Morelia

Home to another of Mexico’s great UNESCO sites, this elevated city of the Guayangareo Valley is now one of the best-loved cultural destinations in all of Mesoamerica. Over the centuries, its winding downtown streets and post-colonial alleyways have carved their natural meanders out of the pink-hued cantera slopes of the Sierra Madre, where today bursts of mountain greenery mark the border between city and central Mexican hinterland. For the best introduction to the enchanting old town, visitors should ask their Morelia tourist guide for walking route ideas that encompass the great baroque Cathedral of the Divine Savior, the awe-inspiring, honorific monument to Mexico’s wartime hero, Jose Pavon, and the Benito Juarez Park, where a 600-acre patchwork of animal exhibits, cultivated lawns and lakeside spots offer the perfect place to wallow away the rest of the day. Throughout the year Morelia also hosts a number of regional festivals, the most popular of which is probably the autumn food fair, when guests can sample the best of Michoacán cuisine, from the spicy bean tarasca soup, to the chicken and potato enchiladas that are unique to Morelia itself.