Monte Alban
Oaxaca, Mexico
Monte Alban is the hilltop capital of the Zapotecs above Oaxaca City in southern Mexico, founded around 500 BC on an…
32 tickets & tours
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Ancient Cities in Mexico
Mexico's ancient cities run from the Zapotec hilltops of Oaxaca to Maya capitals deep in the rainforest of Campeche and Chiapas.
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Chacchoben
Mahahual, Mexico
Chacchoben is a Maya city in the jungle of southern Quintana Roo, an hour inland from the cruise port of Costa Maya,…
18 tickets & tours
Mitla
Mitla, Mexico
Mitla is the Zapotec religious centre in the Tlacolula Valley, 44 km south-east of Oaxaca city, known for walls covered…
17 tickets & tours
Bonampak
Palenque, Mexico
Bonampak is a small Classic Maya city in the Lacandon rainforest of Chiapas, famous for the painted rooms of its Temple…
13 tickets & tours
Calakmul
Calakmul, Mexico
Calakmul is the great Maya capital of the Snake Kingdom, deep in the rainforest of southern Campeche, 35 km from the…
9 tickets & tours
Yaxchilan
Palenque, Mexico
Yaxchilan is a Classic Maya city in the rainforest of Chiapas, reached only by boat along the Usumacinta River on the…
9 tickets & tours
Muyil
Tulum, Mexico
Muyil is a quiet Maya site in the forest about 20 km south of Tulum, on the edge of the Sian Ka'an reserve in…
8 tickets & tours
Guachimontones
Teuchitlan, Mexico
Guachimontones is the largest site of the Teuchitlan culture, on a hillside above Teuchitlan about an hour west of…
6 tickets & tours
El Tajin
Papantla, Mexico
El Tajin is the great city of the Classic Veracruz culture, near Papantla in the hills of northern Veracruz, which…
5 tickets & tours
Kabah
Santa Elena, Mexico
Kabah is the second-largest Maya city of the Puuc hills in Yucatan, Mexico, about 140 km south of Merida and joined to…
5 tickets & tours
San Gervasio
Cozumel, Mexico
San Gervasio is the largest Maya site on the island of Cozumel, a group of small temples, palaces and plazas linked by…
5 tickets & tours
Dzibilchaltun
Mérida, Mexico
Dzibilchaltun is a Maya city 16 km north of Merida in Yucatan, Mexico, lived in for thousands of years and best known…
4 tickets & tours
Kohunlich
Chetumal, Mexico
Kohunlich is a Maya city in the rainforest of southern Quintana Roo, about 65 km west of Chetumal, known above all for…
4 tickets & tours
Yagul
Oaxaca, Mexico
Yagul is a Zapotec hilltop city in the Tlacolula valley, about 36 km east of Oaxaca, crowned by a fortress with views…
4 tickets & tours
Cempoala
Cempoala, Mexico
Cempoala is the ruined capital of the Totonacs on the Gulf coast plain of Veracruz, about 40 km north of the port.
3 tickets & tours
Dzibanche
Bacalar, Mexico
Dzibanche is a Maya city in the forest of southern Quintana Roo, west of Bacalar, that was the first capital of the…
3 tickets & tours
Edzna
Campeche, Mexico
Edzna is a Maya city in the valley south-east of Campeche, about an hour's drive from the walled port.
3 tickets & tours
Ichkabal
Bacalar, Mexico
Ichkabal is a vast Maya city in the forest west of Bacalar, in southern Quintana Roo, opened to visitors only recently.
3 tickets & tours
Tonina
Ocosingo, Mexico
Tonina is a Maya city in the highlands of Chiapas, 13 km east of Ocosingo, whose acropolis climbs seven terraces to…
3 tickets & tours
Xcambo
Dzemul, Mexico
Xcambo is a small Maya port town on the Gulf coast of Yucatan, about 30 km east of Progreso, that grew rich on salt…
3 tickets & tours
Cacaxtla
Nativitas, Mexico
Cacaxtla is a hilltop palace city in the state of Tlaxcala, near Puebla in central Mexico, famous for murals painted…
2 tickets & tours
Copalita Eco-Archaeological Park
Huatulco, Mexico
Copalita Eco-Archaeological Park, just east of the Huatulco resort area on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca, combines…
2 tickets & tours
Dainzu
Oaxaca, Mexico
Dainzu is a Zapotec town on a hillside in the Tlacolula valley, about 20 km south-east of Oaxaca city, at its height…
2 tickets & tours
Mayapan
Tecoh, Mexico
Mayapan was the last great capital of the Maya in Yucatan, ruling much of the north of the peninsula from the 1220s…
2 tickets & tours
Monte Alban, above Oaxaca, has a vast levelled plaza framed by pyramids and the carved Danzantes. At Calakmul you can still climb Structure 2 above an unbroken forest canopy. El Tajin has the Pyramid of the Niches and about twenty ballcourts. Yaxchilan is reached only by boat on the Usumacinta, usually with the murals of Bonampak. Kabah's Codz Poop is covered with hundreds of masks of the rain god Chaac. Go at opening in the dry season, November to April, as most sites have little shade.