Veracruz - Tourism

Tourism

Tourism mostly centers on the port of Veracruz but there are other destinations. There are over 1,000 hotels in the state, over half of which are small, family owned enterprises. Almost all of the four and five-star establishments are in metropolitan area of Veracruz. Many of the state major historical and cultural monuments are located in the port of Veracruz. Some of these include the Aquarium, the Museum of the City (Museo de la Ciudad), The Agustín Laura Museum, the Santiago Fortress (Baluarte de Santiago) the "Las Atarazanas" Museum and the San Juan de Ulúa Fort.

To the north of the port city is the Sierra or Totonacalpan area of the state, home to the Totonaca people. This is home to the important pre-Hispanic city of El Tajín and the present-day city of Papantla. The modern city is best known as the home of the Totonac version of the “danza de voladores”; there, the dancers spin from 80 ft (24.4 m) high poles. The area is also the native habitat of the vanilla bean.

To the south of the port is on the coast, is Catemaco. This is in a tropical area. The area’s two main features are Lake Catemaco, which is located in the crater of an extinct volcano and Isla Tanaxpillo just off the coast. This island is also called the island of the monkeys or baboons due to a group of feral monkeys that escaped and found refuge here.

Inland is the coffee-growing region in and around the cities of Coatepec and Xalapa. Orizaba is best known for the volcano nearby but also has a large waterfall called El Elefante and a Cañon (Canyon) de Río Blanco.