Titanium dioxide is a very important semiconductor with a high potential for applications in photocatalysis, solar cells, photochromism, sensoring, and various other areas of nanotechnology. Increasing attention has recently been focused on the simultaneous achievement of high bulk crystallinity and the formation of ordered mesoporous TiO2 frameworks with high thermal stability. Mesoporous TiO2 has continued to be highly active in photocatalytic applications because it is beneficial for promoting the diffusion of reactants and products, as well as for enhancing the photocatalytic activity by facilitating access to the reactive sites on the surface of photocatalyst. This steady progress has demonstrated that mesoporous TiO2 nanoparticles are playing and will continue to play an important role in the protection of the environment and in the search for renewable and clean energy technologies. This review focuses on the preparation and characterisation of mesoporous titania, noble metals nanoparticles, transition metal ions, non-metal/doped mesoporous titania networks. The photocatalytic activity of mesoporous titania materials upon visible and UV illumination will be reviewed, summarized and discussed, in particular, concerning the influence of preparation and solid-state properties of the materials. Reaction mechanisms that are being discussed to explain these effects will be presented and critically evaluated. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2011.