All Mexico

The Atlas Obscura Guide To Mexico

549 Cool, Hidden, and Unusual Things to Do in Mexico

Updated September 19, 2023

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Cities

Top Cities
All Cities
  1. Aguascalientes
  2. Angahuan
  3. Atotonilco
  4. Bacalar
  5. Bernal
  6. Campeche
  7. Cancún
  8. Chichen Itza
  9. Chihuahua
  10. Ciudad Juárez
  11. Cuatrociénegas
  12. Cuernavaca
  13. Cuilapam De Guerrero
  14. Dolores Hidalgo
  15. Durango
  16. Ensenada
  17. Guadalajara
  18. Guanajuato
  19. Isla Mujeres
  20. Izamal
  21. León
  22. Malinalco
  23. Mazatlán
  24. Mérida
  25. Metepec
  26. Mexico City
  27. Monterrey
  28. Morelia
  29. Nativitas
  30. Naucalpan
  31. Oaxaca
  32. Pachuca De Soto
  33. Palenque
  34. Papantla
  35. Pátzcuaro
  36. Playa Del Carmen
  37. Puebla
  38. Puerto Escondido
  39. Puerto Vallarta
  40. San Agustín Etla
  41. San Andrés Cholula
  42. San Cristóbal De Las Casas
  43. San Francisco Mazapa
  44. San Juan Teotihuacan De Arista
  45. San Luis Potosí
  46. San Miguel De Allende
  47. San Pablo Villa De Mitla
  48. Santiago De Querétaro
  49. Taxco
  50. Tepoztlán
  51. Tequisquiapan
  52. Tijuana
  53. Tlalnepantla
  54. Toluca
  55. Tuxtla Gutiérrez
  56. Valladolid
  57. Valle De Bravo
  58. Villahermosa
  59. Xicotepec De Juárez
  60. Xilitla
  61. Zacatecas

Unusual Attractions in Mexico

See All 549 Things To Do in Mexico

Cool Places to Eat & Drink in Mexico

See all 10 Places to Eat in Mexico
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Atlas Obscura Trips

Tasting Oaxaca: Culinary Delights & Cultural Insights

A Culinary and Cultural Journey Through Oaxaca.

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Atlas Obscura Itineraries

Mexico City's Centro Histórico

Anchored by the Zócalo plaza and the architectural splendor of the Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City's historic center rightfully draws scores of visitors from around the world. If you look, smell, and taste carefully, you’ll also find a universe of culinary offerings that tells stories of immigration, adaptation, and imagination. With the help of Culinary Backstreets, we assembled a primer on eating and drinking your way through the district.

View Itinerary

Explore Mexico

Art 69
Archaeology 62
Museums And Collections 59
Ruins 55
Aztec 46
Sacred Spaces 45
Murals 44
History 42

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Stories About Mexico

When whale sharks congregate, tourists often do, too. Responsible tourism can help minimize the disruption.

Can We Swim With Whale Sharks Responsibly?

How to—and, more importantly, how not to—have an unforgettable wildlife encounter with the biggest fish in the sea.
by Roxanne Hoorn
These industrious beetles can live up to a few years without food, and rarely need water, making them unfortunately easy pets.

The Living, Breathing Brooches of the Yucatán

The live, jewel-encrusted beetles called maquechs are tied to an ancient legend, but some worry for their future.
by Roxanne Hoorn
Maru Toledo and one of the "Mujeres del Maíz" make tortillas.

The Remote Mexican Restaurant Reviving Jalisco's Forgotten Cuisine

Maru Toledo and the Mujeres del Maíz are putting history on the plate.
by Rena Behar
An Indigenous Mexican healer, known as a curandera, performs a ritual at El Rancho de Las Golondrinas, a living history museum in New Mexico.

Podcast: Witches and Ritual Around the Globe

Explore the mysteries of Mexico's Indigenous healers and Denmark's gruesome witch burnings with Condé Nast Traveler's Women Who Travel Podcast.
by The Podcast Team
In May, the massive sculpture sometimes called Monument 9, or an "Earth Monster," was repatriated to Mexico, where it had been looted years earlier.

An Olmec 'Earth Monster' Returns to Mexico

The repatriation of an ancient sculpture highlights the influential early Mesoamerican culture.
by Karl Taube
Nestled high in Mexico's mountains, a community works to protect the Endangered monarch butterflies that come to hibernate in the hundreds of thousands. Here two members of that community, Eduardo Carrillo and David Bautista, show the difference between males (left), who have two black dots on their wings, and females (right).

How This Tiny Mexican Town Has Saved Their Monarch Butterflies—For Now

At the Joya Redonda Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary, hibernating monarch numbers have multiplied tenfold. But is that enough to save the insect?
by Vanessa Freije & Yolotzin Hernández
In the Caribbean's Lesser Antilles archipelago, this aerial shot from April 2015 shows sargassum seaweed creeping toward a beach on Grande-Terre, which is part of the island of Guadeloupe, one of France's overseas départements.

10 Photos of Seaweed Blobs That Will Blow Your Mind

As a supersized sargassum bloom heads toward Florida and the Caribbean, we take a closer look at past big blobs.
by Sarah Durn
Families were raised and communities created in the migrant camps of Yakima Valley, Washington.

How Photos Tell the Story of a Migrant Farm Community to a New Generation

“I see the collection as a tool for uncovering what is already there."
by Line Sidonie Talla Mafotsing

Lists Featuring Mexico

Beside the auto shop's signage.

11 Marvelous Mexican Restaurants Hiding in Plain Sight

Sometimes, the best tacos are served inside an auto shop.

11

Including El Vilsito , Zaragoza Mexican Deli and Grocery, and La Morada

Red Seabeach
The otherworldly landscape of Padar Island.
Black Sand Beach

10 Unique Beaches From Around the World

From bright red grass to stranded shipwrecks, these beaches are anything but ordinary.

10

Including Driftwood Beach, Red Beach , and Padar Island

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