Chiapas is Mexico's southernmost state and the heart of the Mundo Maya — a landscape of misty highlands, dense jungle, and some of the most spectacular Mayan ruins in existence. The indigenous cultures here are among the strongest in Mexico; Tzotzil and Tzeltal Maya communities maintain their languages, customs, and traditional dress in ways that feel a world apart from the beach resorts on the coast.
The ruins at Palenque, rising from the jungle canopy, are among the finest in the Americas. Bonampak has the best-preserved Mayan murals anywhere, and Yaxchilán, reached by boat down the Usumacinta River along the Guatemalan border, is as dramatic a setting as any archaeological site in Mexico. Between the ruins, the waterfalls at Agua Azul cascade over turquoise limestone pools, and Sumidero Canyon — a kilometre-deep gorge — can be explored by boat from Tuxtla Gutiérrez.
San Cristóbal de las Casas, in the cool highlands at 2,200 metres, is the traveller base for the region: a beautiful colonial town with excellent food, good markets, and easy access to indigenous villages in the surrounding hills. The climate across the state ranges from tropical heat in the lowlands to pleasantly cool in the mountains, and the coffee, tropical fruit, and chocolate produced here are some of the best in Mexico.