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We started our trip with this great and beautiful country that is Mexico.
We loved its culture, its history, its temples and cenotes as well as its beautiful beaches !
Impossible to get bored in this country, there are too many different things to do.
We decided to start with Mexico City rather than Cancun because the plane tickets were cheaper from Toulouse (450€ each).
It was also more convenient for our itinerary !
By the way, here it is (you can adapt the itinerary depending on you and the places you feel comfortable, we also advise you to do San Cristobal de las Casas, which we did not do due to lack of time) :
📍Mexico City : 4 days
📍Oaxaca : 3 days
📍Puerto Escondido : 9 days
📍Merida : 3 days
📍Valladolid : 3 days
📍Isla Holbox : 3 days
📍Tulum : 4 days
📍Bacalar : 3 days
📍Xpujil : 2 days
📍Palenque : 2 days
How did we get around between the cities ?
By bus, which we always booked the day before on the ADO website, all the bus companies in the country are listed there.
By the way, we advise you to take the ADO GL or Platino (more expensive) when you travel at night, the comfort is just top !
Mexico Itinerary
1) Mexico City
Credit Photo : Travellers Worldwide
We enjoyed soaking up the culture and discovering the capital which is full of things to do !
We spent 4 days there but 3 days are enough, especially if you are not a fan of big cities like us.
Here's the reel of what we did in those few days !
On our blog (link in our bio), you can also find an article dedicated to Mexico City with details of activities, prices and restaurant recommendations.
2) Oaxaca
Credit Photo : Travel to Oaxaca
Then, direction Oaxaca at 7h by bus ! (520 pesos/person)
We had a big crush on this city, really it is a destination not to be missed on your itinerary !
Oaxaca is the city we found the most typical, it's colourful and warm.
The city center is beautiful, we spent hours walking around and taking pictures.
On the 3rd day we took an organized tour (the "Oaxaca Magica") by @toursinoaxaca to discover the whole region of Oaxaca and its treasures (500 pesos/person), we loved it !
On the other hand, the entrance fees were not included so you have to count them in addition !
On the program :
El Tule (entrance 20 pesos/p)
The Mitla Temple (85 pesos/p)
Hierve el Agua (70 pesos/p)
Teotitlan del Valle natural dyeing demonstration (free)
Mezcal tasting (free)
We recommend the tour 100%, very good value for money and time (knowing that all the places were quite far from each other) !
We were also able to leave all our stuff in the transport during the day and the driver even dropped us off at the station in the evening to catch our bus.
If you want more details, we have also written an article about the city and region of Oaxaca : https://www.aureandysee.com/post/oaxaca-the-most-authentic-city-in-mexico
3) Puerto Escondido
Credit Photo : Passion Passport
Let's go for a 12 hours bus ride (720 pesos/person) 🫠 but at night so it's ok !
Get your travel sickness pills ready as the road is full of sharp turns !
It was our favourite part of Mexico.
This city is just amazing, you feel good right away 🫶!
The people are chill, the beaches are beautiful, there are good restaurants, you can surf : everything we love.
It's a bit of a surf camp atmosphere (especially on the Zicatela side where you have all the bars, restaurants, hostels etc...).
Be prepared though because it's hot (one of the hottest cities we've been in).
We liked the city so much that instead of 3 days we stayed 9 days !
By the way, we recommend @villalilimex for accommodation, it's a family that runs the hotel, we had our best times there (it's a 5mins walk from our favourite beach : Playa Carrizalillo).
For 37€ per night you can have a suite with jacuzzi + breakfast included, isn't that heaven ?
During our stay in Puerto Escondido we realized a dream we had for a long time : release baby turtles to help them reach the ocean (33€/person).
We did this activity with the association @vivemar_ong a magical experience, which will remain engraved !
Puerto Escondido is also rich in beaches, if you are interested to discover them, here is the article we wrote : https://www.aureandysee.com/post/the-most-beautiful-beaches-of-puerto-escondido-in-mexico
4) Merida
Credit Photo : Two Drifters
We decided to take a plane from Puerto Escondido to Merida to reach the Yucatán (no bus offered the trip or we had to take several and it was not interesting in terms of time + price).
The ticket cost us 150€ each with luggage in hold.
We had a few problems but we arrived safely .
Concerning the city of Merida, we really didn't like it, a lot of air pollution and the food was not good (except in the restaurants @avecamour_restaurant and @rosasur32 which we recommend ++).
Little anecdote : we caught a food infection while ordering a meal, which unfortunately lengthened our stay.
5) Valladolid
Credit Photo : Top Adventure
We then head to Valladolid, a 2h30 hour bus ride from Merida (192 pesos/person).
We loved the area around the city which is very rich in cenotes ! We were so impatient to do some, we really weren't disappointed !
By the way, we did a very detailed cenotes guide for you (we did 7 in total, we enjoyed ourselves) !
Here is the article : https://www.aureandysee.com/post/what-cenotes-to-visit-in-mexico-the-top-5
We took a private taxi over 2 days to do :
• 3 cenotes on the first day (1000 pesos)
• Chichen Itzá + 2 cenotes on the second day (1200 pesos)
Entrances are not included !
We do believe this is what cost us the most... But we have absolutely no regrets, we spent 2 incredible days 🫶🏼!
If you are interested, here is the whatsapp of our taxi : +52 985 111 3083
You can be up to 4 people, which reduces the cost !
For our second day in Valladolid, we get up very early (6:30am) to go and discover this wonder of the world !
Price : 571 pesos/person
We really advise you to go at the opening (8am) because from 10am all the tourist buses arrive and it's just a hell because there is a lot of people 🫠
A bit disappointed even if we found the pyramid beautiful...
We really feel that it's a very touristy place so we found that it lost its charm (+ the entrance is super expensive) !
6) Isla Holbox
Credit Photo : National Geographic
Then direction Holbox !
First, we take a bus for 2h30 to Chiquilá (244 pesos/p).
Once arrived in Chiquilá, we followed the other people of the bus to take our ferry tickets which leave every 30mins (220 pesos/p).
Here we go for 30mins of crossing !
Fun facts !
• All taxis are golf cars
• There are no concrete roads (no drains) so most of the roads are flooded (due to rain) which sometimes make it impossible to cross
To get around the island, which is still very small, we chose to do everything on foot
On a budget, we found everything was excessively expensive, sometimes the same prices as in France !
For us, a kitchen is mandatory if you don't want to break the bank in restaurants that are overpriced (and not very good) !
There is however one restaurant that we completely recommend is the @hinataholbox 🍲
We recommend staying at the Black Flamingo hotel which was the best value for money we found on the island (+ great location).
On the first day, we decided to visit the northern beaches (starting from the central beach) to Punta Mosquito.
White sandbanks and translucent water await you there, it was beautiful !
Our favourite beach in Holbox was Playa Punta Cocos which we find really underrated !
We got there early in the morning and it was desert.
A little corner of paradise that we could enjoy all morning without anyone 🫶.
It is possible to eat on the pontoon (which is held by a lovely man), we ordered a homemade guacamole from him, incredible moment !
7) Tulum
Credit Photo : Reisjunk
Next stop on our trip to Mexico, the must‑see town : Tulum !
We took a bus from Chiquilá to Tulum for 445 pesos/p (we preferred to skip Cancun and Playa del Carmen as it was going to look like Holbox + very expensive)
Concerning the city of Tulum, honestly... We were disappointed...
The only really pretty place is the main street along the beaches with all the beach clubs, hotels, shops and restaurants !
For us, it's a city where you have to come with a bunch of friends, take an accommodation together to pay less, party and chill !
What we did :
• 2 cenotes (which is on our cenote guide : https://www.aureandysee.com/post/what-cenotes-to-visit-in-mexico-the-top-5)
• Escultura Ven a La Luz (60 pesos/p)
• Rent a bike to ride around the city (80 pesos/p for the afternoon)
We did not go to the famous ruins of Tulum because they were expensive and very touristy.
8) Bacalar
Credit Photo : Les Covoyageurs
After Tulum, we head to Bacalar at 2h50 by bus (189 pesos/p).
We spent 3 days in a hotel by the lake to enjoy it ! There were kayaks and paddles available for free so we took the opportunity to go for a ride on the water.
Bacalar lake is a really quiet and soothing place, we loved staying there and resting.
During these few days we also did the Azul cenote which was super nice and really cheap (25 pesos/p).
We also wanted to do the one in Cocalitos but it was closed the day we wanted to go (don't plan to go on Wednesday).
9) Xpujil (City of Calakmul)
Credit Photo : Mexique Decouverte
We then took the road to reach our penultimate destination in Mexico : Xpujil (2h45 drive + 196 pesos/p).
We go to this city to visit the archaeological city of Calakmul which is located in the middle of the jungle.
We booked with @laruta_calakmul (500 pesos/p only for transport).
Departure is at 7am and it takes about 2 hours to get to the archaeological site.
Remember to take something to eat for lunch as there is nothing on site !
Once arrived we paid 2 entries to access the site : 165 pesos/p then 85 pesos/p.
The city is really beautiful, we walked around for 3 hours ! There were really not many people so we were often all alone in the middle of the jungle.
There are several temples you can climb, our favourite was the biggest one on the site.
Once we had climbed all the steps, we admired the jungle as far as the eye could see, it was beautiful !
We even heard a monkey fight, their screams were impressive.
On the way there and back, we could see lots of monkeys swinging from tree to tree.
However, be careful not to be underneath them when they do their business !
We stayed at the Chaac Calakmul hotel, we recommend it ++, it's right next to the ADO bus station and the pizzas in the restaurant are good !
The whole staff is lovely, they even made us sandwiches for our day in Calakmul.
10) Palenque
Credit Photo : Encyclopedia Britannica
Here we go for our last destination in Mexico !
We ended up in Palenque and its beautiful waterfalls.
We first took a bus that took 2 hours from Xpujil to Escarcega for 188 pesos/p (where we stayed one night), then from Escarcega to Palenque for 388 pesos/p (3h20).
The next day we booked a tour to see the Misol‑Ha and Agua Azul waterfalls (departure 10am, return 7pm) which cost us 500 pesos/p with entrance fees included.
We are not going to recommend you the agency we went with because we thought we were going to die !
Our driver was a real crazy driver ! He was driving super fast and kept overtaking without visibility on mountain roads...
Apart from that, we loved discovering the beautiful waterfalls of Agua Azul, in addition we were able to fly the drone !
When you arrive, the transport drops everyone at the same place !
Don't hesitate to walk a few minutes more to be alone and have the best spots.
We also advise you to visit the ruins of Palenque which we did not do because of lack of time !
Conclusion of our trip to Mexico
After 1 month and a half travelling through this beautiful country, here is our assessment :
The good sides :
• We never get bored, there are too many things to do and different landscapes to discover !
• We loved Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Holbox and the Valladolid region with its cenotes
• The country is really well served by bus and the comfort is good
The bad sides :
• We expected better hospitality from the locals (even if we obviously met some lovely people)
• The food
• We found the country expensive, especially towards the Caribbean coast (for a service that was often not great)
We regret not to have explored more the Pacific coast for which we had a big crush ! It's sure that we will come back there !
About our budget...
For 34 days, we spent : 3863€
• 1015€ for accommodation
• 1044€ for restaurants
• 224€ for shopping
• 960€ for transport
• 62€ for sim cards, internet top‑ups, laundry etc...
That's an average of 57€ per person per day !
We clearly exceeded our budget which was 2400€, but we don't regret it because it was our first country and we did a lot of things !
It is possible to do our itinerary with a smaller budget !
How ? By spending less on accommodation, restaurants and journeys to reach some activities.