Would you like to know which are the best locations to shoot in Mexico? You are in luck: we have made a list of the best locations in our files so that you can plan the production you are looking for, from the capital to the Caribbean and the Pacific.
THE TOP 31 FILMING LOCATIONS IN MEXICO
As you might know, one of FONKTOWN’s main strengths is the impressive file we keep of perfect locations to shoot any type of content or format: commercials, fashion films, documentaries, TV shows or short films. We have the right location for each production.
These locations are grouped around the three regions where we work most: Mexico City, the Riviera Maya and Baja California, plus a handful of places in other states that are worth the trip. Mexico is big, but with direct flights between the main hubs a single production can combine city, jungle, desert and beach in one schedule.
Mexico City
The capital is one of the largest cities in the world and the country’s production hub: crews, rental houses, studios and a film commission used to big international shoots. It also has an unbeatable variety of looks within a few kilometres.
Zócalo and the Centro Histórico
One of the biggest squares on the planet, framed by the Metropolitan Cathedral and the National Palace, surrounded by colonial streets, rooftops and the Palacio de Bellas Artes. Perfect for establishing shots, street scenes and anything that needs “Mexico” in a single frame.
Roma and Condesa
Tree-lined avenues, art deco facades, cafés and parks like Parque México. The go-to neighbourhoods for lifestyle, fashion and food content with a European touch that still feels unmistakably Mexican.
Xochimilco
The canals and the colourful trajineras are a living postcard of pre-Hispanic Mexico. Great for music videos, travel content and any story that needs colour, water and movement.
Casa Azul and Coyoacán
Frida Kahlo’s house and the cobbled streets, markets and plazas of Coyoacán. Bohemian, intimate and full of texture: ideal for portraits, documentaries and editorial shoots.
Luis Barragán’s houses and Cuadra San Cristóbal
Pink walls, pure volumes and light: Barragán’s architecture is one of the most photographed backdrops in the country for fashion, cars and design campaigns.
Chapultepec forest and castle
A huge urban park with lakes, museums, the Anthropology Museum and a castle on a hill with views over Reforma. Green areas, monuments and a skyline in the same location.
UNAM university campus
Mid-century modernist architecture, murals and open spaces declared a World Heritage Site. A futuristic-meets-brutalist look that works for tech, sportswear and automotive content.
Teotihuacán
The pyramids of the Sun and the Moon, less than an hour from the city. Monumental scale, dawn light and hot-air balloons over the Avenue of the Dead.
Riviera Maya and the Yucatán peninsula
The Caribbean coast of Mexico is the country’s most famous destination and a paradise for beach, resort, travel and underwater productions, with an international airport in Cancún and hotels for every budget.
Tulum ruins
The only Mayan city built on a cliff above the sea. Turquoise water, white sand and stone temples in one frame.
Cenotes: Dos Ojos, Ik Kil and Kaan Luum
More than two thousand natural sinkholes with crystal-clear water, stalactites and shafts of light. The Yucatán peninsula has no rivers on the surface: they all run underground, and the cenotes are the doors to that world. Perfect for underwater and swimwear shoots.
Playa del Carmen and Quinta Avenida
The lively heart of the Riviera Maya: beach clubs, rooftops, nightlife and a pedestrian avenue full of colour for lifestyle and party content.
Bacalar lagoon
The lagoon of the seven colours, with wooden docks, stromatolites and a calm that photographs like a painting. One of the most requested locations of recent years.
Sian Ka’an and Punta Allen
A biosphere reserve with mangroves, lagoons and a fishing village at the end of a sand track. Wild nature, boats and real local characters for documentaries and adventure content.
Cobá
Pyramids hidden in the jungle that you can still climb, connected by paths you cover by bike. Indiana Jones vibes without leaving the Riviera.
Holbox
A car-free island with sandbanks, flamingos, bioluminescence at night and whale sharks in summer. Barefoot luxury for resort and travel campaigns.
Chichén Itzá and Valladolid
The most famous Mayan pyramid in the world and, next door, a colonial town with pastel facades and the Zací cenote in the middle of the streets.
Akumal and the reefs
Turtles grazing a few metres from the shore and the second largest reef in the world. The obvious choice for underwater sequences and diving brands.
Baja California
The peninsula that stretches from the US border down into the Pacific, with the Sea of Cortez on the other side. Dry, clean light almost every day of the year, deserts, vineyards and two very different seas, plus the border with San Diego for crews and gear that need to come from the US.
Valle de Guadalupe
Mexico’s wine country: vineyards, boutique wineries, adobe architecture and farm-to-table restaurants half an hour from Ensenada. Food, wine and lifestyle campaigns feel at home here.
Tijuana
Street art, food trucks, the border wall reaching into the ocean and a creative scene that never stops. Urban, gritty and colourful for streetwear and music.
Ensenada and Rosarito coast
Cliff roads with the Pacific below, surf breaks, fishing boats and La Bufadora blowhole. Car commercials love this road.
La Rumorosa
A mountain pass of giant boulders between Tecate and Mexicali that looks like another planet, especially at sunrise. Epic for automotive and motorbike shoots.
San Felipe and the Valle de los Gigantes
Desert, dunes, salt flats and the tallest cardón cacti in the world on the shore of the Sea of Cortez. Vast, empty and cinematic.
Guerrero Negro
Salt flats and lagoons where grey whales come to breed every winter. One of the great wildlife stories on the peninsula.
Los Cabos, Todos Santos and La Paz
At the southern tip: the Arch of Cabo San Lucas, the boho town of Todos Santos, the beaches of La Paz and the islands of the Sea of Cortez with sea lions. Luxury resorts, surf and desert meeting the ocean.
Other regions worth the trip
Oaxaca
Colonial streets, mezcal distilleries, the Monte Albán ruins and the petrified waterfalls of Hierve el Agua. Craft, colour and gastronomy in one state.
San Miguel de Allende
A perfectly preserved colonial town with a pink neo-Gothic church, cobbled streets and rooftops. The favourite of wedding, fashion and travel brands.
Guanajuato
Tunnels under the city, coloured houses stacked on the hills and the alleys of the old silver capital. A film set that already exists.
Puebla
Talavera-tiled facades, baroque churches, the Museo Internacional del Barroco and the volcanoes Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl as a backdrop, two hours from the capital.
Sumidero Canyon, Chiapas
Walls a thousand metres high above a river you cover by boat, crocodiles included. Together with San Cristóbal de las Casas and the Palenque ruins, Chiapas is the jungle and mountain alternative to the Caribbean.
Copper Canyon, Chihuahua
Deeper than the Grand Canyon, with the Chepe train crossing it. Rail, adventure and landscape content on a massive scale.
Puerto Vallarta and the Riviera Nayarit
Pacific beaches, jungle down to the sand, Sayulita’s surf town and the islands of the Marietas. The Pacific answer to the Riviera Maya, with a sunset every evening.
Your perfect production
At Fonktown we have experienced local producers, fixers and location managers in Mexico City, the Riviera Maya and Baja California, and a network of trusted providers in the rest of the country. We take care of permits, crew, equipment, casting, transport and accommodation so that you only have to worry about the creative side.
Conclusions
Mexico has locations for every kind of production: a megacity with every architectural style, the Caribbean and its cenotes, the deserts and vineyards of Baja, colonial towns, jungles and canyons. If you are planning a shoot in Mexico, contact us and we will find the perfect location for your project.
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