What to visit in 2 weeks in Mexico?

Question

Will be flying into and out of Mexico City and have 2 weeks to travel around. Can anyone suggest a good itinerary which will show the real highlights of Mexico (am happy to do some overnight bus journeys)? Keen to see some pyramids / mayan or aztec sites, plus interesting towns / cities and also spend some time on the beach (not touristy like cancun though!). Any suggestions and shared experiences would be gratefully recieved! Thanks!

Answer 1

My daughter went to Cancun Mexico 3 years ago in October and the first 2 days were great and swimming with dolphins then Hurricane Wilma hit and then the were evacuated to a school with hundreds of other people with no water and little food until they were rescued and flown home to UK.

Answer 2

Cancun, Tulum , Yucatan .... such beautiful places,paradise, BUT IT'S A 24 HOUR BUS RIDE FROM MEXICO CITY!!!!!

you can fly if you have the money, so I would recommend Acapulco for a weekend (3 hours by car) or the more beautiful Oaxaca, specially Huatulco (which is in Oaxaca)

also go to teotihuacan for pyramids around the city

and in the city...

well that is just like any other city like London and New York, only bigger.

Answer 3

if you can make it to the Yucatan, try Telum, it's a bit touristy, but there are Mayan ruins, all over this mountain, then you walk down to the edge of the cliff in front of the ruins, and it's nothing but white sand beaches.  Also Chitzanitza(sp?) is definitely worth a visit, really cool.

Answer 4

as regards beaches Acapulco is one hours flight or 4 hours drive on the toll highway west of MEX. The beaches are very quiet in the north (Pie de la Cuesta) without people trying to sell you a timeshare every 5 seconds. I'm going back to Pie at the end of October. Bear in mind it is kind of the rainy season right now though. Go to my Flickr via 360 for some pics.

Answer 5

Well, npyr, AnaLuv and vicente have given you very good and detailed answers, follow their advices. I can only add the coastal side of Oaxaca, taking a bus by by Estrella Blanca (www.estrellablanca.com.mx) you'll be there in about 11 hours, while being there talk to the people, you'll find mostly locals and backpackers who will tell you where to go, there are many secret paradises you just HAVE to visit, it is a must.

Don't stay on Puerto Escondido or Huatulco, those are the most touristy places that everybody knows, try Mazunte, Zipolite, Puerto Angel, San Agustinillo, etc, ask around and make some friends, you'll have a blast!

Have fun!

Answer 6

Hi there, good answer by Luv. I would not recommend travelling by bus to Oaxaca beaches, the ride is awful!!! too many curves, terrible.

Visit Teotihuacan, just amazing, that's near Mexico city, I was there last week and the city is really nice now, clean, with flowers, very pleaseant. However, be careful, don't have too much cash with you, don't look lost (be a good actor) even if you are, and be aware of where your wallet is, don't get distracted. Then you'll be fine, you can ride taxis from outside the hotel or registered cabs from the airport which are safe. Do not take taxis from the street. Also, do not drink water from the tab, there are plenty of stores, drugstores and so on where you can buy bottled water.

Better choose from 3 routes from there either west towards Acapulco, which is always fun, and visit Taxco a pretty town with lots of cheap silver, also that way Cuernavaca.

North west: Guanajuato, Queretaro, Guadalajara -a big nice city- and end up at Puerto Vallarta, touristy but not as bad as Cancun.

Or south east to Puebla, colonnial founded city, and 5 minutes Cholula where the largest pyramid on the base is located, and then go to Veracruz, the port is the most important commercial wise, good food, the beach is not nice, but the hotels and pools are :o) The state of Veracruz is long and offers adventure tourism, such as climbing mountain walls, river rapids and so on.

Search the web, I'm sure you'll find plenty of info.

To travel by bus ADO GL and Uno are your best choices, nice looking buses, very safe and comfortable.

Hope you'll have a nice trip. Enjoy my country!

Answer 7

Near to mexico city are a lot of cultural places that you cant miss! you have to go to Teotihuacan, There are the biggest pyramids in mexico (piramide del sol and piramide de la luna).

You can go to Cuernavaca, which its and hour and a half from mexico city, a lot of "chilangos" spend the weekend there (chilango its the vulgar name of residents of mexico city. dont call them that way, they get mad). In cuernavaca visit the Palacio de Cortes (the house of hernan cortes, now its a museum) and El Zocalo. Ten minutes away from Cuernavaca its Tepoztlan, a small town denominated "pueblo magico", its a really hippie environment, on sundays a Tianguis its placed on the main street and you can buy a lot of mexican crafts in good prices. In tepoztlan you can hike the Tepozteco, a small hill with a pyramid on its top (I had never get onto the top, my family always get tired :(

Others cities to go near to Mexico City are Taxco, Guerrero, a colonial city with most of the silver mines in mexico. You can buy silver on incredible cheap prices.

You can go also to Guanajuato, Puebla or Queretaro, Colonial cities with gorgeous landscapes. In guanajato theres also the famous "momias", mummys of this century who got mummified thanks of the conditions of the ground, temperature, dampness and other factors of the place where they were buried.

Answer 8

Cancun, Tulum and Playa del Carmen are very far from Mexico City you don't want to waste time traveling. Try Tepoztlan, Cuernavaca, Xochicalco, you definitely have to go to Teotihuacan, Queretaro, San Miguel de Allende, Guadalajara... Try to see towns more around the city...there are plenty of them