{"id":20349,"date":"2017-06-04T04:39:23","date_gmt":"2017-06-03T18:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/?p=20349"},"modified":"2025-03-18T00:42:33","modified_gmt":"2025-03-17T13:42:33","slug":"mexican-highland-towns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/mexican-highland-towns\/","title":{"rendered":"5 towns in Mexico&#8217;s highlands to visit before everyone else does"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Most people go to Mexico for the sand and sea, but vast areas of the country are covered by mountains and dotted with charming towns and cities. You can\u2019t say you know <strong><a href=\"\/mexico\" data-wpil=\"url\">Mexico <\/a><\/strong>until you have visited its hinterland.<\/p>\n<p>Here are five beautiful towns in the highlands of Mexico that will make you forget the beach \u2013 for a while, at least. The best part: they&#8217;re all just a bus journey away from Mexico City.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Oaxaca<\/strong><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_20351\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20351\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20351\" src=\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Oaxaca_1-e1496418854813.jpg\" alt=\"Oaxaca Mexico\" width=\"800\" height=\"602\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-20351\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dance performance in the shadow of Templo Santo Domingo, Oaxaca<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Oaxaca has become my favorite town in Mexico. Almost unknown to travelers during my first visit in 2006, it now welcomes visitors from around the world, including a small community of North American expats. Yet it still retains the feeling of an authentic Mexican town.<\/p>\n<p>To get to Oaxaca, you need to head southeast from Mexico City. It will take you over six hours by bus, or you could fly.<\/p>\n<p>Oaxaca\u2019s charms go beyond its well-maintained and colorful center. As the birthplace of mole sauces, its cuisine rivals Mexico City, and its coffee shops wouldn\u2019t feel out of place in North America. Try <em>Los Pacos<\/em> or <em>La Olla<\/em> for typical Oaxacan cuisine.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_20352\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20352\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Oaxaca_2-e1496418874958.jpg\" alt=\"Oaxaca Mexico\" width=\"800\" height=\"518\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-20352\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pedestrian Calle Alcal\u00e1 at dusk, Oaxaca<\/p><\/div>\n<p>At 1500 meters, the winter climate is near perfect with almost constant sun and spring-like temperatures. The cultural scene hops with concerts, movies, live music, exhibitions, and lectures, many of them free, in addition to a plethora of museums. Art and artists are everywhere.<\/p>\n<p>Indigenous villages in the surrounding valleys host markets on different days of the week. You will also find artisan workshops, mescal factories, and ruins of pre-Hispanic civilizations, such as <em>Monte Alban <\/em>and <em>Mitla.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"\/subscribe\">SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER FOR TRAVEL INSPO, GIVEAWAYS &amp; MORE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>San Miguel de Allende<\/strong><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_20377\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"\/mexico\" data-wpil=\"url\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20377\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20377\" src=\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/San-Miguel-de-Allende-e1496441608587.jpg\" alt=\"San Miguel de Allende\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-20377\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Street vendors in the market streets of San Miguel de Allende<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Four hours by bus to the northwest of Mexico City, San Miguel de Allende is the first place I visited in Mexico in 2001. Already back then, it was well known within the expat community, and even appeared as a romantic backdrop in novels.<\/p>\n<p>The compact historical center is a showpiece of cobblestone streets, elaborate church facades, and perfectly restored buildings in shades of ochre, rust, and salmon, their windows girdled by wrought-iron balconies.<\/p>\n<p>On the main square, handicraft and balloon sellers amble around perfectly trimmed trees and flowerbeds. Musicians play under the arches of adjacent buildings. And the <em>Parroquia<\/em>, a Gaud\u00ed-esque confection of a church, towers over it all.<\/p>\n<p>A busy calendar of lectures, movies, and concerts, organized by the English-speaking community (especially from January to March) co-exists with lively Mexican festivals.<\/p>\n<p>Increasingly upscale, San Miguel is not a budget place anymore (and, honestly, neither is it off the beaten track). However, if you want Mexican flavor wrapped in a neat well-ordered package, and you don\u2019t speak any Spanish, you\u2019ll be comfortable here.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Guanajuato<\/strong><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_20376\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20376\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20376\" src=\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Guanajuato-e1496441086807.jpg\" alt=\"Guanajuato Mexico\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-20376\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bell Tower of Basilica de Nuestra Se\u00f1ora de Guanajuato<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Only an hour by bus from San Miguel, Guanajuato is a larger city and capital of its eponymous state. Although increasingly popular with expats, it remains a little grittier and more authentically Mexican than its neighbor. By the same token, English is not as commonly spoken, so some basic Spanish will be helpful.<\/p>\n<p>Little cubic houses in all shades of the rainbow tumble down the slopes of rolling brown hills. Narrow cobblestone streets climb between walls, leading to small plazas with gurgling fountains and stone staircases. <em>Callej\u00f3n del Beso<\/em> is an alley so narrow that a local story tells of star-crossed lovers who were able to kiss from their respective balconies on each side.<\/p>\n<p>Both a Unesco World Heritage City and university town, Guanajuato is home to an international art festival (<em>Festival Cervantino<\/em>), Diego Rivera\u2019s home (now a museum) and the magnificent Teatro Ju\u00e1rez. It was also the site of an early battle that led to Mexico\u2019s independence from Spain.<\/p>\n<p>Ride the funicular up to the viewpoint and take it all in.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Morelia<\/strong><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_20375\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20375\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Morelia_1-1-e1496440423123.jpg\" alt=\"Morelia Mexico\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-20375\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Posing with one of Morelia&#8217;s beautiful fountains, Fuente de Villalong\u00edn<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Capital of the state of Michoac\u00e1n, Morelia lies four hours by bus to the west of Mexico City. Its location at an altitude of 1920 meters gives it warm days but cool nights.<\/p>\n<p>Founded by the Spanish in 1541, it was renamed Morelia in honor of Morelos, one of Mexico\u2019s independence heroes. Two of his houses have been turned into museums. Buildings in the city center (a Unesco World Heritage site) date mostly from the 17th and 18th century, and are constructed from pink cantera stone, giving the city a warm glow. Wandering Morelia\u2019s narrow streets, where bougainvillea climb up the stonewalls, is a pleasure.<\/p>\n<p>The massive cathedral, built in a hodgepodge of styles, forms the backdrop for a lighting and firework show every Saturday night at 9pm. Other sights include the aqueduct and <em>Palacio Clavijero<\/em>, which showcases visual arts.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_20379\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20379\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20379\" src=\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Morelia_4-e1496445191440.jpg\" alt=\"Morelia Mexico\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-20379\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Caf\u00e9 tables under a covered arcade, Morelia<\/p><\/div>\n<p>As a university town, Morelia enjoys a youthful population and features free public concerts and art installations. If you have a sweet tooth, don\u2019t miss the <em>Mercado de Dulces y Artesan\u00edas<\/em>, filled wall-to-wall with candies!<\/p>\n<p>Despite its assets, Morelia sees few foreign tourists. It\u2019s a good choice if you want to enroll in Spanish classes and benefit from a full immersion experience.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/mexico\" data-wpil=\"url\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19640\" src=\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Mexico-banner.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><strong>P\u00e1tzcuaro<\/strong><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_20353\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20353\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20353\" src=\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Patzcuaro_1-e1496418896467.jpg\" alt=\"Patzcuaro Mexico\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-20353\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">El Sagrario church, Patzcuaro<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Less than an hour southwest of Morelia and about 200 meters higher, little P\u00e1tzcuaro enjoys clean air, clear light, rough cobblestone streets, and courtyards filled with flowers and cacti. It\u2019s the most peaceful and relaxing place I have found in Mexico so far.<\/p>\n<p>Dating from pre-1320, the town still has an indigenous feel and many of the buildings are made from adobe, their walls painted white at the top and brownish-red at the bottom.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the church facades look somewhat shabby, but this only adds to the quaintness. Free concerts and traditional dance, handicraft markets (check out <em>Casa de los Once Patios<\/em>), and a variety of good restaurants make you forget the frigid winter nights.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_20354\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20354\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20354\" src=\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Patzcuaro_3-e1496418918480.jpg\" alt=\"Patzcuaro Mexico\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-20354\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Outdoor seating at a local restaurant, Patzcuaro<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Take a day trip to the pre-Columbian archaeological site of <em>Tzintzuntzan<\/em>, or board a boat on the lake to reach the pedestrian island of <em>Janitzio<\/em>, with its 40-meter hollow statue of Morelos (which you can climb).<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>These five beautiful towns are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the riches of Mexico\u2019s interior. Puebla, Taxco, Quer\u00e9taro, Cuernavaca, Zacatecas, and San Crist\u00f3bal de las Casas are other inland towns that are definitely worth a visit.<\/p>\n<p>Eat your heart out beaches!<\/p>\n<h5><strong>Tempted to see these beautiful cities? <a href=\"\/mexico\" data-wpil=\"url\">Check out Intrepid&#8217;s range of small group adventures in Mexico.<\/a><\/strong><\/h5>\n<p>&#8212;<\/p>\n<p><em>(Image credits from top to bottom: All c\/o Marie-France Roy at <a href=\"http:\/\/bigtravelnut.com\/\" rel=\"no follow\">bigtravelnut.com<\/a>,\u00a0except and\u00a0Guanajuato and\u00a0San Miguel de Allende c\/o iStock)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here are five colonial towns in the highlands of Mexico that will make you forget the beach \u2013 for a while, at least.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15928,"featured_media":20376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[455],"tags":[844,108,423],"class_list":["post-20349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature","tag-city-breaks","tag-mexico","tag-north-america","ipf_region-mexico"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.3.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>5 Mexican towns to visit before everyone else does | Intrepid Travel Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Here are five beautiful towns in the highlands of Mexico that will make you forget the beach \u2013 for a while, at least. Pretty, cultural and so much more...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/mexican-highland-towns\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 towns in Mexico to visit before everyone else does\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here are five colonial towns in the highlands of Mexico that will make you forget the beach \u2013 for a while, at least.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/mexican-highland-towns\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Good Times by Intrepid\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/intrepidtravel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-06-03T18:39:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-17T13:42:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Guanajuato-e1501624098585.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Marie-France Roy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Intrepid_Travel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Intrepid_Travel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Marie-France Roy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/mexican-highland-towns\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/mexican-highland-towns\/\",\"name\":\"5 Mexican towns to visit before everyone else does | Intrepid Travel Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/mexican-highland-towns\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/mexican-highland-towns\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Guanajuato-e1501624098585.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-03T18:39:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-17T13:42:33+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#\/schema\/person\/dbe472a0e0e3e21789647c2d48b74815\"},\"description\":\"Here are five beautiful towns in the highlands of Mexico that will make you forget the beach \u2013 for a while, at least. Pretty, cultural and so much more...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/mexican-highland-towns\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/mexican-highland-towns\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/mexican-highland-towns\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Guanajuato-e1501624098585.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Guanajuato-e1501624098585.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":450,\"caption\":\"Bell Tower of Basilica de Nuestra Se\u00f1ora de Guanajuato\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/mexican-highland-towns\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"5 towns in Mexico&#8217;s highlands to visit before everyone else does\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/\",\"name\":\"The Good Times by Intrepid\",\"description\":\"adventure news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#\/schema\/person\/dbe472a0e0e3e21789647c2d48b74815\",\"name\":\"Marie-France Roy\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6a911650fd53852341674ba91971b2e0ebd4e392604db07618a9fbcae9890c32?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6a911650fd53852341674ba91971b2e0ebd4e392604db07618a9fbcae9890c32?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Marie-France Roy\"},\"description\":\"A long-time resident of Toronto, Marie-France is a freelance writer who\u2019s been exploring the world mostly solo for 25 years (although not continuously). She\u2019s especially fond of sunny destinations with good coffee. Her blog bigtravelnut.com focuses on affordable solo travel for the 40+ crowd.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/author\/marie-france-roy\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"5 Mexican towns to visit before everyone else does | Intrepid Travel Blog","description":"Here are five beautiful towns in the highlands of Mexico that will make you forget the beach \u2013 for a while, at least. Pretty, cultural and so much more...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/mexican-highland-towns\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"5 towns in Mexico to visit before everyone else does","og_description":"Here are five colonial towns in the highlands of Mexico that will make you forget the beach \u2013 for a while, at least.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/mexican-highland-towns\/","og_site_name":"The Good Times by Intrepid","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/intrepidtravel\/","article_published_time":"2017-06-03T18:39:23+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-03-17T13:42:33+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":450,"url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Guanajuato-e1501624098585.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Marie-France Roy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Intrepid_Travel","twitter_site":"@Intrepid_Travel","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Marie-France Roy","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/mexican-highland-towns\/","url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/mexican-highland-towns\/","name":"5 Mexican towns to visit before everyone else does | Intrepid Travel Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/mexican-highland-towns\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/mexican-highland-towns\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Guanajuato-e1501624098585.jpg","datePublished":"2017-06-03T18:39:23+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-17T13:42:33+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#\/schema\/person\/dbe472a0e0e3e21789647c2d48b74815"},"description":"Here are five beautiful towns in the highlands of Mexico that will make you forget the beach \u2013 for a while, at least. Pretty, cultural and so much more...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/mexican-highland-towns\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/mexican-highland-towns\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/mexican-highland-towns\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Guanajuato-e1501624098585.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Guanajuato-e1501624098585.jpg","width":800,"height":450,"caption":"Bell Tower of Basilica de Nuestra Se\u00f1ora de Guanajuato"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/mexican-highland-towns\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"5 towns in Mexico&#8217;s highlands to visit before everyone else does"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/","name":"The Good Times by Intrepid","description":"adventure news","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#\/schema\/person\/dbe472a0e0e3e21789647c2d48b74815","name":"Marie-France Roy","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6a911650fd53852341674ba91971b2e0ebd4e392604db07618a9fbcae9890c32?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6a911650fd53852341674ba91971b2e0ebd4e392604db07618a9fbcae9890c32?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Marie-France Roy"},"description":"A long-time resident of Toronto, Marie-France is a freelance writer who\u2019s been exploring the world mostly solo for 25 years (although not continuously). She\u2019s especially fond of sunny destinations with good coffee. Her blog bigtravelnut.com focuses on affordable solo travel for the 40+ crowd.","url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/author\/marie-france-roy\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Guanajuato-e1501624098585.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4OQMK-5id","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15928"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20349"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82904,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20349\/revisions\/82904"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}