Veracruz traveler tips by virtualtourist.com fellow traveler tips
Virtual tourist has seized the coveted forum/bulletin board #1 spot for many travel destinations. Veracruz has nearly 40 contributions in early 2004

Veracruz  by mexconnect ||Veracruz - An Introduction by Dean & Yoly Hughson
"A city of diverse cultures, Veracruz has a heart with a Latin rhythm, a soul influenced by Africa, Old World Spanish élan and a zest for life and living that advises, "Eat, drink and be merry for who knows what tomorrow brings."

 www.ver.ucc.mx/
"Veracruz is old and traditional, slow-paced, provincial, romantic and musical, maritime and commercial in nature, and 100 per cent Mexican in atmosphere."
Boca Del Rio
Nearby Suburb with Restaurants on the River.
"The city is one of the most enjoyable places in the republic in which simply to be, to sit back and watch - or join - the daily round"

 || www.Mexico-travel.com ||
Estado de Veracruz
The State of Veracruz (Spanish Only)

Boca del Rio, San Andres Tuxtla, Catemaco, Santiago Tuxtla, Jalapa, Tajin Archaeological Zone, Nautla, Tecolutla, Orizaba, Tlacotalpan, Papantla, Zempoala Archaeological Zone, Puerto de Veracruz
Overview of economic data from Bancoment
Welcome to the State of Veracruz by mpsnet.com.mx
Veracruz is located in the oriental part of the Mexican Republic on the Gulf of Mexico, is surrounded by the states of: Tamaulipas, Oaxaca, Chiapas, Tabasco, Puebla, Hidalgo and San Luís Potosí.

Air || Aeroméxico || Autobús ADO || AU || Cristóbal Colón || Cuenca || ADO GL || Maya de Oro || TRV || UNO Train  

 Vera Cruz by mps.net.mx || Español || Photos
"Driving to Veracruz from Mexico City is very safe and relaxed. The complete trip is about 3 hours on a modern two lane highway."

Emegencias 06 Policia 38-06-64 38-06-93 Red Crosss (Cruz Roja 37-55-00

Travel Agencies in Veracruz
Find 20 listed by the official City site but only no web site or e-mail addresses.

More than 40 rivers run from the inland mountains to the central Gulf Coast of Veracruz
Veraventuras
Santos Degollado No. 81, Int. 8 91000 Xalapa, Veracruz Phone: (28) 18-9579 or 18-9779 Fax: (28) 18-9680 - Offers river trips
Campamento Jamapa
Bocca del Rio Veracruz, Mexico Phone/Fax (29) 21-1550 River trips down Jamapa River to Pescados, Filo-Bobos and Actopan Rivers
Far Flung Adventures
PO Box 377 Terlingua, TX 79852 Phone: 915-371-2489 Phone: 800-359-4138 - Far Flung offers river trips in Veracruz and Chiapas states
Getting Around There

There is an excellent inexpensive public transportation system which is worth getting to know. 

Transportation fellow traveler tips by virtualtourist.com

RENTA DE AUTOs by veracruz-turismo.gob.mx
Avis and many others listed with much detail 
DOLLAR RENT A CAR, Automobiles, VERACRUZ 
Use Veracruz as your base to explore the many sights and attractions by car or bus.

State of Veracruz by tourbymexico
State Map by mexconnect
Map of State of Veracruz by veracruz-turismo.gob.mx

2 Picture Maps of the City of Veracruz by veracurz-turismo.gob.mx
35 Downtown Attractions & 50 greater City destinations highlighted

BANKS & $ Change

"Huachinango a la Veracruzana" or Red Snapper Veracruz style is the most popular regional dish. There is the usual array of freshly squeezed fruit juices (jugos) and tortillas, beans and chile peppers make appearance at most meals. 
Mexican cooking uses over 100 different chilies . Remember the difference between hot as in spicy, is "picante;" hot as in heat is caliente. The check almost never appears until you ask for it. "La cuenta, por favor" ("The check, please") or practice your hand waving gestures with the same flair as fellow native diners

Eating and Drinking Restaurants fellow traveler tips by virtualtourist.com

Restaurants by veracruz-turismo.gob.mx || Mariscos || Antojitos || Internacional || Española || Italiana || China || Japonesa || Pollo || Cortes || Taquerías || Tortas
Good Food is muy importante in Veracruz

Veracruz Restaurants by TIMS
Boca del Rio at the river mouth is a well known center of seafood restaurants. The long Sunday lunch is great tradition. Closer to Veracruz is Mocambo Beach has many hotel eating options and a growing number of chain restaurants. Connect   18 km south of Veracruz is Mandinga, another coastal village with many seafood restaurants.

Dining 
"There's an art to ordering lechero and it's worth mastering if you're a coffee fan."
Gran Cafe de la Parroquia their Cafe con leche is  one of the town's best known traditions and owes its popularity to the ritual flair the waiters exhibit when filling your cup. There are now two located in can't miss spots off the Zocalo and the main pier.

Mexican Food Forum by mexconnect.com
Mexican Hot or Not || Español

Night Life by travelmexico
"As in most of Mexico, nightlife here begins at around 10 p.m. and peaks after midnight, with revelers often timing their departures to coincide with the beautiful view of the sun rising over Sacrifice Island and the Gulf of Mexico."

Nightlife fellow traveler tips by virtualtourist.com

Besides downtown Veracruz the Boca del Rio hotel zone has two shopping centers Plaza Mocambo and Plaza las Americas. Also the Aquarium's  Plaza Acuario.
Shopping fellow traveler tips by virtualtourist.com

The Beaches or Playas in town are average and share the harbor with the large shipping industry. Head down the Coast to Mocambo Beach and Boca del Rio for wide sandy expanses with lots of amenities

PLAYAs by veracruz-turismo.gob.mx 
Playa Norte, Playa Regatas, Playón de Hornos, Playa villa del Mar, Playa Jose Martí, Playa Costa de Oro, Playa Mocambo, Playa Boca del Río.

Veracruz Beaches 
"Buses (marked "Boca del Río") head out to both from the corner of Zaragoza and Serdán; or get a lift in one of the vans marked "Playas", which leave regularly to Mocambo from every corner along the malecón, arriving twenty minutes later at the Hotel Mocambo."

The city by roughguides.com 
Castillo de San Juan de Ulúa, Museo de la Ciudad, Museo Venustiano Carranza, Baluarte de Santiago, Acuario de Veracruz &  the best dive shop
La Antigua  & Zempoala  roughguides.com
On the Antigua riverbank is - the Ceiba de la Noche Feliz - a huge tree upon which Cortés moored his ships when he first arrived here. Zempoala contains at complete Aztec ceremonial centre.

 Veracruz attractions by TIMS
Info on Isla de Sacrificios, Plaza de Armas (the Zocalo), La Antigua, Laguna de Catemaco, Zempoala.

AYUNTAMIENTO PALACE 
The City Hall of Veracruz  overlooking the Zocalo was completed in 1780 and is one of the best known buildings in Mexico.
SAN JUAN OF ULUA 
Best know as the castle with alligators in the hit movie Romancing the Stone. Its most famous prisoner was founding father Benito Juárez.
WORLD TRADE CENTER EXPOVER
Near San Juan fortress
Baluarte de Santiago
Five minutes the Zocalo between Francisco Canal and Gómez Ferias streets relocated bastion or fortress built in 1635 which houses a museum.

Vera Cruz Aquarium  
Opened in 1992, the aquarium is Mexico's best featuring a spectacular shark tank and a room of a thousand turtles. Nearby you will find one of Vera Cruz best collection of gift shops and a view of the most popular beach within the central City

Shipsofdiscovery.org/veracruz.htm 
Shipwrecks 1492 to 1521 Cortez lost ships here in 1519 

Sports Travel fellow traveler tips by virtualtourist.com
THE CORTES HOUSE in La Antigua 
Established in 1574 near where the river Huitzilapan meets the ocean.

South of Veracruz

The two towns of Tuxtlas || Coatzacoalcos and Acayucán 
Tuxpán "Toosh-pam"
 Museo de la Amistad Mexico-Cuba  Occupying the house where Fidel Castro spent a year planning his revolutionary return to Cuba, the museum focuses on Castro, Che Guevara and imperialism in the Americas.

by mexico-travel.com
Mundo Maya is a four country effort surrounding the tourist development of the 2,000 year old Mayan culture

From 1998
Carnaval Photo in Lonely Planet slide show
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|| ||  mailto:lalo@dallas.net
by Edward Dawson
which also includes the State of Tabasco  
Yucatán || || ||  || ||  || ||

UNA MUESTRA DE MÚSICA TRADICIONAL MEXICANA
Sample this beautiful traditional Mexican music inc. the Huastec region in Veracruz,  (15 complete songs in the non-streaming AU. java files which do not stream but do not need a plug-in player and can be replayed)
La Bamba Explained - Or, The Music of Veracruz - Janice Carraher
"Coplas (verses), La Bamba has hundreds – they say over a thousand – but who can count them as they are being created everyday. Part of the Son tradition is the creating of verses by cantadores (singers) including adlibbing on the spot."
La Bamba in RealAudio (4:22) || || La bamba (2MB. formato au ) || La bruja (1.5MB formato au) || fragmento

List of Vera Cruz Archeologicla sites by mexico-travel
Zona arqueológica El Tajin. Spanish Only
(El Ta-HEEN) This is official site for the most important archeological site in Veracruz built by the Toltecs who dominated Mexico from 800 to 1200 AD and were never subdued by the Aztecs.
El Tajin's  Pyramid of the Niches

The sacred city of the dead and the raging thunder, El Tajín reached its zenith between 800 and 1150 AD when over 150 of its building were built in a dense one square mile area. Located near the beautiful beaches of Costa Esmerelda the site contains 17 ball courts including the beautifully preserved Southern Ball court with virtually intact engraved descriptions of the famous ball game which could conclude with ritual human sacrifice on the losing (or winning?) team captain.
The spectacular Pyramid of the 365 Niches was the last structure built. The precisely constructed stonework displays a fascinating interaction between  light and shadow throughout the day.  While the jungle reclaimed much of the City, its existence was jealously guarded by the Totancs who continued to conduct rituals at El Tajín including their well known "Dance of the Flyers" or voladores rite. It was not till 1785 that the ruling Spaniards discovered the site.

Papantla El Tajin by mexconnect.com || Map
Built in the Papanteca mountain range Tajin means "The Sacred city of the Dead and of the Thunder in Storm".

Visit the nearby Zempoala Ruins:
This is where Cortés struck his alliance with the local Totonacs against their repressive Aztec rulers. About one hour (45 km 25 miles) north of Veracruz city 3 km west of Hwy 180 The turnoff is 8 km north of the small town of Jose Cardel.  Open daily 9-6. Voladores perform most weekends between noon and 2pm.  Public Transit: TRV bus (8:00 am to 7 pm) to Cardel, then "ruinas" or Zempoala mini bus (6to 8 am) or "colectivo" taxi, about $1.50 total;
El Pital || by David Hiser
"Although major excavations have not begun, surface artifacts are abundant and intriguing. El Pital appears to be contemporary with Teotihuacan (near Mexico City) in political, commercial, and agricultural importance from AD 100 to 600."