Introducing Mexico
Travel Alert: The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office recommends against all non-essential travel to some areas, please check with your relevant national government.
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Marvelling at a 1300-year-old Maya palace at Palenque as parrots screech and howler monkeys growl in the sweaty emerald jungle around you. This is Mexico. Sliding from a palm-fringed sandy beach into the warm, turquoise waves of the Pacific at Puerto Vallarta. This, too, is Mexico. Dining on salmon enchiladas and chrysanthemum salad at a Mexico City fusion restaurant, dancing through the night at a high-energy Guadalajara nightclub, kayaking at dawn past a colony of Baja California sea lions – all these are unique Mexican experiences. Every visitor goes home with their own unforgettable images. Such a large country, straddling temperate and tropical zones, reaching 5km into the sky and stretching 10,000km along its coasts, with a city of 19 million people at its center and countless tiny pueblos everywhere, can hardly fail to provide a huge variety of options for human adventure.
Mexico is what you make of it. Its multi-billion-dollar tourism industry is adept at satisfying those who like their travel easy. But adventure is what you’ll undoubtedly have if you take a just a few steps off the pre-packaged path. Activity-based tourism, community tourism and genuine ecotourism – the type that actually helps conserve local environments – are developing fast in rural areas. The opportunities for getting out to Mexico’s spectacular wild places and interacting with local communities are greater than ever – from world-class canyoneering near Monterrey or cooking lessons in the Veracruz countryside to hiking the Oaxaca cloud forests and snorkeling the coral reefs of the Yucatán.
Planning your first trip to Mexico? Be ready for more crowds, noise, bustle and poverty than you're accustomed to, especially if it's your first trip outside the developed world. But don't worry – most Mexicans will be only too happy to help you feel at home in their country. Invest a little time before your trip in learning even just a few phrases of Spanish – every word you know will make your trip that little bit easier and more enjoyable.
Getting Ready to go?
- Download our new Spanish Offline Translator app. Simply talk or type, and it translates. Available for iPhone, iPad and Android
- Download the free 20-page 'Mexico - Getting Started' guide, featuring a detailed overview, highlights, and nine Lonely Planet itineraries
- Tour around the highlights of Southern Mexico and Guatemala
- Visit the famous whale sanctuary at Magdalena Bay
Last updated: Mar 29, 2012
Tips & articles
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The 11 best street foods worth blowing your diet over
27 April 2012
You’re on holiday abroad exploring a local market. Suddenly an enticing aroma encircles you and makes you turn your head...
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The Riviera Maya on a shoestring
27 April 2012
It may seem like the resort-studded tropical coastline of Mexico’s Riviera Maya might be out of reach for the budget...
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Everything you ever wanted to know about traveller’s diarrhoea but were afraid to ask
17 April 2012
Although it’s not inevitable that you will get diarrhoea (commonly known as ‘Montezuma’s revenge’, ‘Delhi belly’ etc) while you are...
Thorn Tree forum discussion
Recent posts
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Re: Oaxaca Teachers' Protest - happening now
by CharlieTuba 27 May 2012
I would like to add my voice to those expressing their appreciation for the insights from posters who are in Oaxaca now, or have first…
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Can you get a boat to the Caymans from Mexico
by Pornamor 27 May 2012
Hi there, We currently live in Playa del Carmen Mexico and my husband hs a job lined up in the Caymans. Can we get to the Caymans by…
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Thoughts of Tlaxcala for a month?
by viajeroabcd 27 May 2012
I have the opportunity to spend a month in Mexico. Flight is to DF, and I was planning to spend the whole time there, and may very well…
Hotels & Hostels
Top cities in Mexico
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Mexico
Things to do
- All things to do (3,968)
- Activities (593)
- Entertainment (633)
- Restaurants (1,272)
- Shopping (341)
- Sights (1,111)
- Tours (18)
Make it happen
Our Top Picks For Mexico
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1 Mexico City
Highland megalopolis, ancient Aztec capital, kaleidoscopic canvas of riveting museums, culinary adventures and masked wrestlers...what more could you ask for from Mexico's action-packed capital?
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2 Oaxaca
Feast your eyes and your stomach on the incomparable artistic and culinary delights of colonial Oaxaca city
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3 Palenque
Ancient Maya temples rise majestically from a thick steamy jungle. Absolutely awe-inspiring.
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4 Teotihuacán
Explore a pair of mysterious and majestic pyramids, remnants of a mighty civilisation
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5 Puerto Escondido
Super-relaxed coastal town for all tastes: surf, beaches, fishing, wildlife, nightlife
Fast Facts about Mexico
- Famous for
tequila, the Aztecs, Salma Hayek, Gael García Bernal, Octavio Paz, Day of the Dead, drug wars, chilies, telenovelas, lucha libre, Corona beer
- Area
1.9 million sq km
- Lucha libre legends
El Santo (the most legendary of all), Místico, Blue Demon, Mil Máscaras, Tinieblas, El Medico Asesino, El Satánico
- Population
111,211,789
- Number of languages spoken
50
- Head of state
President Felipe de Jesus Calderon Hinojosa
- Highest mountain
Pico de Orizaba
- First Mexican in space
Rodolfo Neri Vela
Our favourite Mexico Blogs (beta)
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Art of the Rebozo: Painting on Silk Oaxaca Style with Costume Designer Hilary Simon
Blog: Oaxaca Cultural Navigator - 24 May 2012
Oaxaca is the ideal location for this 8-night, 9-day silk painting workshop led by London, U.K. costume designer, artist and curator Hilary Simon from March 22-30, 2013.
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Authenticating Oaxaca Pottery — A Dolores Porras Clay Sculpture
Blog: Oaxaca Cultural Navigator - 23 May 2012
I received a question from a reader this week along with a photograph of a vintage Oaxaca ceramic figure for sale by a Southern California gallery, asking “Is it real?” The California dealer is selling a Dolores Porras pottery figure … Continue reading →
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Shop Mexico: Week 2 — Alebrijes + Animales
Blog: Oaxaca Cultural Navigator - 21 May 2012
We are offering a weekly listing of handmade textiles, alebrijes, clothing, jewelry and other Mexican collectibles from Shop Mexico: The Artisan Sisters.
