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Well, I'm eager to continue my Latin America adventures. This time up, I want to try going to Mexico. However, I need to do my research before I go. Does TL have any posters that live in Mexico? I'll probably spend a couple months traveling around the country.
Although hostels aren't a bad option, sometimes I like to get a cheap 1 bedroom through AirBnB and meet locals mostly through bars. What are the best cities for a foreigner?
I'm considering Mexico City, Monterray, and Tijuana at the moment. How dangerous are these cities? When I was living in Bogota, as long as I didn't stumble into a dangerous neighborhood, I was pretty safe. I still had high level awareness of my surroundings at all times, however. Is it safe enough for me to go out late at night solo (carry a fake wallet with a few bills while the real money is stashed in my socks)?
Are there a lot of language exchange events in Mexico City? How are the people there? Does anyone know of any information (food prices, food types, weather, cultural differences) that I should know about??
Giving me information on this thread could potentially lead to future Mexico blogs :D
This badboy is on my To-Do list in Mexico:
![[image loading]](http://whenonearth.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/hidden-beach-puetro-vallarta-mexico-woe2-690x359.jpg)
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Oh man, I'm not sure how México is right now since I left the country six years ago, but its not really dangerous as long as you don't anything too stupid.
As for cities, I lived in Cancun 16 years and explored a big part of the yucatan península, I was a pretty big nerd for the mayan culture and loved visiting the mayan ruins I don't know if thats your thing. I think if you like stuff like the one in the picture thats a good place of mexico to go is Yucatan since its full of caverns and cenotes, I think you can go to Cancun and then go to Merida for stuff more inside the península, I'm not really sure how to explain that lol you could try searching stuff like the Ruta Maya or something like that.
I never visited the northern part of México so no idea there.
As for language in Cancun you can do pretty well only with english but having some knowleadge of spanish could come to be very helpful.
Not sure if this post helps hahaha.
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That's cool. I think Cancun is still very touristy but some of my family went there and said it's still not as touristy outside the popular areas. Yeah I love caverns and stuff, would appreciate a good beach and a nice place to chill with good nightlife and friendly locals. I heard Northern part is more dangerous but what do I know.
I'm really surprised there's not that many TL'ers from Mexico...I speak ok spanish..not great, not fully conversational but it's getting there.
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I'll try to be as thorough as I can.
First, you must know there are 2 types of threats in Mexico. On big cities like Mexico city, Guadalajara and Monterrey, you'll want to be careful not to get mugged/robbed. Use common sense, don't show lots of cash, expensive devices, fancy jewelery, and stay on non dangerous areas and you'll be ok. You should definitely do some research about particular neighborhoods beforehand. For Mexico City, be aware that one of the most popular boroughs for tourists (due to the amount of historical buildings, museums and shops) is the Colonia Centro, though it is also quite dangerous at night and you can literally take a wrong turn at the corner and end inside a very bad "vecindad". Walk as close as you can to the street (away from the buildings) to avoid people pulling you inside. Again, do your research and plan routes. You want to stay on the good streets and off the bad ones.
Other neighborhoods in Mexico City that are nice and safe include Coyoacan (very old town feel, lots of food, bohemian, street performers), Condesa (nice nightlife and hipster central in Mexico), Polanco (jew district, lots of offices and high end night clubs), and Chapultepec (huge park with one of the biggest castles in the Americas, plus lots of other stuff). All these are pretty safe, though I'd still not travel alone at night. Some people are really lucky and have never been robbed while walking home drunk at 3 am all their lives, while other people get mugged the one time they took a wrong bus. Uber is actually cheaper than taking a taxi at night so that is a nice option.
I'm not knowledgeable about the other big cities in Mexico, but the security situation should be pretty similar.
Now, the 2nd type of threat is narco/cartels. These bands roam mainly outside the big cities, specially in the northern and western part of the country. There are towns that are under implicit control of the cartels. However, this does not mean that they are lawless, cartels usually stick to their business and only attack enemy cartels, so must people just carry on with their lives. That said, a lonely gringo/european in the middle of cartel run town might be very dangerous. Do research about the safety of a particular town before visiting, and above all, completely avoid traveling from town to town (via bus or car) at night, and when you travel stick to toll roads ("autopista de cuota"). It is common to see police or the army traveling in armed convoys in some places, and in roadblocks. Don't be scared, this is normal and if you're stopped they will only search your car for drugs/weapons. Be friendly and relaxed.
I will avoid talking about the most common tourist areas, like Cancun/Riviera Maya, Los Cabos, or Vallarta, you can find plenty of info on those places online. You might consider visiting some small inner towns that have some interesting places. I'm no expert on this, but you can google for some places in the states of Guanajuato, Queretaro and San Luis Potosi, maybe in Hidalgo and Puebla. These are quite safe and some towns have old convents, churches, or mesoamerican ruins, plus amazing regional food that even we in Mexico city envy. A very popular town is San Miguel de Allende, which today is something like a retirement town for Americans, and it has a big festival (Cervantino). Another hip town is Real de Catorce.
Now, there are 2 states that were once very popular among national and international tourists, Michoacan and Oaxaca. However, they suffer a lot of political turmoil and the security situation is pretty bad. Michoacan in particular was so bad that the federal government declared a "failed state" a couple years ago and armed civilian groups started appearing ("autodefensas"). I'm not sure if the situation is better nowadays, but I'd do an extensive research before scheduling a trip here.
In general, people are very friendly to foreigners, you'll either deal with people who's job depened on tourism or people that are glad to meet foreigners. Do note that most people only speak spanish (or an indigenous language in some cases) and only young and middle class people will speak english. In a big city or important tourist place you'll have no problem, but if you venture into more authentic places you might have a hard time letting people understand you.
For food, avoid eating on the street unless a local you trust tells you its ok. As a general rule, if the place is inside an actual building, has a bathroom, and has plenty of customers, its gonna be safe. Though you'll want to avoid raw/undercooked food. Personally I'd also avoid seafood unless it's in a city close to the sea or its a very high class restaurant, but maybe I'm just too much a pussy on this. Mexico has a very vast and diverse cuisine , so its hard to recommend something in particular. If you're in Mexico city, you absolutely most try "tacos al pastor".
If you're coming to Mexico city be sure to let me know if you want me to show you around/get some more specific tips.
btw, dont drink tap water, buy bottled water.
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I forgot to add a couple nice places.
The Copper Canyon in Chihuahua is a fairly popular tourist destination, but it's not a beach or resort. You go on an old school train and travel over canyons. My mother and aunt went there a couple of years ago and loved it. Pretty relaxing, but maybe a bit boring for a young person.
Grutas de Cacahuamilpa. This a system of caves that you can go in deep. I think you can swim /snorkel inside but you need a guide or you'll get lose and die (they are huge). I believe there are some organized expeditions where you get into the caves from the main entrance, travel along them following and underground river, and then come out on the other side of the mountain. If you're reasonably fit this might be pretty cool but you need to join an experienced group.
Tepoztlan - Small town who's main attraction is a small mountain called Tepozteco, You can go, hike it, enjoy the natural scenery, then go back to town and wander around the colonial buildings and restaurants. Pretty chill.
Also, in big cities or major tourist destinations you'll have plenty of things to do for days, but be aware that for most small towns, you'll be able to explore all of them in a couple of days or less. So if you're planing to go to small towns, its best to visit several that are close by.
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very interesting post, TheChostoProject!
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On October 07 2015 12:43 TheChostoProject wrote:
I will avoid talking about the most common tourist areas, like Cancun/Riviera Maya, Los Cabos, or Vallarta, you can find plenty of info on those places online.
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To be quite blunt, only in some places, specially near the beach is like that, you just need to travel like 20 mins in bus to find stuff that aren't common tourist areas, I'm not arguing or anything but as someone who lived in Yucatán most of its life I find saddening that people think only the Riviera Maya exist there when there is far more things to see, specially in the culture (mostly the mayan ruins, but also colonial cities like merida) and in natural views (I'm yet to experience something more amazing tan swiming in a cenote).
Other than that you are complety right in your post.
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ChostoProject that is a gold mine of information, thanks a lot.
I've begun to realize that Mexico City is more dangerous than I previously thought. I might just do about a month there, then backpack travel other places in Central America. Stranded towns would be cool, but what you said does make me a little wary.
It's a HUGE bummer that I can't eat the street food. I did that a lot down in Colombia, and sure my stomach suffered for a few weeks but it was amazing. Cheap & Delicious, what more can you ask for.
For some reason, I don't trust Mexican Seafood (partly because I never experienced that) so I don't have to worry about that.
Trust me, I'll be brushing up my Spanish big time before I go down there again. I'm currently taking courses and it's improving for sure.
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TheChostoProject is probablt just too much of a pussy, as even he himself admits  I have been eating street food all throughout the world for years (including Mexico, but I have only been to Tijuana and Ensenada, which are pretty non-Mexican destinations) - yeah, you will probably get a diarrhea here and there, but that's kinda part of the experience. It's also completely unpredictable (for example one of the worst places to eat on the street in South America is surprisingly Santiago de Chile, which is also probably the richest and most developed city on the continent). If you have eaten street food in Colombia from all places, I think you will be fine in Mexico.
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I probably exagerated a bit about the secutiry situation in Mexico city. As long as you don't go to particularly dangerous areas and you use common sense/street smart you'll be fine. There are lots of tourists and foreigners moving around. Still avoid walking alone late at night (past midnight) unless its a lively area and never take a taxi in the street. There's a service called "taxi de sitio", you usually call a phone number and they pick you up, they are a bit more expensive than a regular but a lot safer. You could also use Uber.
About street food, well, you can eat on the street on some places, but as a foreigner you will not really know what places are safe and you're more likely to get slightly sick. I eat on the street all the time but only on the places I know are good and safe, and even I've gotten sick a couple of times. Moreover, you don't really miss anything if you eat in an established restaurant. There are plenty of cheap, safe food places that will give you the same taste of street food but will be a lot safer and just marginably more expensive.
For example, in Coyoacan there's a market full of food stands that sell street like food but with the conveniences of a restaurant, you can sit, there's a washroom , etc. It's quite popular specially with tourists and young people.
But indeed I'm probably too much of a pussy, when I travel I'd rather miss stuff than get sick.
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EPT
