The north of Mexico, relatively speaking, is dull, arid and sparsely populated outside of a few industrial cities - like Monterrey - which are heavily American-influenced. The Baja California wilderness has its devotees, the border cities can be exciting in a rather sleazy way, and there are beach resorts on the Pacific, but most of the excitement lies in central and southeastern Mexico.

It's in the highlands north of and around the capital that the first really worthwhile stops come, with the bulk of the historic colonial towns and an enticingly spring-like climate year-round. Coming through the heart of the country, you'll pass the silver-mining towns of Zacatecas and Guanajuato , the historic centres of San Miguel de Allende and Querétaro , and many smaller places with a legacy of superb colonial architecture. Mexico City itself is a nightmare of an urban sprawl, but totally fascinating, and in every way - artistic, political, cultural - the capital of the nation. Around the city lie the chief relics of the pre-Hispanic cultures of central Mexico - the massive pyramids of Teotihuacán ; the main Toltec site at Tula ; and Tenochtitlan , heart of the Aztec empire, in the capital itself. Guadalajara , to the west, is a city on a more human scale, capital of the state of Jalisco and in easy reach of Michoacán : between them, these states share some of the most gently scenic country in Mexico - thickly forested hills, studded with lakes and ancient villages - and a reputation for producing some of the finest crafts in a country renowned for them.

South of the capital, the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas are mountainous and beautiful, too, but in a far wilder way. The city of Oaxaca , especially, is one of the most enticing destinations in the country, with an extraordinary mix of colonial and indigenous life, superb markets and fascinating archeological sites. Chiapas was the centre of the Zapatista uprising, though visitors are little affected these days, and the strength of indigenous traditions in and around the market town of San Cristóbal de las Casas , together with the opening-Lip of a number of lesser-known Maya cities, continue to make it a big travellers' centre. East into the Yucatán there is also traditional indigenous life, side by side with a tourist industry based around the magnificent Maya cities - Palenque, Chichén Itzá and Uxmal above all, but also scores of others - and the burgeoning new Caribbean resorts that surround Cancún . The capital, Mérida , continues its provincial life remarkably unaffected by the crowds all around.

On the Pacific coast, Acapulco is just the best known of the destinations. Northwards, big resorts like Mazatlán and Puerto Vallarta are interspersed with hundreds of miles of empty beaches; to the south there is still less development, and in the state of Oaxaca are some equally enticing shores. Few tourists venture over to the Gulf Coast, "despite the attractions of Veracruz and its mysterious ruins. The scene is largely dominated by oil, the weather too humid most of the time, and the beaches, on the whole, a disappointment.