Xalapa lies on the eastern foothills of Cofre de Perote. Within the city, you’ll encounter historically significant houses, a traditional barrio with cobbled streets and constantly flowing water, as well as water features in parks and walking areas. When looking for a vacation rental in Xalapa, you can first decide what you want to shape your stay: the city’s history as reflected in its buildings and streets, archaeological objects, or routes with a connection to water.

Historic Urban Structure and Heritage Protection Zone

The historic center encompasses more than 350 buildings of historical and architectural value. The Historic Heritage Protection Zone of Xalapa de Enríquez is listed as covering 0.33 km² and 28 city blocks; it contains historically and architecturally valuable buildings dating from the 17th to the 19th century. Its street network is partly regular and adapted to the topography and water drainage. The combination of a partly regular layout and adaptation to the terrain and water drainage makes the urban structure itself a point of interest, not just individual buildings.

Archaeology at the Museo de Antropología de Xalapa

Archaeological objects are displayed at the Museo de Antropología de Xalapa in six halls, nine galleries and three pergolas. These figures refer to different exhibition spaces and give the museum a clear archaeological focus. If you’re weighing your interests between urban architectural history and archaeology, two distinct subjects await: the buildings and street layout in the historic center, and the archaeological objects in the museum.

Xallitic and the Water Destinations

The traditional Barrio de Xallitic lies in Xalapa’s historic center. Its cobbled streets and constantly flowing water invite you to stroll and reflect on the city’s history. Here, your visit combines views of the built urban environment with surroundings shaped by water; this sets Xallitic apart both from the museum’s archaeological focus and from the designed water features in the parks.

Parque Los Tecajetes was created over a natural depression; an underground freshwater spring feeds aqueducts, artificial ponds and canals there. This history and the flow of water shape its distinctive landscape. If you’re interested in the relationship between terrain and designed water features, the park offers a different focus from the barrio: here, the depression, spring and built water structures take center stage.

Opened in 1973, Paseo de los Lagos is a shady walking path beneath densely leafed trees that leads to three bodies of water known as El Dique. The site also includes a stage for theater and concerts, as well as a hall for temporary exhibitions; the program may vary. Here, a shaded path, three bodies of water and cultural spaces come together. Compared with Los Tecajetes, the relationship with water is different: there, a spring feeds aqueducts, ponds and canals, while at Paseo the path leading to the bodies of water is its defining feature.

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For the main travel overview: Tabasco.