Mazatlán Old Town — Centro Histórico

Many Mexican resorts have a beach and nothing behind it. Mazatlán has the Centro Histórico — a real nineteenth-century port city, built rich on trade, lovingly restored, and now the cultural heart of the place. If the beach is Mazatlán's body, the Old Town is its memory. Give it a full day and at least one long evening.

Plazuela Machado — the city's living room

Everything in the Old Town orbits Plazuela Machado, the elegant plaza laid out in the 1830s when Mazatlán was booming. Iron benches and laurel trees fill the square; around it stand fine buildings of the era, their ground floors now café terraces and restaurants. By day it is a shady refuge. By night the tables fill, waiters weave between them, banda and mariachi musicians stroll, and the whole plaza hums. Order dinner, order coffee after, and let the evening take as long as it takes.

The Ángela Peralta Theater — and its ghost

On the plaza's edge stands the Teatro Ángela Peralta, opened in the 1870s and restored to its horseshoe-and-balconies glory, tonight home to opera, dance and concerts. It is named for the great soprano Ángela Peralta, the Mexican Nightingale, who arrived by ship in 1883 to sing in Mazatlán — and died of yellow fever within days, never performing in the theater that would take her name. Mazatlecos say her spirit still attends performances, and more than one artist has sworn to a presence in the boxes. Take a daytime tour, and if you can, come back for a concert. It anchors our things to do in Mazatlán list for good reason.

The Cathedral — Basílica de la Inmaculada Concepción

A few blocks away, facing the Plaza República, rises the cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, its twin yellow-ochre towers the Old Town's landmark. Inside is a serene, light-filled nave with a notable claim to fame: its stained-glass windows include a Star of David, a tribute — so the story is told — to a Jewish merchant family who helped fund the building. Step in during the cool of the morning, then cross the plaza for a coffee.

Pino Suárez Market — breakfast with the city

For the city unfiltered, walk to the Pino Suárez Market, the great cast-iron market hall that has fed Mazatlán since the turn of the twentieth century. Downstairs: pyramids of produce, the morning's seafood, butchers, cheese counters and flower stalls. Upstairs: rows of small fondas serving the port's working breakfast — order what the room is ordering. It is busy, fragrant and unpretentious — and the best place in town for dried chiles, vanilla and coffee to take home.

Galleries, the art walk and the streets themselves

The Old Town's restoration drew artists, and galleries and studios now fill its streets — in season, an evening art walk links them, doors open and wine in hand. But the finest exhibit is the street fabric itself: pastel facades, tall shuttered doors, wrought-iron balconies and golden-age mansions. Wander without a map between the Machado, the cathedral and the market; every block repays it. When the heat builds, retreat to a historic hotel courtyard café for agua fresca — several of the plaza's grand old houses now serve as boutique hotels and cafés, which our Mazatlán hotels guide covers.

Old Town timing. Come in the morning for the market and cathedral, return at dusk for the Machado. On weekend evenings the plaza is at its liveliest — and during Carnival, this is one of the party's twin hearts. Pair the day with sunset at nearby Olas Altas beach, five minutes' walk from the plaza.