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Mexico is currently one of the most popular international destinations, with over 30 million visitors last year alone and is poised for further growth in 2023. Although Cancun and Los Cabos are leading booking trends, they are not the only ones behind this resounding success.
Travelers are searching more than ever more unique, authentic experiences when they went abroad, especially Americans who were forced to be cooped up at home for most of the past three years – it should come as no surprise that interest in lesser known, off-path sites increased.
In Mexico, it is the unsung ‘Magical Cities’ that are help promote recoveryand five in particular are touted as the following tourist hotspots:
Tequisquiapan
The first is Tequisquiapana traditional municipality in the state of Queretaro, in Central Mexico, famous for its cobblestone streets, rustic buildings with wooden window sills and wrought iron ornaments, and its colonial heritage.
As reported by Cronica Earlier this year, Tequisquiapan was one of Mexico’s criminally underrated wellness centers because, in addition to the historical weight it holds as a 300 year old settlementit features a large number of spas and natural hot springs.
For decades, Mexicans have been driving from the neighboring city of Queretaro all the way to Mexico City for weekend getaways, but Tequisquiapan is only now reaching its peak. global breakthrough.
At the International Tourism Fait (FITUR), held this year in Madrid, it won the prize for best ‘Wellness tourist paradise‘: there are no fewer than 1,200 hotel rooms available, more than 1,000 AirBnB stays and more than 250 dining options where visitors can experiment with traditional Mexican cuisine.
Tequila
While Tequila isn’t exactly an unheard gem, having been a regular feature of travel brochures about Mexico’s cultural side, it’s certainly not something to be underestimated amid the continued Mexican reintroductionwith more than 334,000 registered guests between January and August this year.
On average, this small, quaint town receives half a million tourists a year, indicating that it is on the right track to recovery, if record numbers don’t arrive in December, and this cannot be solely attributed to the signature spirit that originates in Tequila. :
A perfectly preserved colonial settlement in Spanish Mexico, with a beautiful central location squareroyal palaces that combine elements of both Iberian and Moorish architecture, much like mainland Spain, as well as the iconic Church of Santiago Apostol, with its striking stone facade.
Because of its rich history, architectural wealth and intangible heritage tequila (the drink), made from the blue agave plant, native to the region, Tequila is one of the best destinations to get a taste of some culture south of the border.
Cholula
Perhaps Mexico’s best-hidden secret and one that most foreigners have yet to discover, Cholula is a literal “magic city” of the state of Puebla that recently gained the distinction of being the most visited city in the entire state.
Although it is connected to the state capital, Cholula has a unique character, and it stands alone as a cultural center, divided into eighteen neighborhoods, each with its own patron saint, and focusing on both colonial and ancient monuments.
The most impressive of these, the Great Pyramid, is the largest complex of its kind in Americaas well as the largest pyramid by volume in the world today.
It may not be as tall as the Mayan structures in the Yucatan, or the Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, but its base dimensions are much wider.
Other attractions in Cholula include the Franciscan Monastery of San Gabriel, founded by the Spanish in the 16th century. one of the oldest in America – and the colorful, shop-lined Morelos Street.
According to local authorities, Cholula, among other Puebla ‘magic towns’, has attracted more than 1.4 million people this year already68 percent more than in 2022.
Izamal
The Yucatan is best known for its Caribbean beaches, ultra-modern resorts and luxury shopping, but there’s another side to the paradise peninsula that foreigners are only beginning to discover: it’s packed with picturesque, Instagrammable towns that ooze character.
One of them is Izamal, ‘The yellow city’ Yucatánwhere the cobblestone alleys are flanked by lively, yellow-colored houses; two cultures collide – Spanish and pre-Columbian – and Spanish structures, constructed from Mayan stones, dominate the grid-like, yellow landscape.
As tourists walk around Izamal, they will come across the City of the Hills, an archaeological complex that once housed a Mayan outpost before Spanish colonists swept in and occupied the area, and a large Franciscan monastery, whose open atrium is in size only after the Vatican.
This year the city is experiencing a boom in popularity as demand for cultural expeditions from Cancun, about three hours away, grows. The city will consolidate itself as a popular destination once the Mayan Train starts on December 1, with a stop in Izamal. .
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This article originally appeared on TravelOffPath.com
