Sights and Activities:
Beaches:
Mexico has some of the best beaches in the world. Most of the coast of Mexico is white sand with desert or jungle mountains in the background. Some of the beaches have the best nightlife of any tourist scene, were people can drink all night long. Other places are more quiet, romantic or secluded. And for the real trail blazer there is still lots of coastline with nothing on it at all.

Acapulco is on the Pacific Coast.
Cabo San Lucas in Baja California Sur.
Cancun is on the Yucatán Peninsula in Quintana Roo and is the center for some great scuba diving. Unfortunately it has become very touristic with mainly American tourists in huge All Inclusive resorts. Most of the beaches are private.
Huatulco is on the South Pacific.
Mazatlán is on the Pacific coast in Sinaloa.
Playa del Carmen is on the Caribbean Coast in Quintana Roo. A bit less touristic than Cancun and all the beaches are public.
Cozumel - The beach is not that good but the sea is beautifull and the reef starts right at the beach. So you can go snorkeling right away and see amazing fishes and coral reefs.
Puerto Vallarta is on the Pacific Coast in Jalisco.
Rocky Point is at the northern tip of the Sea of Cortez.
Tulum is on the Yucatán Peninsula, approx 130 kilometres south of Cancún and also home to some amazing ruins. The beaches are white and the sea is blue. This is the Caribbean Sea as you imagine it to be. It is a lot more quiet than the other beachtowns in Quintana Roo like Cancun and Playa del Carmen.

Chichen Itza:
Chichen Itza is one of the new 7 world wonders and for good reason. The site is located on the Yucatán Peninsula between Merida and Valladolid. The site is very popular for daytrips from tourists who stay in the Riviera Maya. The main attraction is the big pyramid of Kukulcan or El Castillo. Unfortunately it is not possibly to climb up the pyramid anymore but it is also impressive to see the building and to imagine how the Mayans have constructed it. They must have had quite some knowledge of mathematics and astrology.

The ground plan of the pyramid has square terraces with stairways on every side to the temple on the top. Two times a year during the Spring and Autumn equinox it seems like a snake comes down the stairs of the north staircase. This symbolises the feathered snake wich represents Kukulcan or Quetzalcoatle. The shadow moves down by the movement of the sun during the rising and setting of the sun.

Underneath the temple archeologists have found another temple. Inside the temple was a Chac Mool statue and a throne in the shape of a jaguar, painted red with spots made of inlaid jade. As most other archeological sites Chichen Itza also has a ball field but it is bigger than many others. Although nobody knows exactly how the ballgame was played the pictures on the walls suggest that the game ended quite bloody.

Calakmul:
Calakmul, also known as Kalakmul, is one of the largest Mayan cities ever discovered. Located deep in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve near the Guatemalan border in the state of Campeche, this ancient city is well preserved. Only found in 1931 the city was a major seat of power for the Kaan dynasty and had a population of over 50,000. The city was a rival to Tikal during the late classical period with the Caracol as an alley. The city was occupied from the 6th century to the 10th century and today is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Other Archeological Sites:
The central and southern parts of Mexico were home to the Aztec, Mayan and Olmec civilizations among others and numerous ruins from these civilizations can be visited.

Monte Albán was one of the oldest Mesoamerican cities and is in Oaxaca.
Palenque Ruin is an amazing ruin and main rival of Tikal. It is located outside of the city of Palenque. Close to Palenque you can also find the impressive ruins of Yaxchilan and Bonampak.
Tajín - Found in the heart of the gulf of Mexico, north of Veracruz.
Teotihuacan - the pyramid and the sun and the moon are close to Mexico City.
Ek Balam - this ruin is close to Valladolid and really worth a visit. You can climb up the big temple. And except of some Mexican families having a picnic you will hardly find any tourist here.
Uxmal - this site is on the way from Merida to Campeche. The site is very big and the architecture is amazing and quite different from other sites.
Coba - Just about an 1 hour away from Tulum you will encounter Coba. While monkeys are screaming and jumping through the trees you can ride around the site by bike and even climb up the big temple to have a great view over the jungle.

Spanish Colonial History:
With a long colonial history, Mexico has some amazing places to see from that era. There are wonderful 16th and 17th century churches to explore. There are town squares that look like they should belong in Spain and historic old towns to explore in most of the larger cities. Remember that some of the areas have started to deteriorate, so be careful.

Campeche
Cuernavaca
Guanajuato
Puebla
Querétaro
Zacatecas
San Cristobal de las Casas

Barranca del Cobre:
Barranca del Cobre, also known as Copper Canyon, is a series of 6 different canyons in the Sierra Tarahumura, which is in the southwestern part of the state of Chihuahua. All the canyons added together are larger and some parts are deeper then the Grand Canyon in the USA, although no individual canyon in Barranca del Cobre is larger then the Grand Canyon. The Chihuahuah Pacifico railroad goes up and down the canyon, which is known by the nickname Chepe. The canyons are the traditional home of the Tarahumara people, which are known for their long distance running ability. These people have been known to run 160 kilometres in order to run down an animal to kill it. The Tarahumara people still live a traditional lifestyle and practice a traditional religion with a Roman Catholic twist. You can travel through it by train. Chihuahua is the starting point for the famous Ferrocarril Chihuahua al Pacífico which travels two times daily to the Pacific coastline to the city of Los Mochis, Sinaloa and its port Topolobampo, though the beautiful Copper Canyon. One trip is for tourists only and is much faster, the second daily trip is slower, stopping en route at about 15 places and is a combined trip with cargo.

Popocatépetl:
Popocatépetl is an active volcano located in the heart of Mexico, about 70 kilometres southeast of the capital Mexico City. The mountain has been climbed since a long time ago. The Tecuanipas tribe is said to have climbed it in 1289, followed by the Spanish in the 16th century. Literally meaning the 'smoking mountain', it is the second highest peak in the country and on one of those rare clear days it can be seen from the higher parts of Mexico City. Popocatépetl is one of the only three mountains in Mexico that has glaciers near the summit.

Popocatépetl has had over 20 eruptions in modern history, with the eruptions of 1994, 1996, 2004 and 2005 (still continuing as at 2009) [1] being the most recent ones. In the 1996 eruption, tens of thousands of people were evacuated by the government based on the warnings of scientists. The volcano then experienced its worst eruption in thousands of years.

Popocatépetl is one of the only three mountains in Mexico that has glaciers near the summit.

Other Natural Sites:
Calakmul Biosphere Reserve - The largest reserve in the country (South of the Yucatan Peninsula).
Cozumel is very popular for its scuba diving. You can go snorkeling right from the beach. The coralreefs and fishes are amazing.
La Bufadora is a blowhole on the Punta Banda Peninsula in Baja California.
Sian Ka'an is a national park in Quintana Roo.
Xochicalco -
Isla Holbox - The little island north of Yucatan is perfect for some relaxing days. However the beach is quite hard because golfcarts go over it the whole time you can make nice walks over the island and take boattrips to other deserted island to see many birds and dolphins along the way. Even more special to go here in the summermonths (jun-sep) because then you have the oppurtunity to go snorkeling with immense whale shark!