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General Mexico Info

Language: A little knowledge of the Spanish language is essential to avoid headaches.

Transport general: Bus transport is perfect. It is possible (and sometimes essential) to make reservations.

Reading/Travel guide: A good travel guide is the one from Footprint Handbooks: Mexico and Central America. The information is up-to-date and accurate.

Playa del Carmen.

We arrived on Cancun Airport. The best way to avoid mass tourism is to go directly to Playa del Carmen. Though expensive and touristy, the town has a nice atmosphere. There is not much to see, but the beautiful (but small) beach is O.K. to relax after your flight to Mexico.

Transport: There are no busses from the airport to Playa del Carmen. You can take an expensive taxi for which tickets can be bought at the airport (fixed price). If you arrive in the morning or early afternoon it is also possible to take a taxi to the central busstation in Cancun and a bus from there to Playa. Less expensive, but this option takes a little bit more of your time and effort. There are frequent bussen from Cancun to Playa del Carmen.

From Playa del Carmen it is easy to go to the Cozumel Island. Go there for a day-trip, but even better: stay there for at least one day.
We stayed on the island for two nights and used one complete day to explore the island. You can hire a bike to do this, but this is not recommendable. It takes about seven hours to round the island. Take plenty of water. The round-trip Cozumel is worth it. There are hardly any people on the Carribean side, the coast is rough (no swimming), but beautifull, there are some nice restaurants and the views are great.
After exploring the Carribean side visit the Yucatan side of the island. Go to one of the restaurants/dive clubs near the see and dive and relax till the sun goes down.
San Miguel - the only on town Cozumel - is frequently visited by Cruiseships with their shopping adicted passengers. Expensive restaurants and shops is the result. Go further away from the town-centre to feel the Mexican / Carribean atmosphere.

Transport: Frequent (hourly) boates from Playa. It takes about 1/2 hours to 3/4 hour to get there.
Hotel: We stayed in hotel Edem. Cheap, near the town-centre and the boats to Playa.

From Cozumel we took the boat and bus to Tulum. The ruins of Tulum are worth a visit, because its location near the sea (a sample of the view). It takes about two hours to see the ruines.
We stayed in the cabañas near the ruins, a great experience. Well worth a two-night stay. One day to explore the ruins and one day to relax near the beach. If you are lucky you can find a cabana with view on the sea. We sat there for one day, reading and cooling down in the sea. Perfect !!!. See for yourself.

Hotel: There are some hotels near the busstop near the ruins. Expensive and not recommended. It is better to walk to the ruins; go to the right near the entrance; walk about 500 meters and take the road left. There you walk towards the sea and the area where the cabanas are. We rented a cabana at El Mirador (closest to the ruines). Cheap, expecially if you stay for more than one night.

Transport: The bus from Playa to Tulum takes about one hour. Tulum can easily be visited as day-trip from Playa.
Buses to and from Playa are frequent. Buses to Chetumal are not (if you leave from the busstation near the ruins). If you want to visit Chetumal - like we did - go to the busstation in the town of Tulum.

After visiting Tulum and relaxing at the beach we headed for Chetumal. We took a second class buss, which takes about 4 hours. Chetumal is a nice small town (only 100 years old) and the capital of the state Quintana Roo. There is not much to see, except for the maya museum (Museo de la Cultura Maya). This museum is really worth a stop-over in Chetumal. Excellent !!!

Hotel: We stayed in hotel Ucum. Excellent hotel, cheap and clean.

Transport: From Chetumal you can go to Belize, but we took the nightbus to Palenque (there are no busses during the day). The busstation is on the outskirts of Chetumal. If waiting for the nightbus you can visit the nearby Zoo. Food can be obtained from the supermarket nextdoor.
If taking the bus from Chetumal to Palenque beware of thiefs in the busses (do not go alone and reservate a seat in front) and - on the way - be prepared for at least three controlsearches by police, army, etc.

The ruins of Palenque are - in my opinion - the most beautiful maya-site of the ones we have seen. A path - through the jungle - leads to the museum. A nice stroll after taking you pictures and exploring all these buildings (see this picture).
The town Palenque is quit mexican, but touristy. In town there is nothing to see. Many restaurants and hotels.
A nice day-trip from Palenque is to go to Misol-ha and Agua Azul. Lovely waterfalls and a nice ride through the mountains of Chiapas. Inform at the travel agencies in town or the collectivo drivers.

Transport: If your arrive from Chetumal be prepared to wait in the small busstation for a few hours till it gets light.
From Palenque you can either go to Guatemala (inform at the travel agencies), San Christobal or Mexico City. We took the bus to the latter destination. Again, a night bus. Leaves at 8 in the evening and arrives around seven in the morning.
Transport to the ruines: take a collective. Easy, cheap and frequent during opening times of the ruins.

After visiting Palenque we decided to go to the overwhelming capital of Mexico. A great place to visit, but - be carefull - it gets to you in a strange way (!?!). Anyway, we spend three days in Mexico city. This is clearly not enough. We have been running through the city, passing by its highlights. Talking about these highlights: Chapultepec Park, Museo Nacional de Antropologia (really great), Teotihuacan (pyramids, impressive), Zocalo, Palacio Nacional, Plaza de tres culturas, etc. There is so much to see !!!

Hotel: We stayed in hotel Ambar (San Jeronimo 105 y Pino Suarez), near Pino Suarez station and about a ten minutes walk from the Zocalo. Clean rooms.

Transport: Explaining getting there and getting around Mexico City shortly is impossible. We had no problems getting there (you arrive in the greatest busstation ever seen) and no problems moving around (take the subway or a taxi). One remark however, be prepared that moving around will take much of your time.

After Mexico City we needed a rest. There is no better way than to get this in Puebla (2 hours by bus from Mexico). Though a population of 1 million in total, the town seems small and relaxed.
There is to much to see, except for the colonial buildings and the cathedral near the Zocalo. This Zocalo comes alive at night, with people strolling and enjoying themselves. Take a seat at one of the restaurants around the zocalo and enjoy your meal bottle of beer and the view.

Hotel: The cheapest hotel on our trip we found in Puebla. It is called Avenida.

Transport: The busstation is on the outskirts of town. It takes about 15 minutes to the centre. For local transport use a taxi, as there are no busses.

From Puebla we went to Veracruz. Great lively town at the Mexican golf. Things to see: a beautiful aquarium. Just like Puebla, the Zocalo is a nice place to spend your time. Live music in the evening and good restaurants.

From Veracruz we took the long busride to Campeche. This does not mean there is not much to see between these cities (Tabasco), but lack of time made us take this route.
Campeche is the most beautiful town we visited. The centre has nice colonial buildings painted in all kinds of colours. There are hardly any cars which is ordinary in Mexican cities.
The centre is surrounded by an old wall, build by the Spanish. There are some small museums and one botanical garden near/in these walls.

Transport: Visiting the Maya-sites in the state of Campeche is not easy. It is not possible to reach them by public transport.

Merida is the capital of the state Yucatan. An old city with small streets, and a lot of people and cars in them. There are some good museums in this town and it is a great place to shop for souvenirs (though more expensive then elsewhere). Especially if you are looking for hammocks.
Hotel: We stayed in hotel Casa Becil (Calle 67 No. 550 C x 66 y 68). Cheap, very clean rooms, nice manager. Recommended. The hotel is near the busstation and about a 10 minutes walking distance to the centre of town.
Transport: The busstations are some way from the centre. Here you can take busses in all directions.

From this busstation we took a public tourbus (cheap) to see the maya-sites in the state Yucatan. In one day (the bus leaves at 8) you see: Kabah, Sayil, Xlapak, Labna and Uxmal. The bus stops at the first four sites for about half an hour. At Uxmal it is possible to stay for 2 hours. You can also take this bus just to drop you off at Uxmal. Then you have from about 10:30 till 3 o'clock the time to explore these magnificent ruins. This might be the best options. We saw 5 sites, but when you eventually arrive at Uxmal your too exhausted to see just another maya-site.
Uxmal is one of the sites you should see. Drinks, souvenirs and the restaurants are expensive.

Celestun is a nice village and good place to relax for a few days. There are some nice hotels next to the beach (with seaside view, very cheap) and good fish-restaurant. Near the village is the National Park. you can hire a boat (expensive) to see the inhabitants of the lagoon: flamingoes and pelicans). Recommended!!

From Merida we went to Valladolid. This small town inbetween Merida and Cancun is near to Chitzen Itza. It is possible to stay in a hotel in the town near Chitzen (Piste), but we preffered to stay in Valladolid. Nice town with nearby Dzit-Nup, a cave with underground water. Wonderfull to take a swim here.

Chitzen Itza.
Arrive early to avoid the (many) tourgroups from Cancun (they spoil your visit). The site is interesting for the pyramid, El Castillo, and the divide into old Chitzen and new Chitzen.

Picture of El Castillo

Transport: At 7 a bus leaves from the busstation in Valladolid with which your arrive at 8. It is possible to get back to VaLladolid with the frequent busses that stop near the entrance. Sometimes collectivos take you all the way up to Valladolid (quite cheap for a distance of 60 km.). The driver will ask if you need a ride when waiting at the busstop.
Collectivos go to Dzit-Nup regularly. The do not ride in the afternoon. This means you have to take an expensive taxi.

The best way to finish your holiday in Mexico (if you leave from Cancun Airport) is to stay for a few days on the beautifull island Isla Mujeres. It is near Cancun, touristy during the day, but not in the evenings. The beach at the northern end of the island is perfect. At El Garrafon it is possible to snorkel near a small coral reef (see this picture or this one of Dorien). The reef is dead, but the many coloured tropical fish are worth a dive in the water. Unfortunatly around 11 o'clock the tourboats from Cancun arrive. Before their arrival and after their departure the parc is allmost your own swimming spot.
Another great place to visit is the Turtle Farm.
Many good restaurants (quite cheap) and hotels.