San Luis Potosí

San Luis Potosí is a state of extraordinary geographic contrasts: to the east, the Huasteca Potosina offers one of the most impressive natural landscapes in Mexico—emerald waterfalls, canyons, pools and crystal-clear rivers in the heart of tropical jungle—while to the north stretches the semi-desert of the Altiplano, dotted with historic haciendas and mining towns that seem frozen in time.

The city of San Luis Potosí, with its historic center of pink and golden sandstone, holds some of Mexico's most elaborate baroque buildings: the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Carmen Temple and the Plaza de Armas form an urban ensemble that rivals the country's great colonial centers. The Teatro de la Paz and the Federico Silva Museum are top-tier cultural landmarks.

The Huasteca Potosina—with Tamul, Mexico's tallest waterfall, the Pozas de Río Tampaón pools and the adventure of the El Meco canyons—attracts travelers from around the world seeking pristine nature within a living teenek and nahua indigenous culture. Xilitla holds Edward James's surrealist garden, a monumental architectural sculpture in the jungle.

Real de Catorce, at 2,700 meters altitude in the Sierra Madre, is perhaps Mexico's most magical town: accessible through a 2.3-kilometer tunnel, this semi-abandoned mining town maintains an atmosphere from another era, and is a sacred place for the wixáritari people for peyote.