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Chiapas

Chilly pine-forest highlands, sultry rainforest jungles and attractive colonial cities exist side by side within Mexico’s southernmost state, a region awash with the legacy of Spanish rule and the remnants of ancient Maya civilization. Palenque and Yaxchilán are evocative vestiges of powerful Maya kingdoms, and the presence of modern Maya is a constant reminder of the region’s rich and uninterrupted history. The colonial hubs of San Cristóbal de las Casas and Chiapa de Corzo give way to sandbar beaches and fertile plots of coffee and cacao in the Soconusco, and for outdoor adventurers, excursions to Laguna Miramar and the Cañón del Sumidero are unmissable.

El Palacio Mayan ruin.

©Justin Foulkes/Lonely Planet

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Chiapas is place of thundering waterfalls, yawning gorges and off-grid pre-Hispanic ruins amid the tangled rainforest.

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