Ten million visitors came through Cancun in 2023, representing 1 in 4 tourists to Mexico that year. For a country three times the size of Texas, rich with culture, art and nature, the figure is a perfect encapsulation of the problem with overtourism: people descending on one or two main points while dozens of splendid places remain largely under the radar. Here are four spots that feel like a secret worth keeping.
After a decade of government spending restored and repainted many of its colonial downtown facades and imposing fortified walls, Campeche is ready for its close-up. Making access easier is the new, $28.5 billion Maya Train, which stops right in the center of town, depositing travelers who’ve made the 300-mile, six-hour trip from Cancun to Campeche.
As it stands, most of the seaside capital’s tourists are “experienced travelers from Europe,” says Sebastien Larmier, who owns and runs Narrativ, a collection of high-end rentals in town. “But more people are coming in from the U.S.
and Canada. It’s a new phenomenon.” Make one of Narrativ’s luxury houses — such as Casa Japa, a four-bedroom 18th-century manor that opened in 2023 — your home base for explorations around the city, including its 4-mile Malecon (boardwalk), which hugs the coast and offers the best sunset views in town.
Or try Hacienda Puerta Campeche, a grande dame hotel recently taken over by Six Senses Resorts & Spas. The town itself is the main attraction, with excellent restaurants incl.
