Mexico

Mexico, in a few days

From Mexico City out to the Riviera Maya, by way of Oaxaca and Tulum: the map, what is worth booking, everything that costs nothing, and where to sleep at three budgets.

Day by day

1

Mexico City

Days 1-3

Built on top of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital that fell in 1521. The Zócalo covers it, the excavated Templo Mayor sits at one corner, and the Anthropology Museum holds what came out of the ground.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Teotihuacan and its pyramids, guidedFull day · from €55
  A city of a hundred thousand people, abandoned around 550 AD, whose builders have never been identified. An hour from the capital.
• The old centre and Frida KahloHalf day · from €35
  The Zócalo and the Rivera murals, then the blue house in Coyoacán where Kahlo was born and where she died.

✦ Free to visit

• The Zócalo and its cathedral
• Coyoacán
• Chapultepec park
• The Ciudadela craft market

📲 Book things to do in Mexico City on GetYourGuide

2

Oaxaca

Days 4-5 · ✈️ Domestic flight 1h

The cultural and eating capital of the country, where mole and mezcal are made. A colonial grid on the valley floor, with the Zapotec terraces of Monte Albán on the hill above.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Monte Albán and the markets, guidedHalf day · from €40
  A Zapotec capital levelled onto a mountain top around 500 BC, then the village markets that still trade in the valley below.
• Mezcal and cooking workshopHalf day · from €45
  How agave becomes mezcal, from the roasting pit onward, and a kitchen session with the moles of the valley.

✦ Free to visit

• The Zócalo and Santo Domingo church
• Hierve el Agua and its stone waterfalls
• Benito Juárez market
• The Tule tree

📲 Book things to do in Oaxaca on GetYourGuide

3

Tulum

Days 6-8 · ✈️ Flight + Road 2h

A walled Maya town on a cliff over the Caribbean, still occupied when the Spanish arrived. Turquoise water below, and flooded limestone caves inland.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Maya ruins and a cenoteHalf day · from €35
  The clifftop site in the morning, then a swim in fresh water inside a collapsed limestone cave.
• Snorkelling with turtles at AkumalHalf day · from €40
  Green turtles graze the sea grass in a shallow bay. Numbers in the water are capped now, so go at opening.

✦ Free to visit

• The ruins of Tulum
• The turquoise beaches
• The cenotes
• Kaan Luum lagoon

📲 Book things to do in Tulum on GetYourGuide

4

Riviera Maya · Playa del Carmen

Days 9-10 · 🚗 Car 1h

The Caribbean edge of the Yucatán: beaches at Playa del Carmen, sinkholes in the forest, and the second longest barrier reef in the world offshore. Chichén Itzá is a day trip.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Chichén Itzá, guidedFull day · from €55
  The pyramid of Kukulcán, built so that at the equinox a shadow shaped like a serpent runs down its north stair. Arrive early, before the heat and the coaches.
• Diving at CozumelFull day · from €60
  Drift dives along the Palancar reefs, with the current doing the work and visibility measured in tens of metres.

✦ Free to visit

• Playa del Carmen beach
• Fifth Avenue, the pedestrian strip
• The cenotes nearby
• The nature park

📲 Book things to do in Riviera Maya · Playa del Carmen on GetYourGuide

Worth sorting before you go

Domestic flights, and a car in the Yucatán · Fly between regions, because the distances are long. On the Yucatán peninsula a hire car pays for itself in two days.

📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly

🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta

🚗 Car hire
Compare the agencies before you land.
Compare · Booking

💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut

🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer

Some links are partner links: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.

Flavours & local habits

🍽️ Worth tasting

• Tacos al pastor: pork marinated and carved off a vertical spit, with pineapple and coriander.
• Mole: a sauce of chillies and chocolate, built from twenty ingredients or more.
• Guacamole and antojitos: avocado, quesadillas and the wide Oaxacan tlayuda.
• Tamales: corn dough with a filling, steamed inside a leaf.
• Mezcal and tequila: sipped slowly, not thrown back.

⚠️ Best avoided

• Drink bottled water only, ice included once you leave the hotels.
• Check which areas are advised against before you go, and use Uber or a registered taxi.
• Keep valuables out of sight and carry little cash.
• Haggle in the markets, but not down to nothing: the weaving took days.

Words that help

English ↔ Spanish

✈️ Flight delayed by 3 hours or more, or cancelled? You may be owed up to €600. Check your flight on AirHelp.

The practical page

Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/mexico

Packing checklist

Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.