Country Information

‘South of the Border’, Mexico is the immediate southern neighbour of the United States. The country has had a fascinating history through the period of the Olmecs, Toltecs, Mayas, Aztecs and Spanish Conquistadors, resulting in many world famous archaeological sights.

Today the country is an important tourist destination, and highlights include the immense capital, Mexico City, with its many fine colonial buildings, churches and soaring skyscrapers, which sit against a backcloth of snow-capped volcanoes. Then there are the beach resorts of a rediscovered Acapulco and Puerto Vallarta on the Pacific coast and the modern resort of Cancun, close to many of the important archaeological sights, on the Yucutan Peninsula. In the north of the country, the Copper Canyon is four times the size of the Grand Canyon in the United States.

Mexico has several climatic zones, depending on altitude. Mexico City enjoys year-round mild, spring-like temperatures, with cool evenings, and even frost in the winter; the tropical Yucutan and Acapulco regions are generally humid. The lowlands and coastal regions are especially hot between April and June, with occasional bursts of heavy rainfall from June to September.