Destination: Mexico

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Top Tens

Adventures

See the regional chapters for details on these adrenalin rushes.

Surfing the big Pacific waves at Puerto Escondido
Volcano hiking on Pico de Orizaba
Diving and snorkeling the crystal-clear Caribbean reef waters
Canyon hiking in the Barranca del Cobre
Watching whales at Laguna Ojo de Liebre
Cloud-forest hiking in Oaxaca’s Sierra Norte
Snorkeling and kayaking with sea lions around Isla Espíritu Santo
Hanging from a ledge in the rock-climbing mecca Potrero Chico
Kayaking the islands and shores of the Parque Marino Nacional Bahía de Loreto
Sportfishing at Mazatlán

Fiestas

You’ll really catch the Mexican mood at these events.

Carnaval (Carnival), week leading up to Ash Wednesday (late February or early March), celebrated most wildly in Veracruz, Mazatlán and La Paz
Semana Santa (Holy Week), Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, particularly colorful in San Miguel de Allende and Pátzcuaro
Feria de San Marcos, mid-April to mid-May, Aguascalientes
Guelaguetza, last two Mondays of July, Oaxaca
La Morisma, last weekend of August, Zacatecas
Grito de la Independencia (Cry for Independence), September 15, Mexico City
Fiestas de Octubre, October, Guadalajara
Festival Internacional Cervantino, October, Guanajuato
Día de Todos los Santos (All Saints’ Day), November 1, and Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead), on November 2, celebrated nationwide
Día de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe), December 12, Mexico City

Movies

Mexicans and non-Mexicans alike have been inspired to make great films set in Mexico.

Traffic – Steven Soderbergh’s four-Oscar, cross-border drug movie with Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Benicio del Toro (2000); don’t watch it the night before you leave for Mexico
Frida – the atmospheric 2002 Hollywood Kahlo biopic, starring Salma Hayek
Amores Perros (Love’s a Bitch) – Alejandro González Iñárritu’s raw, ground-breaking movie of modern Mexico City life (2000)
Y Tu Mamá También (And Your Mother Too) – Alfonso Cuarón’s 2002 road movie and the most successful Mexican film ever
7 Days – a big Mexican hit in 2005, Fernando Kalife’s movie tells how a lowly music promoter pulls off the miraculous coup of getting U2 to play in his home town, Monterrey
El Crimen del Padre Amaro (The Crime of Father Amaro) – Carlos Carrera’s 2002 tale of the corrupt church
Los Olvidados (The Forgotten Ones) – Luis Buñuel’s 1950 condemnation of Mexico City poverty portrays a gang of nasty teenage thugs, with haunting dream sequences adding a surreal touch
El Mariachi – legendary low-budget 1992 action film, shot by Robert Rodriguez in two weeks for $7000, about a wandering musician (Carlos Gallardo) who gets mixed up in mob violence
Man on Fire – in this 2004 thriller, Denzel Washington plays a burned-out ex-CIA operative who comes to Mexico City to protect a family against a wave of kidnappings
The Wild Bunch – Sam Peckinpah’s landmark 1969 Western, with Texas outlaws escaping to pre-revolutionary north Mexico, has a feel for Mexican rituals and generosity despite all the violence

Travelling to Mexico?
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