Book Affordable Bus Tickets to Veracruz

Officially Heroica Veracruz, the city earned its honorifics through repeated foreign invasions, from pirates to French and American forces, that it weathered as Mexico's gateway to the world. The fortress of San Juan de Ulúa, on an island just offshore, guarded the harbor and later served as a notorious prison, today it is the city's most evocative monument, ringed by coral-stone walls washed by the Gulf. The old quarter centers on the arcaded Plaza de Armas, where the cathedral, the Palacio Municipal and open-air cafés frame nightly performances of danzón and son jarocho, the harp-and-jarana music born on this coast.

Life in Veracruz revolves around the sea and the table. The malecón buzzes with vendors, fishing boats and harbor cruises, while the nearby aquarium, one of Latin America's largest, draws families. Food is a highlight, plates of fresh seafood, picadas, gorditas and the iconic red-pepper-and-olive sauce of pescado a la veracruzana, washed down with café lechero. The city's signature event is Carnival, a nine-day pre-Lenten extravaganza of parades, music and dancing that fills the streets each spring. Expect hot, humid weather year-round, the climate is tropical, and afternoon downpours are common in the rainy summer months.