Writer Athena Lucero looks at the tiny towns that make Mexico a magical place to visit and explore - towns where locals welcome tourists with open arms and make them feel at home.

On a visit to Mexico's second largest city, writer Athena Lucero discovers Guadalajara is picture-perfect and is the chocolate capital of the country.

Writer Athena Lucero takes a train to the birthplace of tequila and finds the Mexican outpost to be an intoxicating city.

Contributor Karen Asp attends Mexico's lively Day of the Dead festival.

David Latt heads deep into Mexico and discovers an enchanting seaside paradise that offers travellers so much.

Karen Asp visits the luxurious Rosewood Mayakoba resort and discovers you can 'stretch' out your Mexican vacation thanks to h=this wellness facility.

Brenda Franco was born in Mexico City and returns annually. She takes us on a tour of places that most tourists miss when they visit Mexico's capital.

MEXICO CITY — “You weren’t expecting a place like this in the ‘Third World’,” says my guide with tongue firmly planted in cheek as we eat dinner at Sud 777, a haute-cuisine restaurant in Mexico’s capital that has been voted not only one of the Top 50 restaurants in Latin America, but one of the best of the world.

PUERTO ESCONDIDO, MEXICO — Along a barely discernible roadway, a dog leans back lazily as it settles in to resume its snooze in the dusty shade. Bells toll, not on the hour or half of it, but somewhere in between, as they seem to announce their own purpose to the moment. Roosters can be heard, as can the children in schoolyards, all in the distance but seemingly close by at the same time.

MONTERREY — With the seventh largest public plaza in the world, a meandering river walk, world-class museums, an outrageous culinary scene, Mexico’s best universities and medical schools, the hip suburb of San Pedro and Chipinque National Park as its backyard, it’s hard not to have a good time in cosmopolitan Monterrey.