Mexico – quick travel guide

Fun colorful country with nice people, easy tourism and adventures to explore, and with extremely diverse terrain.

Mexico is still a vastly underrated place because most people THINK they know Mexico. When in fact most people only know beach Mexico…but there is also jungle Mexico, mountain Mexico, island Mexico, and city Mexico.

I’ve explored mostly everything from Mexico City to Playa Del Carmen, a few other cities. See the list below. I came to Mexico thinking I’d only be there a month but ended up staying for 8, often returning to the same places multiple times. Basically…I felt like I was living there.

Most tourists come for a weekend or weeklong beach getaway. Most backpackers come for a month. But really, you could easily spend 3-6 months in Mexico and still not see everything everything. Mexico is an absolutely huge country which so much diversity in landscapes, terrain, culture, food, and activities.

What makes Mexico great (and unique) for travelers:

Diverse, convenient, Americanized, many expats/foreigners. Cheap destination to the US. Lots of english spoken. Easy transportation (many buses, cheap flights) within the country. Great weather.

General tips for traveling in Mexico:

• Lots of expats and foreigners. And usually expats are not in the neighborhoods where the city center is. They are tucked away but still accessible.
• A good tip to find safe neighborhoods is to look for vegan restaurants. Can use Happy Cow app.
• A good tip to find city centers is to look for Oxxo’s. Or search for restaurants on Google Maps reviews, and they have a lot of English reviews.

Transportation:

• Flights – you can get flights around Mexico for pretty cheap. 2 weeks ahead would be really cheap, but even last-minute ones are pretty affordable. Heck…I’ve even missed my flight before and was still able to buy a new on the spot without breaking my bank.
• Bus – IMO ideal way to travel around Mexico. Cheap, comfortable, safe, fun to see the terrain, can work and use (your phone) internet, no stress of running around airport. Most popular brand is ADO (big red bus) since they cover more areas but I’d also check out more comfortable and luxurious options like ETN (my fav) and Primera Plus. Buses cover different regions. To see their level of comfort, try to book one and see seat selection. My favorites are the 2-level buses with only 3 seats per row.

Safety tips:

• Don’t be drunk in public – doing this is asking to get ripped off by taxi’s or stopped/harassed by cops, especially if you’re white/European-looking. I also think criminals and police love targeting drunk people because they think you won’t remember or be able to identify them. Also you’ll get less sympathy if you go to the police station with a story like, “Oh yeah I was totally drunk and on drugs last night and somebody took my stuff.”
• 2 guys on motorcycle – this safety rule should apply for any Latin American country, really. Be especially cautious anytime you see 2 guys riding back on motorcycle. Especially when you’re walking down the sidewalk or crossing the street, obliviously on your phone. They’re known to grab your phone or bag and run off. Sometimes the back guy will jump out and threaten with a gun or knife before jumping back on the motorcycle with your valuables. Other times, they stay on the motorcycle and just grab as they speed off.
• Make friends with bartenders – they know the area well, what (dangerous) shit went down recently, who the cartel members are, where to buy drugs safely. Anything that you need, you can always ask the bartenders.
• Where to buy drugs – two common concerns. One is that the drugs are good, two is you don’t get ripped off. If you know a local or a foreigner who’s been there a while, see if they can share their hookup (you’ll probably get charged a foreigner price). If you don’t know anyone, you can ask a bartender (they know everyone) or look for guys who hang around bathrooms in bars/clubs/restaurants (yes, even the fancy ones). Buying from someone in an establishment is safest since they work there and have to maintain a reputation. Worst place to buy drugs is on the street as that’s where you’re likely to get robbed, caught by undercover cop, or given crap stuff and you never see them again.

Many people say Mexico is dangerous and I’d half agree. Indeed there are big cartels killing each other, and also petty criminals harassing tourists. But by and large, Mexico is very safe. Why?…

…because crime in Mexico is organized crime.

Cartels are big and unified. They own everything. They own land, hotels, restaurants, bars, clubs, beaches, parks, tours, etc. Even the businesses they don’t own, they collect racketeering “protection” tax from. Likewise they also make money from drug sales happening at their bars/clubs.

So that means they make plenty of money off tourism and DO NOT WANT TO LOSE TOURISTS. They will absolutely make sure nobody is harassing their patrons on their turf. With that said…there are indeed instances of revenge shootings to hurt each others PR. But that’s more for newly-developing areas (like Tulum) and not so much already-established ones (like Mexico city).

In case you’re wondering about revenge shootings, it’s like this:

• 2 cartels made peace treaty with each other. This is my turf, that is your turf. And we don’t sell drugs on each other’s turf.
• Some idiot cartel member sells drugs on the turf of the other cartel. Or maybe he went to the other hotel just to deliver or hang out. Who knows? It’s to miscommunicate/misunderstand.
• Turf gang kills intruder member selling drugs on his turf.
• Now other cartel gets mad and wants revenge. They drive by and shoot a random patron.
• Business (and area) of first cartel is now in the news and suffers bad publicity and decreased business.
• Maybe they get revenge by doing the same.
• Sometimes new stories don’t publish everything or don’t stay published for long (cuz guess who probably controls the media as well). But you can hear of updates on WhatsApp groups.

Mexico cities (* = recommended, ** = must see):

• Baja California
  • Tijuana – boring city, for ppl who work across US border or San Diego college kids on “cheap” spring break. Only nice areas are Playa de Tijuana (it’s like TJ’s Santa Monica) or gated/fancy neighborhoods. Don’t visit. Best tacos in Mexico, though.
  • Cabo San Lucas – too touristy and commercial for my liking, and mostly un-swimmable beaches (dangerous undertow). But indeed there are nice all-inclusive hotels and typical boat tour past the El Arco rock and other water activities if you like that.
• Nayarit
  • Puerto Vallarta*
  • Sayulita – small but popular Mexico beach town. Lots of bars to mingle. Solid little foreigner community here, many living in nice apartments up the hills with high-up views of the town.
• Jalisco
  • Guadalajara* – colorful.
• Guanajuato (state)
  • Guanajuato (city)* – nice colorful authentic local city vibe on the hills. Colorful houses on the hills with central downtown and touristy areas at the bottom of the valley. Chill local hangout. Perhaps not so developed in terms of world-class restaurants and nightlife.
  • Leon –
  • San Miguel de Allende* – postcard beautiful. Big beautiful fairy tale church in center of clean colorful colonial town. Nice panoramic views on the hills. Fancy restaurants and bars to cater to the main rich Mexican tourists who visit here.
  • check out the “pueblos magicos” towns in this region of Mexico.
• Mexico City (state)
  • Mexico City (CDMX)** – my favorite city in Mexico. Amazing beautiful city with tons to do. Stay 1 week to forever. Many great neighborhoods, big parks, museums, restaurants, bars, clubs, shopping, and on and on.
• State of Mexico
  • Toluca 1-2
• Guerrero
  • Taxco* – beautiful postcard city. Many white buildings on hills. 1 night, or day trip.
  • Acapulco –
• Morelos
  • Tepoztlan
  • Cuernavaca
• Puebla (state)
  • Puebla (city) 2-3 – feels like a big authentic Mexican city. But in terms of tourist value, it’s kinda boring and not special compared to other places. Very chill and not much to do. But indeed, there are many nice restaurants, bars, cafes.
• Oaxaca
  • Oaxaca City** 5-7 – amazing culture and food, awesome vibe, colorful, and just something different from the usual beach party Mexico. Absolute must see.
  • San Jose del Pacifico 2-3 – hippie town in the mountains. Good option if you’re tired of beaches.
  • Puerto Escondido* 4-5 – hippie beach town, something between Holbox and Tulum.
  • Mazunte 2-3 – hippie beach town outside P-ESC.
  • Zipolite 2-3 – another hippie beach town outside P-ESC. I forgot which one has the nude beaches, Mazunte or Zipolite.
• Chiapas
  • San Cristobal de las Casas** 3-4 – nice mountain town with its own architecture. Locals dressed in traditional clothing. Many restaurants ranging from cheap local ones to hipster foreigner ones. A definitely unique place in Mexico.
  • Palenque** 3-4 – incredible jungle place with wild animals like the famous howling monkeys. I highly recommend staying right in the jungle to get the full effect.
• Campeche (state)
  • Campeche (city) 2-3 – beautiful colorful old town in the castle with amazing restaurants. Nice place for old folks to enjoy but not much for the young folks. Edzna ruins nearby is amazing and always empty, so you get great photos.
• Yucatan
  • Merida 2-3 – nice calm chill place with tons of amazing restaurants (really blew me away), but I felt it was a boring town.
  • Valladolid* 1-2 – it’s the smaller cuter and more fun version of Merida. Lots of cute colorful buildings. Fun as a stop. Or stay longer if you like the chill vibe.
• Quintana Roo
  • Holbox* – authentic hippie (not hipster) town, beach bums, shit WIFI, beautiful beaches, parties on street and beaches every night.Cancun – touristy and not real Mexico. Big divide between tourist and local areas.
  • Isla Mujeres** – easy to reach and nice to stay. Playa Norte beach is among if not the most beautiful beach in Mexico. Way better than Cozumel in general. 2-3 days
  • Puerto Morelos – day or afternoon trip to see the beach and snorkel. Not much else.
  • Playa del Carmen* – popular beach party city with many areas to hang out, some hate the noise and over-commercialized nature. Also beaches aren’t so pretty in the main areas.
  • San Miguel de Cozumel – 1 day trip for snorkeling or diving, only stay longer if you’re scuba diving.
  • Akumal – turtle sanctionary and beach. Do morning/afternoon trip. Not much else.
  • Tulum* – some people love the posh-hippie spiritual vibes, others say it’s too commercial and dangerous. Nonetheless, it is probably Mexico’s #1 tourist destination (especially among the influencer/Instagrammer crowd).
  • Mahahual** – among my favorite. Nice beaches with trees right on them. A little touristy but not over-developed yet.
  • Bacalar* – another authentic hippie (not hipster) destination, but a lake instead of beach. Still super nice, chill, relaxing vibes. Everybody here was super cool and friendly.

Main destinations are CDMX, Oaxaca city (& Puerto Escondido), Playa del Carmen, Tulum. Each of these can be a very fun week.