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Original poster

Help me plan a Mexico trip!

15 replies

rougechaotic · 04/10/2023 21:07

We are looking at going to Mexico next spring for DP's milestone birthday. We are planning around 3 weeks in total, flying in and out of Mexico City – does anyone have any recommendations? We have a good idea of what to do / where to stay in Mexico City as we have friends who have been several times but would like to do a bit of travelling around (while avoiding really touristy places like Cancun!)

We're hoping for:

  • Some hiking inland up mountains / volcanoes (not mountain climbing though!)
  • Surfing around Oaxaca
  • A short stay in a luxury resort for 3-4 days to just enjoy beaching and sun
  • Exploring areas that are really interesting but a bit more off the tourist route

We're happy to do an internal flight or two (ie. a return from Mexico City to Oaxaca) but don't want to spend all our time in airports so we're thinking of renting a car.

Any advice from MN would be very gratefully received!

OP posts:
soulfuleyes · 04/10/2023 21:45

Puerto Escondido is a lovely hippyish sleepy town on the Pacific coast with amazing surfing if that's what you like. I took the bus from Mexico City which took 12 hours but it has an airport so you could fly. I also went to Chiapas which was lovely, really interesting from an indigenous perspective. I love Mexico!

Original poster
rougechaotic · 04/10/2023 21:58

@soulfuleyes thank you! I was actually just looking at Chiapas – it looks wonderful! It looks like there is some good hiking around there too. I'm thinking maybe we go Mexico City to Oaxaca to Chiapas and then back up to Mexico City? Puerto Escondido looks beautiful!

If you don't mind me asking, how did you get from Oaxaca to Chiapas? Did you get a bus or did you drive?

OP posts:
soulfuleyes · 04/10/2023 22:10

I actually went to the Caribbean coast (Tulum) first from Mexico city by bus, then took a bus to Chiapas (San Cristabel) and then to Puerto Escondido. Lots of traveling but I liked going by bus even though the a/c tends to be too high. I can't remember how long the journeys were but I'm sure you could find out (they are very long)Such a nice country with lovely people, I went on my own as a young woman, no problems at all.

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soulfuleyes · 04/10/2023 22:16

Actually thinking about it the bus from Chiapas to Puerto Escondido took around 24 hours. It's a big country!

RumNotRun · 04/10/2023 22:39

My sister is working over in Puerto Morelos and loves it. There's a trip you can do to a tightly controlled island reservation area with crocodiles and other wildlife. Only one company can take you there and you're restricted on what you can take with you (no sunscreen, perfume etc) but apparently it's so beautiful and peaceful. I think it's called Chinchorro?

There's also a place called Holbox where you can see bioluminescence.

beAsensible1 · 04/10/2023 22:43

Stayed in akumal and Tulum would recommend some snorkelling with a few marine biology students.

toured some Mayan ruins with the most insightful and knowledgeable tour guide Raul!

went for a hike near some less popular ruins in somewhere called coya? I think can’t really remember

Lots of partying in cancun also

Isthisjustnormal · 04/10/2023 22:44

We've been to Holbox and loved it: slightly chaotic, felt like a nice mix of tourists and real life with no big chain hotels. As well as the bioluminescence (which was magical) if you go at the right time you can snorkel with whale sharks. Look for an ethical company but that was absolutely amazing.

I'd also really recommend getting in a few cenotes. We loved exploring the different types and the different feels in cave and open cenotes.

Isthisjustnormal · 04/10/2023 22:46

Was Coba the site you went to @beAsensible1 ? It's in the jungle, quite spread out with bikes or bike-cabs if you don't fancy walking. It was full of vultures when we went which was very atmospheric

beAsensible1 · 04/10/2023 22:50

Yes coba!

beAsensible1 · 04/10/2023 22:51

Yes and cenotes. And watermelon/pineapple with tajin

BiliousOhGod · 04/10/2023 22:52

Have a look at itineraries from companies like Explore or Intrepid - it'll give you a good idea of points of interest and how long it takes to get to them. I did Mexico city, down to Oaxaca, over and through Guatemala, into the Belize cayes for some beachy r&r, then up through the Yucatan peninsula and back to Mexico City in 3 weeks. It was a hard slog, but we saw so much.

MariaLuna · 04/10/2023 22:52

Yes, Coba was amazing. Only 5% had been excavated when we were there and you can climb the pyramid (which you can't at Chichen Itza). My son did and took photos. All jungle with a few pyramids sticking up above it.

Have to go back to Mexico one day.....

Isthisjustnormal · 04/10/2023 22:54

Coba is very indiana jones all covered in vine: we really enjoyed it too, @beAsensible1 (You can't climb the pyramid anymore - a shame but for good reason)
We did half our time on Holbox and half further down the coast towards but not in Tulum: Reserva de la Biósfera Sian Ka'an down that way was a good day if you like wildlife: manatees, dolphins, turtles and great birds (flamingos, ospray etc).

VisaWoes · 04/10/2023 22:54

I loved Coba when I went, we hired bikes and cycled round the jungle. Really interesting. Tulum was also good.

EffinMagicFairy · 04/10/2023 23:08

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