Things to Do in Veracruz-A Menu of Activities

Make Every Moment Count
Use Veracruz as your Base and Your Hotel is Where You Sleep.
Spend Your Days on the Streets with the Friendly People of Veracruz.
Here´s a Menu of Things You Might Want to Do:

Here are some of activities that I think are fun. You´ll find some really good seafood food at the many restaurants along the way:

Short Trips Around Town (3 Hours)

Start with a Walking Tour of Downtown Veracruz.

Take a tour of the old Spanish fort of San Juan de Ulua,listen to the story of Chucho El Roto, Mexico´s Robin Hood, and see where Sir Francis Drake lost his ships. It´s a good idea to hire one of the guides, otherwise it will only look like a bunch of old rocks and empty rooms.

Walk the area and see the old buildings around the Ciriaco Vázquez Park and discover the 19th Century world of Mexico through the life of the mayor Don Domingo Bureau.

Typical Market Exploration. The Fish Market and Hidalgo Markets. Plan on a delicious lunch with regional specialties.

Need a haircut while you are here? Go to Miguelito´s Barber Shop and find out about local politics, history, and music. He plays a great selection of trios, salsa, and danzón music, and speaks a little English. After 5 minutes you´ll feel like a regular customer.

Dance along with the construction workers and maids, and learn the timeless Danzón on a Sunday in the Parque Zamora. Or weekend evenings on the Plaza de la Constitución.

Historical research in the local archives, and museums.

Boat Trips in a native launch by the hour to Reefs and Islands. There are also mangrove swamps near Mandinga. Great Seafood Lunch. Endangered species observations,

Tour the Barrios of Veracruz. Join in the local life. You will feel different afterwards.

Longer Trips (5 Hours)

Most guide books are incomplete and are sometimes wrong. Before you come, be sure to read the History of Veracruz.

Quiahuiztlán and Villa Rica is where the first Veracruz was located. It was the second Veracruz, and where Montezuma´s gold was loaded on the ships to Spain.

Be sure to visit timeless Antigua, Veracruz. It was the second Veracruz, and where Montezuma´s gold was loaded on the ships to Spain.

Visit Alvarado and Tlacotalpan along the Papaloapan River. You won´t many tourists and the people are friendly.

There are other out of the way places like Paso de Ovejas along the Third Camino Real.

Trip to old hacienda at Boca del Monte. Enjoy good country cooking. See the bullet holes from the Revolution in the backyard.

The French Foreign Legion Monument in El Camarón. It´s the only place in the Western Hemisphere where the French Foreign Legion was defeated.

Migratory Bird Migration watching in Cardel, Veracruz from August to November.

Santa Anna´s Watch Tower of the Concepción and Santa Anna´s abandoned hacienda of Manga de Clavo at Puente Nacional. Plan on a home cooked country lunch in the country at Manga de Clavo.

Relaxing thermal baths and restored hacienda. in El Carrizal,

See the Cathedral of the Black Christ. in Otatitlán, Veracruz.

Visit the First Slave Free Town in Latin America. in Yanga, Veracruz.

If you are fortunate, catch a performance of the Voladores at the pyramids in Cempoala, Veracruz.

Longer Trips(7 Hours)

One of my favorite places is Quiahuiztlán and Villa Rica to see the First Veracruz. Spectacular scenery.

River Rafting at Jalcomulco with a great lunch

The Anthropology Museum in Xalapa, and the beautifully restored Santa Anna´s former Hacienda at El Lencero.

Tlacotepec de Mejía, a quiet village along the wool route to Spain. Nestled among the coffee and cinnamon trees about 2 hours from Veracruz in the land of eternal spring.

Longer Trips (Plan on All Day or Overnight)

See the best of Los Tuxtlas along with Lake Catemaco and Eyipantla Falls A peaceful lake, the restored jungle "village" of Nanciyaga.

Real Camel Tracks and Prehistoric Fossils in Tepexi de Rodriguez

A day trip or overnight trip to Playa Hermosa and Montepío to visit some of the best unspoiled beaches on the Gulf of Mexico.

See a Vanilla Plantation in Papantla. This is especially good in April when they are pollinating the vanilla orchids.

Spend the night on the Costa Esmeralda.

Spend a Week in Veracruz:

Day 1 - Getting your feet on the ground. 6-8 Hours with Lunch
Centro Historico, San Juan de Ulua, and the Aquarium. Boca del Rio, and lunch in Mandinga. Do a Walking Tour of Downtown. Nothing heavy the first day to get your feet on the ground and get the lay of the land.

Day 2 The Route of Hernán Cortés - 6 hours
Quiahuiztlán-Villa Rica, pyramids at Cempoala, lunch in Antigua.

Day 3 Alvarado and Tlacotalpan - The Southern Route 8 hours
Shrimp Boats and Seafood in Alvarado and beautifully restored Tlacotalpan Lunch in Mangdinga.

Day 4 Xalapa - Former El Camino Real 8 hours
Restored Hacienda at El Lencero and Museum of Anthropology in Xalapa. Lunch at el Mirador on the way back.

Day 5 - Los Tuxtlas and Lake Catemaco - 12 hours
Tlacotalpan or the Falls at Eyipantla, Lake Catemaco, boat ride to Nanciyaga. Lunch at La Ceiba restaurant in Catemaco.

Day 6 - Beaches and Boat Rides Roca Partida and Playa Hermosa - 12 hours
Roca Partida, Montepío, and Playa Hermosa are new areas where you have everything to yourself. No tourists. Pristine jungle river next to a blue beach cove. Boat trips to Pirates cave at Roca Partida. After seafood lunch you can relax in a hammock at Faustino´s place.

Day 7 - Rafting at Jalcomulco and El Carrizal Hot Springs 7 hours
Jalcomulco Rafting and Hot Springs at El Carrizal for those interested or relax in warm thermal waters and hammocks. Lunch at the restaurant in El Carrizal.

Martin´s Organized Tours
If you have more time, you might consider taking one of Martin´s Tours:

Day 1 - Arrive Vera Cruz. Check into your room at Hotel Colonial on the Plaza de Armas. At 8 PM meet on the 6th floor terrace with our guide Martin Sandoval for our trip briefing. .

Day 2 - 8 AM breakfast at the Cafe Parroquia on the Malecón. Check out of the hotel and board the van for Tlacotalpan, the home town of Mexican musician and composer Agustin Lara. Check into Hotel Dona Lala, lunch and board a boat to travel up river to view migrating birds. (binoculars optional) Return to town with free time to rest and explore this most unique and colorful place.

Day 3 - Van to Santiago Tuxtla in the heart of the Olmec World. Visit the museum with its fine collection of artefacts from nearby Tres Zapotes, a major Olmec site. We will see the largest of the basalt carved heads. Lunch and then drive to Lake Catemaco and our hotel on the shore in the center of this resort city.

Day 4 - Breakfast and a walk around town before going by launch to Monkey Island, populated only by monkeys. We continue to Nanciyaga a favorite rain forest location of moviemakers. Catemaco is a well known meeting place for brujos, shaman and all kinds of fortune tellers. After lunch we travel to our overnight stop at Acayúcan.

Day 5 - After breakfast we move on to San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán, where the Olmec culture had its beginning. Most of the giant heads and other important artefacts are from this area. We will lunch and visit the small museum at the site before going on to Cosamaloapan for the night.

Day 6 -Early morning we go by boat on the Papaloapan River to view the sanctuary of Cristo Negro which was sent by Philip II of Spain in 1585. Now it is on to Cordoba, the first Spanish settlement in the New World. The Mexican Treaty of Independence from Spain was signed here on the main square. We explore the town and in the evening dine in a balcony restaurant with a lot of happy mariachi and marimba music. Spend the night in a downtown hotel.

Day 7 - Van to Coatepec , the "coffee city", with lunch on the way in Coscomatepec. We will walk through the Indian market where many will be wearing native dress. Overnight in at Posada Coatepec and the option of a fresh trout dinner.

Day 8 - Drive to the anthropological museum in Xalapa which features the three main coastal cultures; Olmec, Huastec and Totonac. This is a world class and memorable display of the outstanding art of the area. We will lunch at Las Cazuelas in downtown Xalapa with afternoon and evening free to enjoy this very cosmopolitan city. The University boasts about 35,000 students. Two nights at Hotel Mision, Xalapa.

Day 9 - After breakfast we visit the home of General Santa Ana of Alamo fame. A short trip to nearby Naolinco, a colorful town and favorite location of Cortez. Rest of the day free in Jalapa.

Day 10 - Van to Tlapacoyan en route to the archaeological site of Filo Bobos in the lovely valley of the same name. Lunch and on to our beach hotel on the Costa Esmeralda.

Day 11 - Van to El Tajín for a morning visit among the pyramids of the Totonac Culture and perhaps see the Voladores do their ceremony from the top of a 100 foot pole. Lunch on the main square in Papantla with free time before returning to our hotel on the beach.

Day 12 - Drive to Cardel to see the Totonac religious site of the tombs of Quiahuiztlán and view of the beach where Cortez dismantled his ships. We go on to Zempoala the most important Totonac city. There Cortez made a deal with the leaders to attack the Aztecs. Overnight in Chachalacas on the beach.

Day 13 - Short drive to Antigua. Walk through the village to see the first Christian chapel in the New World and the nearby home and barracks of Cortez. Lunch by the river entertained by marimba musicians. Return to Vera Cruz for a visit to San Juan de Ulua. This was first a fort against the pirates, a shipping center, custom house, prison, hospital, grain storage and prison of the Spanish Inquisition. Return to Hotel Colonial for the final two nights.

Day 14 - Morning free. After lunch we board the van to view other historical sites of Vera Cruz. Evening at Anton Lizardo for our farewell dinner.

Email: jtoddjr@lycos.com

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