The capital of the state of Veracruz, Xalapa is a big city, but remarkably attractive despite its relative modernity and traffic-laden streets. It is set in countryside of breathtaking beauty, sprawling across a hillside below the volcanic peak of the Cofre de Perote (4282m) and with views to the snow-capped Pico de Orizaba, with a warm, damp climate that encourages rich, jungle vegetation. In addition to these natural advantages, Xalapa has been promoted by its civic leaders as a cultural center, with an international jazz festival in August and a classical and traditional music festival in June, as well as many lesser events year-round. Home, too, of the University of Veracruz and the exceptional Museo de Antropología, it’s a lively place, enjoyable even if you simply hang out in one of the many wonderful cafés in the center of town, sip the locally grown coffee and watch life pass by. For adrenaline junkies and lovers of nature there’s much more, though, as Xalapa is also close to numerous rivers: as they crash down from the high sierra to the coast these create numerous spectacular waterfalls and some of Mexico’s finest opportunities for whitewater-rafting and kayaking.

Xalapa’s appealing colonial downtown is centred on the Parque Juárez (the zócalo), its trees filled with extraordinarily raucous birds at dusk. There are stunning mountain views towards the Cofre de Perote from the south side of the plaza, where the land drops away steeply. Xalapa’s contemporary arts crowd meets up at the Agorá de la Ciudad (Tues–Sun 10am–10pm), a cultural centre built under this edge of the plaza, where there are often interesting temporary exhibitions. Also beneath the plaza, at Herrera 5, the Pinacoteca Diego Rivera (Tues–Sun 10am–7pm) showcases a few works by Rivera and other Mexican artists, along with more temporary exhibition space. Next door at Herrera 7 the Museo Casa de Xalapa (MUXA; Tues–Sun 10am–7pm) is a lovely seventeenth-century colonial home in whose rooms a small, modern museum of local history (lots of interactivity) has been installed.

The Palacio de Gobierno, on the east side of the plaza, has interesting murals by Chilean artist José Chaves Morado. Beside it, on the adjoining Parque Lerdo, is the eighteenth-century Catedral. Inside there’s a richly decorated nave, a striking Calvary at the altar and a chapel dedicated to Rafael Guízar y Valencia (1878– 1938), who was canonized as St Rafael Guízar in 2006 the first bishop born in the Americas to receive the honour. He is most admired for resisting the state’s persecution of the church in the 1920s and 1930s, forming a “guerrilla ministry” and later becoming the bishop of Veracruz; behind the cathedral, at the corner of Juárez and Revolución, there’s an entire museum dedicated to him (Mon–Sat 9am–2pm & 4–8pm, Sun 9am–2pm). Finally in the centre, there’s yet more temporary art exhibition space at the Galería de Arte Contemporáneo (daily 10am–7pm), Xalapeños Ilustres 135.

Beyond question the city’s outstanding sight is the Museo de Antropología (Tues–Sun 9am–5pm), a brilliant museum with arguably the best archeological collection in the country after that in Mexico City. The collection is excellent in both scope and quality, and makes for a wonderful introduction to the various pre-Hispanic cultures of the Gulf coast. The building itself is also lovely, flowing down the hillside in a series of marble steps. Start your visit at the top of the hill, where the first halls deal with the Olmecs. There are several of the celebrated colossal stone heads, a vast array of other statuary and some beautiful masks. Later cultures are represented mainly through their pottery lifelike human and animal figurines especially and there are also displays on the architecture of the major sites: El Tajín, Cempoala and so on. Finally, with the Huastec culture come more giant stone statues. Some larger, less valuable pieces are displayed in landscaped gardens outside.There’s a café on the first floor, and also a shop selling fantastic masks. The museum lies 3km from the zócalo on the outskirts of town. Another worthwhile museum on the edge of town, especially if you have kids, is the Museo Interactivo (Mon–Fri 9am–6pm, Sat & Sun 10am–7pm with IMAX), southeast of the centre on Murillo Vidal. Along with a permanent exhibit of Mexican cars and planes and a massive IMAX cinema, the museum features a planetarium and rooms dedicated to different sciences, such as space exploration, with interactive displays and impressive models. Take a taxi or a bus marked “Murillo Vidal”.

Xalapa is renowned for its parks and their wonderful tropical flora. A couple of fine potential picnic spots are within walking distance of the centre. The Parque Los Tecajetes (Tues–Sun 6am–6pm), ten minutes’ walk west of the zócalo along María Ávila Camacho, is a pristine public park with lush vegetation and plenty of shaded seating areas. South of the zócalo, Herrera leads steeply down towards the Paseo de los Lagos, where walkways lead around a series of small, artificial lakes edged by parkland; popular with runners in the morning and strolling families later on. In the north of the city, the entrance to the woody Parque Ecológico Macuiltépec is close to the Archeological Museum. At 1590m, the easily climbable Macuiltépec is the highest of the hills on which the town is built, and from its mirador you might catch a glimpse of the Gulf. There are panoramic views of the city even if you don’t make it to the peak, and it also has a small Museo de la Fauna (Tues–Sun 10am–6pm) with a reptile house and aviary. Finally, on the edge of the city on the old road to Coatepec, about 3.5km from the centre, the Jardín Botánico Francisco Clavijero (daily 9am–5pm) boasts an impressive collection of plants native to the state.

Good food is abundant in Xalapa. The city is home to the jalapeño pepper, and there’s also great local coffee (mostly grown in nearby Coatepec), consumed in great quantities in the city’s numerous traditional cafés. Many of these can be found along Nicolás Bravo or its continuation Primo Verdad, and there are plenty of appetizing restaurants and some enticing jugo and torta places in the couple of blocks between the zócalo.

Xalapa is a city of great creative energy. A number of bars offer live music and occasional poetry readings or theatre; downtown there are several lively places on the Callejón del Diamanate, and especially down Callejón de la Perla. Louder clubs and bars tend to be further out, though there’s a small group on Ávila Camacho around its junction with Victoria, close to the Parque los Tecajates. If you’re in the mood for something more relaxed, the Teatro del Estado, Ávila Camacho at Ignacio de la Llave, hosts regular concerts by the Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa, in addition to dance and theatre, while the Agorá de la Ciudad in Parque Juárez has arts events and a small cinema and theatre as well as its galleries. The giant Plaza las Américas mall on the edge of town has a good multiplex cinema.