Campeche, Mexico

CAMPECHE, capital of the state of the same name, is one of the country's colonial gems. At its heart, relatively intact, lies a port town surrounded by defensive walls and fortresses built when pirates were a threat and the wealth of the Americas flowed through the city on its way to Spain. The centre's streets, laid out around an immaculately groomed garden plaza, are lined with elegant eighteenth- and nineteenth-century houses painted in pastel shades. Ringing the centre are the trappings of an up-and-coming modern city, while the seafront is a bizarre mixture of centuries-old monuments and twentieth-century concrete follies. In the past, tourists have just swept by en route to Palenque or Villahermosa, but gradually more are discovering the place – less lively than Mérida, it's also cleaner and more tranquil. For now, though, Campeche remains unblighted by tourist overkill.