Attractions

Downtown Villahermosa is poor and decaying, while the modern western part of the city is picturesque in places because the land is broken up by lots of shallow lakes. I don't recommend budgeting much time for the city. The two major attractions, the Parque-Museo La Venta and the Museo Regional de Antropología Carlos Pellicer Cámara (which is closed) can be seen in a day.

If you're bound and determined to get to know the city, take a stroll about the pedestrian-only Zona Luz in the old city center, and you'll see signs that investment might be returning to the downtown area. Outside the Zona Luz, things get more unpleasant, with lots of traffic and crowds of pedestrians. You can walk south along the banks of the Grijalva until you come to a pedestrian bridge with an observation tower. That's the highlight. You won't miss much by keeping away.