To explore Mexico is to walk through rain forests and along tropical beaches, to traverse vast deserts and gaze at snow-capped volcanoes, and to walk the streets of teeming cities, sleepy indigenous villages, chic resorts and the ruined cities of the great Aztec, Maya and other civilizations that flourished here centuries ago.

Mexico offers a multitude of cultures, cuisines, landscapes, activities, music, environments, languages, handicrafts, art and history. Its Spanish conqueror, Hernan Cortes, when asked to describe Mexico, simply crumpled a piece of paper and set it on a table. The rugged mountainous topography he was indicating has yielded a boundless colorful variety of distinct places, people and traditions - which today are more accessible than ever before. Thanks to steadily improving communications and innovative tourism initiatives, it has never been easier to hike Mexico's remote canyons, watch whales or flamingoes, climb volcanoes, dive waters teeming with tropical fish or bike ride to remote indigenous villages.

If you're slightly less activity-minded, delight your senses with Mexico's endless palm-fringed beaches, world-class museums and galleries, unbeatable handicrafts shopping, hectic markets, distinctive tasty food, hospitable hotels and beautiful colonial cities.

At the end of the day, sit back with a margarita or a cold Mexican beer and take it all in at a beach bar or in a plaza with splashing fountains. After dark, indulge in the bars, music and stylish nightclubs of Mexico's cities and hip travel destinations. Or lose yourself in the color, music, fun, fireworks and spectacle of one of the country's noisy fiestas: there's one happening almost every day, not far from you!