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Wander south of the border to shop for one-of-a-kind silver handcrafts, visit world-class museums that feature everything from ancient artifacts to modern art and experience eco-friendly thrills like coastal hiking.

Mexico has a lot more to offer than sipping Coronas and dodging timeshare sales reps. Whether your goal is shopping, learning or adventure, Mexico beckons travelers with its natural beauty, intriguing past and modern adventures. Check out our insider's guide to staying busy in Mexico.

1. Mexico is one of the world's largest producers of silver. Artisans create sterling silver jewelry, up to 95% pure, in traditional workshops and modern studios across the country. Belt buckles, bracelets, cuff links, earrings, necklaces, rings and other items sell for around half of what they do in the U.S. First time visitors to Mexico should be careful to avoid knockoff silver-plated jewelry, called alpaca, which is regularly hawked by street vendors or even strolling beach vendors who approach potential shoppers while they're lying in the sun.

Much of the country's silver is mined in the colonial town of Taxco, located between Mexico City and Acapulco. With its cobblestone streets, historic town plaza and more than 200 boutiques, there's a huge selection of silver jewelry, picture frames, flatware, drinking goblets and other unique items. Due to the large supply, prices here are better than anywhere else in the country. Savvy travelers should pick up their souvenirs in Taxco or in Tijuana, Mexico City and the island of Cozumel, where local artisans make custom-made pieces with a tropical or native Mayan theme.

2. Mexico has a rich history that is as interesting as it is complex, and the nation's museums are some of the best places to try to sort out the country's complicated past. In a series of more than 20 exhibits, the lives and cultures of the land's inhabitants, including the Olmecs, the Aztecs and the Mayans, are revealed at The National Museum of Anthropology. More can be learned at the city's Templo Mayor Museum, located in the town square, or Zocalo, where thousands of artifacts are displayed from the time when Mexico City was called Tenochtitlan and was ruled by the Aztecs. Just outside the museum, visitors can witness living history, with structures from the pre-Columbian, colonial and modern civilizations still standing side-by-side.

If it's your second or third trip to Mexico and you want a glimpse of more contemporary times, visit the capital city home of painter Frida Kahlo, which houses her unfinished paintings, personal jewelry and even wheelchair. And for something really unique, the Shipwreck Museum in the coastal Caribbean town of Puerto Aventuras is a real treasure. Founded in 1959, it is charged with locating and protecting both ancient and modern shipwrecks and displays artifacts recovered from local waters and around the world. There's also a display that explains how the sacred well at the Chichén Itzá Mayan ruins was drained to look for relics.

3. For nature-lovers, Mexico offers a variety of eco-conscious activities. In Magdalena Bay, near the southern end of Baja California, visitors can watch giant blue whales, humpbacks and orcas as they migrate to the warmer waters of the Sea of Cortez to reproduce. Prime viewing time is January to March. Farther south, near the Pacific shores of San Blas, travelers can visit La Tobara, a series of hiking trails that skirts a lagoon that mixes freshwater from the river and saltwater from the ocean to create a unique ecosystem, inhabited by orchids, fig trees, lilies, parrots, cormorants and turtledoves.

On a return trip, travel across the country, to the Celestun Biosphere Reserve in Campeche. There, nature-lovers can visit breeding grounds of pink flamingos and sea turtles, plus see manatees, storks, crown conchs and even octopus — all in their natural habitat.

Joshua Hinsdale is a travel writer and author of "Great Destinations: Playa del Carmen, Tulum & The Riviera Maya" (Countryman Press).