Ring in the New Year in Mexico’s Magic Towns

The Magic Towns of Mexico are an excellent option to start 2023 as these destinations’ culture and traditions unique experiences for travelers from all over the world. These are some of the most recommended communities where tourists can enjoy not only unparalleled charm but extraordinary nature and excellent gastronomy.

Taxco
Located in Guerrero, two and a half hours from Mexico City, Taxco welcomes visitors with cozy cobbled streets and colonial temples, squares, parks, and mansions, many of which today are boutique hotels offering excellent amenities and cuisine that ensure visitors enjoy a memorable New Year’s Eve.

Taxco houses all kinds of accommodations, some of which are recognized for their luxe offerings with the distinctive Treasures of Mexico. This Magic Town is also known for its jewelry and offers countless unique craft workshops featuring designs based on colonial baroque and art nouveau.

Walking through the town, visitors will experience colonial streets and historical sites such as the Parish of Santa Prisca, located in the heart of Taxco, which is the most important cultural heritage of the town, not only for its antiquity but also for the quality of its architecture in which stands out its Talavera dome (valuable Mexican ceramics), and its two impressive pink quarry towers built in a mixture of Spanish and Mexican baroque styles. Another place visitors can not miss is the monumental statue of Christ, made with 52 pink quarry pieces and located on the heights of Mount Atachi, from where they enjoy a fabulous view of this Magic Town.

It should be noted that Taxco is the original place of the poinsettia (cuetlaxóchitl), known in Mexico as the Christmas Eve Flower and the symbol of Christmas in the world. Its cultivation receives its tribute this December during the Fair of Cuetlaxóchitl, including botany, gastronomy, and art.

Tequisquiapan
Located in Querétaro, Tequisquiapan is perfect for welcoming the New Year in an atmosphere of relaxation, tranquility, and a great climate. Its surroundings include spas and hot spring sites where tourists can enjoy healing therapies with mineral salt-rich waters.

This Magic Town has a fantastic gastronomic offer served in many restaurants where visitors can spend a grand New Year’s celebration. Furthermore, one of the characteristics of Tequisquiapan is that it produces extraordinary regional wines and cheeses. Hence, there are many tastings throughout the village and the famous Cheese and Wine Fair.

Touring the village is a pleasant experience due to the beauty of its streets and buildings of colonial style, especially its culinary offer and the fine crafts sold in many shops and boutiques. In addition, tour operators in the area offer exciting experiences, such as balloon rides to enjoy the view of the vineyards surrounding Tequisquiapan. The typical dishes of the village are goat barbecue, mole, pork meat, and the traditional tortillas of corn of different colors, among others. There is also a wide variety of sweets typical of the region, most of which are made from milk with sugar, fruits, and native seeds.

Visitors interested in history, art, and architecture enjoy colonial monuments such as the Parish of Santa María de la Asunción, a church built in 1874 with a neoclassical design and quarry columns. Another of the most popular places for domestic and foreign visitors is the main square of the village, which is surrounded by quarry arches and where there are a lot of restaurants, cafes, and craft shops; an ideal spot to welcome 2023.

Mazunte
This Magic Town, located in the state of Oaxaca, is a favorite among surfing professionals around the world, but also for those who love nature because it has the Mexican Turtle Center, an important sanctuary where various species of sea turtles are protected and where families learn to care for these extraordinary beings, including releasing baby turtles just a few minutes after birth.

Spending the New Year in this beautiful destination of the Mexican Pacific is one of the best experiences travelers can have. After all, there are extraordinary beaches with warm and crystal clear waters where families or couples can spend fabulous days of sun and adventure, such as Punta Cometa, a fantastic place to enjoy memorable sunrises and sunsets.

Located between the Pacific Ocean and the jungle, Mazunte offers fun and wellness options, including shaman-led rituals that use ancient healing techniques to help visitors regain body-soul balance. Furthermore, the ecological center of Mazunte has several sea turtle observation fields of different species, such as Kemp’s Ridley, prieta (black), leatherback, and hawksbill. In addition, just at this time of Christmas and New Year, tourists can see humpback whales arriving in these waters yearly.

Mazunte’s cuisine is based on fish and seafood dishes, black mole, stone soup, tlayudas (big tortillas), grasshoppers, chocolate, traditional bread, and, of course, the best mezcal in Mexico.

Loreto
This Magic Town is located in the heart of the Baja California Sur Peninsula. It is one of the most popular destinations due to its extraordinary nature, culture, and top-notch gastronomy.

Loreto, founded in 1697, is the oldest of the Californias. Hence, it has countless sites of historical interest for having been one of the most important places of Jesuit evangelization during the Spanish Colony in Mexico. This December, important pilgrimages occur from the Mission of Loreto to the Mission of San Javier, where residents celebrate with fireworks as well as musical and sporting events. In addition to the Mission of Our Lady of Loreto, other great attractions in the area are La Mission of San Francisco Javier de Viggé Biaundó, the Historic Center of the village, and the beauty of the Sierra de la Giganta, among others.

In addition to its historical richness, Loreto offers stunning natural landscapes, such as El Carmen Island, which has a vast diversity of endemic flora and fauna. There are also unmatched experiences for those who enjoy underwater life, such as the sighting of blue whales, humpback whales, orcas, dolphins, sea lions, and many bird species in Marino National Park.

Additionally, visitors will discover different ocean activities such as diving, snorkeling, sport fishing, hiking, kayaking, and camping, to name a few.