Down below you’ll find some important aspects about travelling to Mexico. I’ve already talked to you about the itinerary of a road trip in Mexico. You will therefore get an idea of what it means to visit such a wonderful yet mysterious country. Many of the topics I’ll talk about, are better analysed in my previous post: Suggestions the best Mexico travel tips.
Travelling to Mexico: Information and advices about my trip
Weeks: from 7th August to 24th August 2016 —> effective days in Mexico: from 8th August to 23rd.
Total numer of nights: 15
Flights to Mexico: Madrid – Cancun (and return) with Air Canada.
On the way to Mexico -> stop-over in Bruxelles and Montreal.
On the way back home -> stop-over in Toronto and Frankfurt.
Cost of the flights Madrid – Mexico: 570 euros.
Flight to Madrid: Bergamo – Madrid T1 with Ryanair. Around 230 euros with luggage included.
Total cost for the flights: 800 euros.
Car: rented on Rentalcars (I suggest you to use it) before our departure. We were given a comfortable automatic-drive Toyota Yaris. The car was spacious enough to carry two big pieces of luggage in its boot.
Place Visited: Yucatan, Chiapas, Quintana Roo.
Cost to move by car
Cost car rental: 365 euros + 70 euros for the additional driver.
Total Kilometres: 2745
Petrol costs: about 14 pesos per litre (about 0.70 cents per litre). In total, we spent 140 euros in petrol for the whole trip.
Road signs: honestly, they were awful — almost non existent. Most of the parking spots are free, but watch out for the colours of the lines. I’ve better explained this issue in one of my previous post: “suggestions when travelling in Mexico”.
Highway costs (in pesos):
- 235 – Cancun – Valladolid
- 20 – Campeche – Palenque
- 60 A/R San Cristobal – Chiapa de Corzo (return)
- 30 per person Misol Há waterfalls (10 at the first entrance, 20 at the second one)
- 40 per person Agua Azul waterfalls (20 at the first entrance, 40 at the second one)
Parking costs (in pesos):
- 30 Chichén Itzà
- 30 Uxmal
- 50 Cobà
- 120 Tulum
- Palenque it’s free, park in the streets.
Others about road and transports
Public Transports: to travel around the cities or move from a place to another which is not too far away, you can take advantage from the buses “Los Colectivos”. The tickets are very cheap, but usually the buses depart only when sold out.
Topes: or, as we would call them in English, “road bumps”. Despite the nice sound of this term in the original language, you will soon grow to hate these road bumps that, even if driven by at a low speed, are still uncomfortable to hit. Mexico is full of them, above all on the road between Palenque and San Cristobal where they become your worst nightmare of the trip!
Exchange and hotel prices
Exchange rate: 1 euro = 19/20 pesos (August 2016) At the airport 1 euro = 15 pesos.
Hotel Booking: I decided to previously book all the hotels from Italy, days before the departure. All the bookings were made on booking.com and hotels.com.
Hotel Prices in Mexico: I spent the nights in different hotels and their costs varied from 12 euros per night for a double bedroom with ensuite bathroom in San Cristobal to the highest amount I spent for the same kind of bedroom that was 37 euros. The majority of the hotels in which I stayed didn’t include breakfast. If you wish to spend less, the hostel is always a good option.
Cost of daily living
Food Prices: The food prices can change quite a lot depending on the place you’re visiting. The cheapest place was without doubts San Cristobal, whilst the most expensive was Riviera Maya. To get an idea of the prices, I can tell you that a continental breakfast in a common bar/restaurant can vary from 50 to 85 pesos per person. As for what concerns lunch and dinner, the costs are around 50 pesos to 200 pesos for a fish plate.
Tips: the “propina” is part of the Mexican culture. Tips are always around 10% of what you’ve spent and this small percentage is often added to the bill. However, there are other times when you can just tip the waiters before leaving the restaurants (bear in mind that this is not compulsory). If you are paying with credit card the card reader will give you the possibility of choosing between a 5, 10 or 15% tip.
Public toilets: They’re easy to find pretty much everywhere. Those which are difficult to find, though, are the toilets that are free from charge. Sometimes a servant will be waiting in front of the toilets and will ask you for 3 or 5 pesos, whilst other times you’re free to choose the amount of money you want to give them. After having paid, before entering the “sanitario” (as Mexcan call the toilets), you will be given a roll of toilet paper.
Best mexican places visited
Mayan sites visited: Chichén Itzà, Uxmal, Palenque, Coba e Tulum. -> The top 5 Mayan ruins in Mexico
Beaches visited: Playa Paraiso, Akumal (read: Akumal in Mexico: snorkeling among turtles), Playa Delfines and Laguna de Bacalar.
Cities visited: Valladolid, Merida, Campeche, Palenque, San Cristobal de las Casas (read: San Cristobal de las Casas in Mexico: the soul of Chiapas), Chapa de Corzo, Bacalar, Tulum, Puerto Morelos.
Excursions organised by our own: Sumidero Canyon, San Juan Chamula and snorkelling in Akumal.
Others details
Climate in Mexico: August is surely not the best month to visit Mexico. The months at the beginning of the year might be more preferable to go around the country. August is indeed a really rainy and humid month.
Insurance: we signed an Insurance online. In total we paid 118 euros for it.
Wifi: Internet connection can be found pretty much everywhere, even if in certain parts of the country it doesn’t work properly. In the hotels where we stayed, the Wi-Fi in our rooms didn’t work as it should have, but it worked much better in the common room. As for the restaurants, the Wi-Fi works perfectly. In some squares, like Bacalar, it is possible to get access to a free Internet connection.
Internet connection: if you have to use Internet on your mobile phone, please bear in mind that outside the residential areas and above all when visiting the archeological sites, the signal is very weak. On some of the Mexican roads the GPRS connection is completely non-existent.
Travelling to Mexico: map
Towards San Cristobal de las Casas and back.