub crater

Prehistoric impact crater in Mexico

An impact crater buried beneath Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, named after Chicxulub Pueblo, an inland community on shore.

Photo: O.V.E.R.V.I.E.W., CC BY 2.0

Parícutin

Parícutin

Dormant volcano in Michoacán, Mexico

A cinder cone volcano in the Mexican state of Michoacán, near Uruapan and about 322 kilometers (200 mi) west of Mexico City. In 1943 it suddenly rose out of the cornfield of a local farmer, Dionisio Pulido, drawing both public and scientific interest.

Photo: Jim Luhr, Smithsonian Institution, Public domain

Revillagigedo Islands World Heritage

Revillagigedo Islands

Volcanic archipelago in the Pacific Ocean

Also called the Revillagigedo Archipelago, four volcanic islands in the Pacific known for their unique ecosystem. Cabo San Lucas, at the southern end of the Baja California Peninsula, lies to their north and northeast, approximately 458 kilometres (285 mi) from Socorro Island; Manzanillo lies 698 to 1,092 kilometres to their east.

Photo: Lieutenant Debora Barr, NOAA Corps, Public domain

Pyramid of the Sun

Pyramid of the Sun

Pyramid structure in Mexico

The biggest building in Teotihuacan and among the biggest in Mesoamerica, thought to date from about 200 AD.

Photo: Burkhard Mücke, CC BY-SA 4.0

El Castillo, Chichen Itza World Heritage

El Castillo, Chichen Itza

Step pyramid in the Mayan city of Chichen Itza in Tinúm, Mexico

Also called the Temple of Kukulcan, a Mesoamerican step-pyramid towering over the centre of the Chichen Itza archaeological site in Yucatán, Mexico; archaeologists formally label it Chichen Itza Structure 5B18.

Photo: Daniel Schwen, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sian Kaʼan Biosphere Reserve World Heritage

Sian Kaʼan Biosphere Reserve

Protected area in Quintana Roo, Mexico

Set up in 1986 and listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1987: a biosphere reserve in Tulum Municipality, Quintana Roo, Mexico.

Photo: Tschips, CC BY-SA 3.0

About Mexico

Officially the United Mexican States, a North American country and the most northerly in Latin America. The United States of America lies to its north and Belize and Guatemala to its southeast; at sea it meets the Pacific to the west, the Gulf of Mexico to the east and the Caribbean to the southeast. It covers 1,972,550 km², the thirteenth-largest land area of any country.

Officially The United Mexican States. Known locally as Mēxihco, México.

Based on the Wikipedia article, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0: the facts are Wikipedia's, the wording is this site's.

Questions travellers ask

What is worth seeing in Mexico?

This guide lists 10: Teotihuacan, Popocatépetl, Pico de Orizaba and Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral and others. Teotihuacan, Revillagigedo Islands, El Castillo, Chichen Itza and Sian Kaʼan Biosphere Reserve are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

How were these places chosen?

By machine, from open data, with no human ranking them and nobody able to pay for a place on the list. Everything Wikidata records in Mexico that is a building, a landform, a protected area or a tourist attraction, has coordinates, a photograph and an English Wikipedia article, is ranked by how many Wikipedia language editions wrote about it. Provinces, cities, airports, stations and stretches of sea shared with the neighbours are filtered out.

Which places here are UNESCO World Heritage Sites?

4 of the 10 in this guide: Teotihuacan, Revillagigedo Islands, El Castillo, Chichen Itza and Sian Kaʼan Biosphere Reserve. That is not the full count for Mexico, only the listed sites that made this guide.

What language is spoken in Mexico, and what currency?

Nahuatl, Spanish. The currency is MXN.

How do I get mobile data in Mexico?

A travel eSIM is usually the cheapest way, and avoids a roaming bill. The plans suggested at the foot of this guide start at $2.69 for 1GB per day. The eSIM is data-only and sits alongside your normal SIM, so calls, texts and WhatsApp keep working on your own number.

Which networks would my phone use in Mexico?

AT&T and Telcel. Your phone picks whichever has the best signal where you are, the same way a local phone does.

One practical note: staying online

Maps, tickets and translation all want data, and roaming is the expensive way to get it. A Computatus eSIM eSIM connects to AT&T and Telcel once you land, and installs by QR code before you leave.

See 13 Computatus eSIM plans for Mexico from $2.69
Prices as exported 2026-07-31. Tap a plan to open its order page.
Plan Data Valid Price Order
1GB per day Cheapest 1 GB 1 day $2.69 Get it →
1GB for 7 days 1 GB 7 days $2.77 Get it →
1GB per day 1 GB 1 day $3.35 Get it →
2GB per day 2 GB 1 day $4.69 Get it →
2GB per day 2 GB 1 day $6.37 Get it →
3GB for 15 days 3 GB 15 days $8.04 Get it →

No app needed. Install by QR code before you fly, keep your own number for calls, and it connects the moment you land.

AT&T 5GTelcel 5G

Open the $2.69 plan →

A commission on plans bought through these links is what pays for this guide. Nothing above depends on it: the places are chosen before any price is looked up.