Mexico covers nearly two million square kilometres — roughly four times Spain — and the map flattens the distances badly. Mexico City to Mérida is twenty hours by road and two by air. The most common first-trip mistake is trying to combine the Yucatán with Baja California in ten days.
Divided by what they are actually for, the country has six regions.
The centre
Mexico City plus the Bajío — Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, Querétaro, Puebla, Taxco. This is the colonial and pre-Hispanic heartland: Teotihuacán, the Anthropology Museum, silver towns, painted facades and mole. Distances are short, buses are excellent and no car is needed. The best region for a first trip and for anyone with a week.
Yucatán Peninsula
Three states — Yucatán, Quintana Roo, Campeche — holding the Maya sites, the cenotes and the Caribbean. Mérida and Campeche are the calm colonial cities; Chichén Itzá, Uxmal and Calakmul the archaeology; Tulum, Playa del Carmen and Holbox the coast. It is also the safest and easiest part of the country to drive. Flat, hot and with no surface rivers, which is why the cenotes exist.
Oaxaca and the south
Oaxaca for food, craft and Zapotec archaeology, with Monte Albán, Hierve el Agua, weaving villages and mezcal distilleries within an hour of the city, and a coast — Puerto Escondido, Mazunte, Huatulco — six hours south. Chiapas for Palenque, San Cristóbal de las Casas, the Lacandon jungle and the highest indigenous population share in Mexico. The two together are the cultural core of the country and need at least ten days.
Pacific coast
From Nayarit down to Guerrero: Sayulita and San Pancho for surf villages, Puerto Vallarta as a city with a beach, Michoacán for almost undeveloped coastline and turtle nesting. Strong surf, big sunsets, fewer resorts than the Caribbean and no sargassum.
Baja California
A 1,200-kilometre desert peninsula between the Pacific and the Sea of Cortés. Grey whales in the lagoons from January to March, sea lions at Espíritu Santo, whale sharks off La Paz, the recovered reef at Cabo Pulmo, and the Valle de Guadalupe wine region inland. Los Cabos at the tip is the expensive end. Effectively a separate trip: fly in.
The north
Chihuahua for Copper Canyon and the Chepe railway, Durango and Zacatecas for silver-mining cities, Real de Catorce for a half-abandoned mining town at 2,750 metres. Big, empty, cold in winter and very little visited. Some northern states carry serious travel advisories — check the current one for the specific state before going.
Routes that work
- One week: Mexico City and the Bajío. Teotihuacán, Puebla, Guanajuato, San Miguel. All by bus
- Ten days: Yucatán as a loop — Mérida, Uxmal, Chichén Itzá, Valladolid, cenotes, a few days on the coast. Rent a car
- Two weeks: Mexico City, Oaxaca, then fly to Yucatán. The classic first trip, and it works
- Three weeks: add Chiapas between Oaxaca and Yucatán — San Cristóbal, Palenque, and the border-river sites
- Off the circuit: Copper Canyon, the Huasteca Potosina, Bacalar, Campeche, Real de Catorce
How to move between them
- Under six hours, take the bus. First-class ADO and ETN are genuinely comfortable, 400 to 700 pesos for four or five hours
- Over six hours, fly. Volaris, VivaAerobús and Aeroméxico cover the country from 800 pesos booked ahead
- Rent a car in Yucatán, Baja, the Bajío and the Oaxacan coast. Not in Mexico City
- Pick two regions for a two-week trip, three at the very most. The country rewards depth over distance