Fuerte de San Diego

For two and a half centuries, Acapulco was the American terminus of the Manila galleon - the trans-Pacific route that carried Chinese silk, porcelain, ivory and spices to New Spain and Mexican silver back to Asia - and the Fuerte de San Diego was built to protect it. First raised in the early 1600s and rebuilt as a five-pointed star fort after an earthquake in the 1770s, its moat, bastions and gun platforms command the bay, and it saw action against Dutch raiders and, later, in the independence war. Today it houses the Museo Historico de Acapulco, whose galleries run through pre-Hispanic Guerrero, the conquest, the galleon trade in detail - navigation, cargoes, the annual fair that turned Acapulco into a global marketplace for a few weeks each year - piracy, independence and the twentieth-century emergence of the resort city. The building is the other exhibit: cool stone rooms, ramps to the ramparts and views over the old harbour. It is the one indoor cultural stop in Acapulco that consistently repays a couple of hours.

What you actually see

• The star fort - moat, bastions and gun platforms.
• The galleon rooms - the Manila trade told with objects.
• The ramparts - views over the bay and old town.
• The Guerrero galleries - the region before and after conquest.

When to go

Any day but Monday; mornings are coolest and quietest. November to April keeps the whole city more comfortable.

Honest expectations

Labels are Spanish-first with partial English. The ramparts are hot at midday. The surrounding old town has seen better decades; taxis are the sensible approach after dark.

Nearby

La Quebrada's divers, the zocalo and the malecon are within walking distance.