| |
Mexico Tourist information
Chihuahua-Pacific Railway: Mexico's most scenic railway connects Los Mochis on the Pacific coast with Chihuahua in the country's arid inland. The route takes 14 to 16 hours, and includes several stops in the fabled Barranca del Cobre (Copper Canyon) - actually a group of 20 canyons, and all up four times larger than the Grand Canyon. The 655km (406mi) train line passes through 86 tunnels and over 39 bridges as it cuts through the Sierra Tarahumara's sheer canyons, hugging the sides of towering cliffs and offering dizzying glimpses of river beds far below. The views are stunning, particularly between Creel and Loreto; they're generally best on the right side of the carriage when heading inland (east) and on the left when heading to the coast (west). Stops along the way include the attractive colonial town of El Fuerte; Divisadero, with excellent views down into the 2300m (7544ft) depths of Copper Canyon; Areponápuchi, teetering right on the canyon's edge; Creel, a base for hikers and the regional center for the local Tarahumara people; and the Mennonite hub of Cuauhtémoc.
Puerto Vallarta: Cobblestoned and whitewashed Puerto Vallarta is one of the central Pacific coast's best-known beach resorts. Nestled beside the Río Caule, between palm-covered mountains and flanking the azure Bahía de las Banderas (Bay of Flags), the city boasts a setting as ridiculously picturesque as its idyllic white-sand beaches and red-tiled houses of white adobe. The city has mutated from a sleepy seaside village into an international resort so quickly that it is fashionable to deride its spoilt charms, but it's almost impossible to dislike its lively bars, romantic restaurants, mushrooming gallery scene and bustling marine life. There are dolphins in the bay year-round, and humpback whales between November and March. Locals insist that if you stand on the seafront in April, you can see giant manta rays leaping into the air during their mating rituals.
Guadalajara: Many of the traditions considered characteristically 'Mexican' were created in Guadalajara, the country's second-largest city. Guadalajara can be held responsible for the mixed blessings of mariachi music, tequila, the Mexican Hat Dance, broad-brimmed sombrero hats and the Mexican rodeo. Part of Guadalajara's huge appeal is that it has many of the attractions of Mexico City - a vibrant culture, fine museums and galleries, handsome historic buildings, exciting nightlife and good places to stay and eat - but few of the capital's problems. It's a bright, modern, well-organized and unpolluted place, with enough attractions to please even the pickiest visitor. Highlights include the giant, twin-towered cathedral and the lovely plazas that surround it, the Instituto Cultural de Cabañas and its frescoes by José Clemente Orozco, the Plaza de los Mariachis if you're a masochist, and the twin handicraft-filled suburbs of Tlaquepaque and Tonalá.
Puerto Vallarta: Cobblestoned and whitewashed Puerto Vallarta is one of the central Pacific coast's best-known beach resorts. Nestled beside the Río Caule, between palm-covered mountains and flanking the azure Bahía de las Banderas (Bay of Flags), the city boasts a setting as ridiculously picturesque as its idyllic white-sand beaches and red-tiled houses of white adobe. The city has mutated from a sleepy seaside village into an international resort so quickly that it is fashionable to deride its spoilt charms, but it's almost impossible to dislike its lively bars, romantic restaurants, mushrooming gallery scene and bustling marine life. There are dolphins in the bay year-round, and humpback whales between November and March. Locals insist that if you stand on the seafront in April, you can see giant manta rays leaping into the air during their mating rituals.
Acapulco: White-sand beaches, high-rise hotels, nightlife that glitters and the divers of La Quebrada - these are the postcard images of Acapulco, the granddaddy of the Pacific coast's resort cities, where tourism has been the number-one industry since the 1950s. Head inland and the city's schizophrenic side makes an appearance - trash-filled streets, crowded sidewalks, congested traffic, down-at-heel shops and dowdy apartment buildings. Most visitors are happy to ignore the city's daily grind, choosing to laze on the city's numerous beaches, shop at the many plazas or dine at all those restaurants with trilingual menus. The famous cliff divers of La Quebrada have been amazing visitors since the 1930s, gracefully plummeting from the seemingly suicidal height of 45m (148ft) into a narrow crevasse that appears to contain only enough water to wash their feet. Not surprisingly, the divers pray at a small shrine before flinging themselves into the void. You can catch a great view of the divers from the restaurant of the Plaza Las Glorias Hotel. For less crowded beaches, try the Pie de la Cuesta, 8km (5mi) northwest of the city center, which is a good alternative to the glitz of the city but can sometimes have dangerous waves. There are great views of Acapulco's bay on the road to Puerto Marqués, 18km (11mi) southeast of the city. Just south of the Peninsula de las Playas is the so-called underwater shrine, a submerged bronze statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
NEXT PAGE ->>>
|
|
