Some advice on travelling around Mexico

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some travel advice for an upcoming Mexico trip. There are two of us, making our first visit to Mexico and we're in the country from 1 January for two weeks. Based on advice from this forum among other sources, we're currently looking at:

Mexico City - 5 days
Oaxaca - 2-3 days
Palenque - 2-3 days
Tulum - 2-3 days

This means skipping Merida, San Cristobal de las Casas, Campeche and various other interesting-sounding places - but we're conscious of overdoing it in just a fortnight.

The trouble we're having is in piecing together travel plans for the above. We were originally looking at starting in Tulum but, due to accommodation prices (it being New Year's Day when we arrive), that's not really an option. So we're now looking at:

1. Merida (via Chichen Itza) -> Palenque: overnight bus (8 hrs)
2. Palenque -> Mexico City: flight (looks like the only weekly direct flight is on the date we need it)
3. Mexico City -> Oaxaca: flight (or bus)
4. Oaxaca -> Tulum: ???

At that point, things get hazy as I can't find any direct flights from Oaxaca (or nearby) back to Yucatan - and we're trying to avoid any bus rides longer than 8 hrs. We could fly back up to Mexico City and then straight on to Cancun (c5 hrs) - but does anyone have any other advice or ideas please? We don't have anything beyond flights to Mexico booked so far, so any recommended changes of route also appreciated.

Cheers,
Chris

I can't figure out from your post which airports you will use to first enter Mexico (at Cancun perhaps) and later depart from the country (maybe flying out of Mexico City).

Perspective--Mexico has far more extraordinary ruins/ancient ceremonial sites, vibrant cities, and attractive natural areas,including beaches, than any traveler can experience in just two weeks. So, before selecting prospective destinations, first consider your priorities the kinds of experiences that you most wish to have. Once that is decided you may discover that some locations that are not currently on your list could be satisfactorily substituted for others, in the process reducing the amount of time and money that you'll need to devote to moving around the country.

Your profile says that your current location is London, in the UK. So, you probably booked both your arriving and departing international flights using Cancun's airport. Fares to reach Mexico from Europe and the UK tend to be cheaper done that way. If that is your plan, consider either:

A. Spending all two weeks on the Yucatan Peninsula, possibly circling it and detouring slightly into the lowlands of Chiapas State to Palenque. OR

B. Dividing your time between locations on the Yucatan Peninsula and in the Chiapas highlands, including San Cristobal de las Casas. That would be and "out and back" itinerary during which you could break up the bus journeys so that none would be longer than 8 hours. OR

C. Dividing your time between locations on the Yucatan Peninsula (especially its more accessible northern sections) and the Mexico City area. That would include flying back and forth between the Peninsula and Mexico City. The cheapest air links are likely to be between Cancun and Mexico City. But, its also possible to fly one way between other regional cities, such as Merida for example, and Mexico City.

Agree with #1, your proposed itineraries are a bit confusing.
But maybe check some Aeromar's routes, they fly between many/most of your propsed destinations without necessarily rerouting through MEX. As an example, they have Oaxaca>Tuxtla, Villahermosa>Merida.

As tempting as it may seem, I wouldn't put all your eggs in the "one flight" basket... those obscure routes are notorious for being canceled due to poor ticket sales or other circumstances.

Consider doing Mexico to Oaxaca, Oaxaca to San Cris on an overnight bus (these are luxury vehicles, it's not as bad as it seems), San Cris to Palenque, Palenque to Yucatan. It's a lot for 2 weeks, but not much worse than doing tons of back and forth flights.,

Book a flight, overnight buses suck, what do you do at 6 am when the bus arrives, nothing's open, you can't get into your hotel for 8 hours, you've not slept or bathed or brushed your teeth. Ugh. Extremely doubtful that #2 has ever even booked such a flight and had it cancelled, so he wouldn't know anyway. Besides, the odds of a flight cancellation are probably on par with your bus being blockaded in that part of Mexico. Even so, in the rare case your flight does get cancelled, #2 would be the first to tell you that you can show up at the central an hour in advance and be able to buy a ticket.

Thanks for the responses, everyone - it's all very useful to hear.

Just to add that we're flying in and out of Cancun (from the UK). We were originally looking at just the Yucatan Peninsula and taking our time about it - but there are various things in and around Mexico City, in particular that we've decided we're keen to see. Palenque/San Cristobal and Oaxaca then looked like good destinations to breaking the route up.

So if we're in and out of Cancun and do want to include Mexico City, I'm wondering if we skip Oaxaca and do:

Chichen Itza/Merida 1-2 days (8 hr overnight bus to Palenque)
Palenque - 2-3 days (risking that once-a-week direct flight to Mexico City)
Mexico City - 5 days (flight back to Cancun)
Tulum - 4 days

... and use those last few days to explore Yucatan more thoroughly.

Any thoughts on that plan?

Not to complicate things but I think it's really a shame to only spend 2 days in the Yucatan. For example, Uxmal is a far superior site to Chichen Itza and it should not be missed if interested in Maya archaeological sites. Then there are numerous cenotes and haciendas and Merida, itself, is worth at least one full day. You say you will explore the Yucatan out of Tulum but that's a whole different world than the state of the Yucatan.

You might consider skipping Merida altogether - come back another time - and go from the Cancun airport to Valladolid for two days and using that as a base for Chichen, Ek Balam, and a cenote or two. (A little research will get you away from the hyper-touristy and commercial ventures). Valladolid is a charming and attractive small city.

I like your second plan better.

Consider flying from Cancun to Mexico City (3 days) as soon as you arrive, and then; Oaxaca (3); San Cristobal de las Casas (2); Palenque (1), Merida (2); Valladolid (1); Tulum (2); Cancun. There are overnight first class buses between many of these places, if that suits you, so you don´t waste day time traveling.

Hey mclarjh, that sounds appealing - but is three days enough for Mexico City? We're thinking of doing a day trip or two while we're there.

And thanks for the Valladolid suggestion, ref_traveller - happy to bear that in mind.

Well, last winter I spent three weeks in Mexico (not including weekends, when I traveled out of town). And I´ve already visited many times. So there is no correct answer. There is a lot to see in Mexico City, but I think first time visitors can also find it intimidating. So a few days will just give you an introduction to the place. Same with the other places you´re visiting; one or two days will just be enough time to sample these places.

Thanks everyone for the input.

There are a few other restrictions like internal flight prices (Cancun to Mexico City early in the new year is really expensive) so we're opting for:

Merida - 2 days (then overnight bus)
Palenque - 2 days (then direct flight)
Mexico City - 4 days (then direct flight)
Valladolid - 2 days (then local bus)
Tulum - 2 days (then home)

So two internal flights and only one long bus ride. We'll leave Oaxaca and San Cristobal for another time.

Looking forward to it!

Are there really direct flights from Mexico City to Valladolid, or will you fly into Cancun again, or Merida?

Ah yes, to Cancun (or Merida - there's not much in it price-wise).

Lots of places to stay in City of Palenque. but booking in advance on holidays is recommended.....Its a short drive to the ruins which are a "Can't Miss"...You can stay closer to the ruins at a few smaller places...

I did the day bus from Merida to Palenque...not bad.

Mexico City is worth 5 days...Anthropology Museum has major artifacts and the Pyramids out side of Mexico City are worth an entire day...A lot to see there that rushed tourist buses wont give you time for. The Rosa Bar District is Great...I stayed @ Zocolo Hostel and took the "sight seeing bus" every where...

Taxis are safe but take a newer one with good plates & set the price in advance...

Going to Frieda & Diego House is a Taxi Ride to a suburb...Then Walk to Trotsky House from there...

Buses are cheap and few longer that 8 hour ride to most places...Might want to fly back to Cancun if that's where you started...

The Metro (5 MXN) and MetroBus (6 MXN) serve most of the tourist attractions in Mexico City.

Is Palenque important? I'm asking because while the ruins are very nice, there is really nothing else worth seeing anywhere near it. (The two waterfalls nearby - Agua Azul and Misol Ha - are not places I would bother to see if I only had 2 weeks in Mexico unless I've never seen a waterfall before.)

I guess you could do a tour to Yaxchilan and Bonampak from Palenque to fill a second day, but I would not go to Palenque unless I also included more places in the state of Chiapas, like San Cristóbal de Las Casas or Comitán. In other words, I wouldn't visit the state just to see Palenque. It's only going to help you break up the trip if you're taking buses and it's on the route between the places you want to see. If you're mostly going to fly between destinations anyways, then it's really not going to help in that department - it's just adding an extra flight.

In your place, I would probably limit the trip to a few places around Mexico City - whatever interests you: about 3-4 days to visit places within the city, another day for a trip to Teotihuacán, maybe a couple of days in Taxco - and places around Cancún - such as Tulum, Chichén Itzá, Valladolid, Mérida, Uxmal, Campeche and maybe even Calakmul. I would save Oaxaca and Chiapas for another trip. There are enough things to do in those places to easily fill another 2-3 week trip on its own.

Yeah, this itinerary includes a lot of extra effort just to get to Palenque... which is amazing, but also makes less sense if you're not going to include the nearby and equally extraordinary SCLC.

Thanks for your input both.

We like the look of the forest/greenery around Palenque and found a good-looking hotel (El Colombre) near the ruins for pretty cheap. We're also into waterfalls and wild swimming - so we're thinking this could be a couple of particularly rural days, with the rest of the trip spent staying in cities (albeit doing day trips to places like Teotihuacán, Chichén Itzá).

San Cristobal looks good but seems too far for a day trip from Palenque? Yaxchilan and Bonampak both seem to be 2-3 hours away though so there's good potential to see one or even both on the second day.

It's around 5 hours, which is pretty easy in a luxury vehicle... the thing about San Cris (apart from how enjoyable it is) is that it combines really nicely with Palenque and can also be used as a stepping stone to fly out of Tuxtla... which has daily flights and also offers a lot more flexibility. Just food for thought! Y&B is also an epic option, of course.

San Cristobal looks good but seems too far for a day trip from Palenque?

Agreed. Too far for a day trip from Palenque. And the water is pretty chilly in the highlands, you won´t be doing any wild swimming up there.

Yaxchilan and Bonampak both seem to be 2-3 hours away though so there's good potential to see one or even both on the second day.

I believe tour operators package them both together for a long day trip from Palenque. Figure 600 MXN or so. There go your savings from the cheap hotel near the ruins.

Also, a small additional question: is the ADO from Cancun airport to Merida on New Years Day evening likely to be full? There's one that departs just under two hours after we're due to arrive, which would be ideal - but we don't want to book it and then miss it and have to pay again for the next option two hours later.

You may find that you´re unable to book it if you´re overseas anyway, and of course your flight could be late, so just wait until you arrive. If in the unlikely event the shuttle is full, you also have the option of busing to Cancun centro and picking up a direct Merida bus there.

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