5 favorite vacation spots in Mexico

It’s understandable why Americans these days are thinking twice about venturing south of the border. A wave of gruesome violence, much of it related to drug trafficking, has swept Mexico in the last two years, leaving thousands dead. Popular tourist venues haven’t gone unscathed. Last summer, armed assailants shot up a town in northern Mexico that’s a gateway to the spectacular Copper Canyon region, killing 13 people. A pile of decapitated bodies turned up 75 miles from the great Mayan ruins at Chichén Itzá. Although the U.S. government hasn’t warned Americans to stay away, it has urged caution. On its website, www.travel.state.gov, the State Department says, ‘While millions of U.S. citizens safely visit Mexico each year, including thousands who cross the land border every day for study, tourism or business, increased levels of violence make it imperative that travelers understand the risks of travel to Mexico.... Common-sense precautions ... can help ensure that travel to Mexico is safe and enjoyable.’ Travelers in Mexico must stay alert, especially along the border and in the states of Sinaloa and Chihuahua, which are rife with criminal activity. But there remain many safe, or at least relatively safe, destinations to explore. During my recently concluded 4 1/2 -year stint as The Times’ Latin American arts and culture correspondent, I was based in Mexico City and traveled extensively throughout the country. Any list of recommended travel destinations is, of necessity, subjective. But here are five spots that have a claim on my affections. I’ve visited all of them twice or more.

Any large metropolitan area such as Puebla or Veracruz, let alone Mexico City, will have crime. But having visited these areas and occasionally written about criminal activities in Mexico along with monitoring crime reports across the country, I feel confident advising friends or loved ones to include any or all of these five places on their itineraries.