10 essential tips for traveling to Mexico

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This list of tips for traveling to Mexico It will help you organize your trip and above all, save time and headaches, by showing you in an easy and fast way the basic recommendations so that your trip is incredible and you enjoy it to the fullest.
Whether it is a route through its colonial cities, an itinerary through the Yucatan Peninsula, a tour of the archaeological sites or a combination of everything, we assure you that Mexico will make you fall in love at the moment you set foot on its lands and from there, you will only dream of returning.

Based on our trip to Mexico in 45 days, we leave you the ones that are for us, the best tips for traveling to Mexico. We start!

1. What is the best time?

Although it is always a good time for a trip to Mexico, depending on the type of activities or above all, if you are looking for the best weather, it is worth contemplating some recommendations:

  • High season (from December to April): these are the driest months in most of the country and the least hot, so they are also the best to make this trip.
  • Mid season (July and August): Although it is usually very hot, especially on the coast, this is the holiday period of many locals and foreigners, so tourist areas are usually full and prices are significantly higher.
  • Low season (May and June and from September to November): these months of the year are the most delicate since September and October is usually a time of hurricanes and May and June, the hottest months in many areas of the country.


2. Security in Mexico

The safety when traveling to Mexico It is one of the largest barriers that we put on and put us at the time of raising this destination and more if you want to explore it for free. Before going a little deeper, we want to start by saying that fortunately, Mexico is much more than you can read in the newspapers, watch on TV or what a friend who heard you heard happened to a cousin from a neighbor. And although in Mexico there are problems and in many cases violence and insecurity, it is not normally related to tourists, so if your trip falls within the usual tourist route and you follow the basic tips that you would follow in any other country, we are sure that you will forget this topic as soon as you visit the first city.
Regardless of this, as always it is good to be cautious, so we advise you not to bring many valuables in sight, do not go at night for places you do not know and always, ask in the accommodation what areas of the city are not Recommended not to tempt fate.

You can find much more information and details on this subject, after our experience traveling throughout the country for 1 month and a half, in the post Security in Mexico.

San Cristóbal de las Casas

3. Entry requirements

If you are a Spanish citizen, you can enter Mexico without a visa, only with a valid Spanish passport and a round trip airline ticket. With this documentation you can be in the country for a maximum of 180 days.
In some exceptional cases, they can ask you for a copy of your accommodation reservations or if you are going to be at a friend's house, the exact address and show that you have financial solvency for your entire stay in Mexico.
In addition, before entering Mexico, you must fill out the form "Multiple Migration Form" with the required personal data, which will be returned to you on the right side and you must save to show, next to your passport, when you leave the country.
In case of loss or theft, you must file a complaint with an agency of the Public Ministry, since this document or, failing that, the report for loss or theft, is essential to leave the country.
If you do not have Spanish citizenship, it is highly recommended to check the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to know the requirements for entering Mexico.

Another of the best tips for traveling to Mexico is to always carry a copy of your passport, international driver's license, travel insurance policy and important documentation in the cloud so that in case of loss, it is much easier and faster to carry out any procedure.

Passport

4. Vaccines and travel insurance to Mexico

First and foremost before Travel to Mexico is to go to your international vaccination center so that a doctor is the one who determines, according to your medical history, places to visit and travel time, what are the necessary vaccines.
At a general level, to enter Mexico it is not necessary to have any mandatory vaccine, although tetanus, diphtheria, triple viral, hepatitis A and B, and rabies and typhoid fever, as appropriate, are recommended.

In addition to the information on the subject of vaccines, it is essential to hire the best travel insurance for Mexico, so that if necessary, you have the best assistance and the most appropriate to your problem.
We always travel insured with Mondo, with whom we carry a totally adequate insurance to the needs that we will have during the trip. Hiring your insurance here with Mondo, just for being a Street Travelers reader, you have a 5% discount.

5. Money exchange

The currency of Mexico is the Mexican peso and currently 1 euros equals 22.12 Mexican pesos. Although initially you may think otherwise, according to our experience and after many trips, to travel to Mexico we recommend you always use the card to make payments and withdraw money at ATMs to avoid paying commissions and having a worse change Currency

We recommend using the N26 card to pay and the Bnext and Revolut cards to get money at the ATMs. They are the ones we use, They are free and will save you a lot.
You can find more information in this article about the best cards to travel without commissions.

In addition to these recommendations, it is also necessary to carry cash to make payments in places where they do not accept cards and for the usual tips in restaurants and hotels.
In the case of Holbox, you probably read that there are problems with the cashiers. We were there for a week and we had no problem, since there are a couple of ATMs on the island and currently, many of the shops already accept cards. Despite that and in this specific case, it may be interesting to carry some more cash to avoid surprises.

Holbox, a must when traveling to Mexico

6. How to have internet in Mexico?

If you want to have internet in Mexico, something very necessary today, especially considering the amount of applications we use in our trips and the need to be in contact with our family and friends, you can choose several options:

  • Buy a SIM card at the airport or at a phone shop in the city.
  • Buy one Holafly SIM card, with which you will have internet from the moment you land, saving you all the time of the negotiations and making the whole process to have internet in Mexico much more comfortable, fast and easy.
    In this case, with the Holafly SIM you will have several Gb to surf the Internet (depending on the option you choose), they will send it to you for free at home, you will keep your WhatsApp number and you will have assistance service in Spanish. You can buy your Holafly prepaid SIM card here with a 5% discount for being our reader.

More information on the Holafly post, the best prepaid SIM card for travel

7. Route through Mexico. Colonial cities

Taking into account the dimensions of Mexico and the amount of places to visit in Mexico essential, we believe that the first and most important thing is to determine how many days you have to make the trip and based on that decide what parts of the country you want to know.
To make a complete route through the country, including colonial cities, Chiapas, Campeche, Quintana Roo and Yucatan, we would recommend a minimum of one month. If you do not have this time, we advise you to review the routes that we are going to comment and decide, according to your tastes, what are the areas you want to include, so that you can enjoy your trip to Mexico to the fullest.

Understanding that you will land in CDMX, the first thing we recommend is to go from the airport to Mexico City, it is highly recommended for this first transfer to assess the private transfer, and then start with a route for the things to do in Mexico City, included by Of course, its historic center as well as especially Coyoacán and San Ángel, two of the places to visit in Mexico City and that are included among the places to see in Mexico City.
From Mexico City, we recommend leaving a couple of days off to visit the pyramids of Teotihuacán and make a route through the places to visit in Puebla, considered both as two of the best tours and excursions in Mexico City.

After these first days, we recommend you to go by bus to one of the most beautiful cities in the country and make a route through the places to visit in San Miguel de Allende and enjoy all the things to do in San Miguel de Allende, where you We advise you to spend a couple of days to get to know this amazing and charming city.
From here and again by bus, you can spend a couple of days in another of the most beautiful colonial cities, enjoying the things to do in Guanajuato and a route through the places to visit in Guanajuato.
After these days and if you still have a couple of extra days, you can go by bus to take a route through the tourist places of Zacatecas and enjoy the things to do in Zacatecas, one of the most charming and traditional cities in the country.
And finally, go to Guadalajara, where you can make a route for the things to do in Guadalajara, including a visit to Tonalá.

San Miguel de Allende

8. Chiapas and Campeche Route

The next stage of the trip to Mexico continues to take a plane, which is one of the ways to go to San Cristóbal de las cosas in Chiapas, for once there, spend several days enjoying the things to do in San Cristóbal de las Casas , such as a tour of the Sumidero Canyon and Chiapa del Corzo or a day trip to San Juan Chamula from San Cristobal de las Casas.

After a few days in this amazing city, we recommend you to go to Palenque in Chiapas, one of the most impressive places in Mexico and the world, where you can visit the archaeological site of Palenque and another day, take a Tour to Yaxchilán and Bonampak from Palenque .

From here and again using the bus, perfect transport to make the first part of the trip, we recommend you visit the tourist places of Campeche city, where you can rent a car to follow this impressive tour and visit Edzná from Campeche, Calakmul, Balamkú, Chicanná , Becán and Xpujil, which are some of the archeological sites of Campeche, where this stage of the trip will end.

Palenque

9. Quintana Roo and Yucatán

The next stage continues by rental car to visit the Bacalar Lagoon, the places to see on the Puuc Route, visit Uxmal in Yucatan, one of the most incredible places in the world and then do a Tour in Celestún, one of the places in which you can see flamingos in freedom.

The trip continues on the Convents route in the Yucatan Peninsula, then enjoy all the things to do in Izamal, one of the most beautiful towns in Mexico and do the Rio Lagartos Tour in Yucatan before visiting Chichen Itza, one of the places to see in Riviera Maya essential.

Visit the ruins of Tulum

After this awesome icing on the cake, another of the best tips for traveling to Mexico what we can give you, is to make a route through the best cenotes of Valladolid in Yucatán and visit the ruins of Cobá before starting the beach stage in Mexico.

For this stage of the trip to Mexico, our recommendations are to visit Akumal Beach, Playa del Carmen and Punta Esmeralda, which are some of the things to do in Tulum in Quintana Roo, visit the ruins of Tulum, which is undoubtedly one of the best excursions in Riviera Maya and then spend a day in Xpuha and Xcacel, considered as two of the best beaches in Tulum.

And if you still have time and want to enjoy an authentic Eden, nothing better than going to Holbox, one of the most impressive places in the world, where we are safe, you will have the best end of the trip, enjoying the incredible things to see and do in Holbox.

10. Gastronomy

If there is another one of the tips for traveling to Mexico that we can not stop giving you is to try Mexican cuisine and enjoy it as if it were another of the great attractions of the country.
Although there are hundreds of options, both for dishes and restaurants, we want to leave you with a selection of some of the ones we tried during our trip and that we believe, you should not stop trying.

  • Tacos: Corn tortilla that is filled with various ingredients, including meat, vegetables and fish, as well as sauces and onions.
  • Totopos: Our traditional nachos, but made with fried corn tortillas, which are usually accompanied with guacamole. Speechless!
  • Mole: If you go to Puebla, you can't stop trying their mole, which they say, is the best in the country. Meat, usually chicken, served with a sauce (mole), which also includes spices, chocolate.
  • Tamales: Although it's not our favorite dish, you can't stop trying them. It is corn dough stuffed with meat or vegetables, which are wrapped in a sheet for cooking.
  • Chapulines: Fried small grasshoppers that can be eaten alone or as an accompaniment to another dish.
  • Enchiladas: This dish is one of the most classic in the country and they are corn pancakes stuffed with vegetables, meat and cheese that are also covered with hot sauce.
  • Quesadilla: Although it does not have much resemblance to the usual ones of our Mexican restaurants, quesadillas in Mexico are grilled and stuffed with cheese and occasionally, with the delicious pumpkin flower.
  • Chilaquiles: One of the best breakfasts you can try in Mexico. They are tortilla chips that are served with green or red chili and sometimes with cream cheese.

You can find our recommended restaurants in this post about where to eat in Mexico.

Mexican gastronomy

More tips for traveling to Mexico

Other of the best tips for traveling to Mexico They are:

  • Remember that if you go to drive in Mexico, it is necessary to have the international card.
  • In Mexico the voltage is 127V, the frequency 60Hz and the plugs are of the type A / B, so you will need to carry an adapter.
  • Complete this list of essential things to do in Cancun and do some of the best tours and excursions in Cancun if you stay in this tourist city.
  • It is highly recommended, if you are going to move by rental car, ask at the hotel for the best route to get to your next destination. Sometimes GPS or Google Maps gives you routes that are not good roads or are not very safe and it is the locals that can give you the most reliable information.
  • If you are going to visit the areas of Tulum, Playa del Carmen and Holbox, now with the subject of sargassum (seaweed), it is preferable to consult a few days before how the situation is to be able to opt for a plan B if you do not want to spend the days of Beach suffering this situation.
  • If you are going to travel to Mexico in high season, remember that it is important to book flights, accommodation and car rental in advance to get good prices and have more options to choose from.

If you want to expand this advice section, you can consult this list of recommendations to visit Mexico.

Teotihuacan

Do you want to travel to Mexico for free?
Get it here:

The best offers of Flights to Mexico here

The best hotels at the best prices in Mexico: here

Get € 35 for your reservation with AirBnb here

Book your travel insurance with a 5% discount here

Book the best tours and excursions in Mexico in Spanish here

Book your transfer Airport⇆Ciudad de México here

Rent your car to travel through Mexico at the best price here

If you feel like helping us expand the list 10 essential tips for traveling to Mexico, add yours in the comments.

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