Hi Guys, I am looking for advice about a roadtrip through mexico. I was thinking about inviting two of my friends from Spain for a road trip through America and maybe into Mexico. I was wondering if you guys had any suggestions or maybe some warnings? I know a lot of things about mexico from a scholarly standpoint, but nothing with actual experience. I speak Spanish pretty fluently and my two friends do of course being from Spain, but I’m pretty sure we would be spotted as foreigners. I have heard a lot of bad stories about Mexico like with the cops ripping people off and such. I am also a little worried about my car and the fact that it has an American tag and such.
I was thinking about Renting a car, but that is expensive. I am not picky with a car, and it could be any old piece of junk, honestly and that would make me happy.
Any advice on where I could go with them or what to do? I would love to go to the beach around the caribean. I basically love the ocean. We were thinking about going at the end of July. I think that would be a fun trip. Oh, and by the way, I love long road trips, and going to Mexico would be something exotic and new, I think. I have driven out to California and it took 5 days to get there and back. We basically never did much when we got there, I just like to slowly meander my way somewhere.
Oooh, I hope I can do this because I am getting more and more excited about it as I type it! So, should I do it? Am I gonna get ripped off? Am I gonna have a really cool time? ANY input would be welcome as the idea has just come to us recently.
Especially since you all speak Spanish, you should do it. I’ve done it before (three times) and it’s a great experience.
Having said that, here are the caveats:
expect to be stopped at road blocks very often. We were–but not once were we threatened or asked for money. I think it was becasue we could answer them in Spanish. Mostly they will ask you where are you going and where are you coming from. Be respectful and you should be ok.
you can take your car across, but it is a bit of a PITA. There is a lot of paperwork you have to go through; getting it registered can take an entire day in a border town. VWs are the big cars there, so if you can take one, you won’t have a problem getting it fixed if it breaks. Keep in mind that gas is expensive (well, compared to US prices; I am not sure where you are).
Stick to “cuota” (toll) roads when possible. They are pretty expensive, but well maintained and will save you needless hours of bumps and bruises. Before you cross the border, find a Sandborns. Not only will they provide you with Mexican car insurance, but they will give you tons of free maps, etc. (At least they did when I did the trips, in 95-97).
Especially in tourist towns, you have a very high chance of being pulled over by the cops. They will ask for your license. You can either make copies of your license and give those out, or just pay them $10. In three trips, we were stopped once and we really were going the wrong way on a one way. (Of course, it wasn’t marked as such . . .) We gave the cop a few pesos and were on our way.
Do not drive at night. Not ever. It’s dangerous and not worth it. (Not from a bandito perspective, but b/c people are notoriously bad drivers.) Stop at dusk.
Camping is a good way to do it. We were often the only ones camping–or we would stumble across Canadians. But it’s cheap. Hotels can be HORRID.
In terms of the “beach” cities, I would say skip Cancun but go to Puerto Vallerta. Go to Mexico city, Puebla, Taxsco (sp?) and Guanajuato. Guadalajara and San Luis Potosi are also cool. You should also check out the ruins–Chitchen Itza and Palenque and there is a third I can’t remember now.
Most importantly, have fun and don’t sweat it when things go wrong. If you don’t have a sense of humor about things, then don’t go.
You can email me if you have more questions. I am all excited now about your trip!
I’ll second Jeevwoman’s view about not driving at night, and staying on the toll roads. And above all if you are stopped by the federales (sp?) cops, be respectful give everything they ask for.
I lived in Arizona for several years and we would make weekend trips to Puerto Vallarta, it was very fun and we didn’t have much troubles. The one thing we did have was a mess of a time at rocky point, Baja coast near AZ. A friend we were driving with was quite drunk one night and he forgot his license at the camp site we were staying at. When we got back we found our stuff was gone, mostly clothes and such…but the jeans that his wallet was in were stolen so we were desperately hoping we would not get stopped on the way back…so what happened?? We got stopped about 15 miles from Nogales, trying to get home. He was asked for his license and when he couldn’t produce it, they asked him to get out of the car… One thing led to another and he ended up in a holding cell in Nogales…Luckily they had a fax machine and we got the AZ DOT to send out a copy of his license and we went home. But we were $300 poorer when we left.
Above all be respectful to the cops and they will treat you accordingly. usually.
Wow, I am excited about it too. I’m not so crazy about cancun, but maybe. We’ll have to see. One thing that I want to do for sure is to check out some smaller towns. Are there any places that are popular as out of the way destinations?
Ok about taking my car to mexico. I’ve got a VW 2001 TDI Jetta, so one of the good things would be that it gets good gas mileage, so the price would be the price of Diesel that I’m interested in. So its a big deal to get your car approved, huh? That is kind of dissapointing. What would my other options be? Could I rent a car at the border? Again, I don’t really care about what kind of car it is. But to tell the truth, a convertible would be cool, I think. If i could get something like a golf II convertible or something I think it would be awesome. I suppose it would be more likely in Mexico to get something like that because of the weather.
Driving at night is dangerous, eh? How did you guys manage to learn this (out of curiosity). Is it such a big hassle to stop at night? Are there plenty of places to camp? Where are the spots where the Ocean is really pretty? I love the ocean a lot, so I would kind of like to drive along it on either side. Finally is there some sort of law saying that you have to have a copy of your driver’s license? Thanks for the help
-No, not at all. But if you get pulled over, the cops will want to take your license to their station and you have to go and pick it up and presumably pay a ‘fee’ for it. If you make copies of your license, you won’t care what happens to it and there is no need to go to the station. But we didn’t do this and it’s only something I heard about; I think paying the bribe is safer.
-Also, re: food and water. Do not drink water that is not in a sealed bottle. Reliable restaurants bring you the bottles sealed. Do not get ice in your drinks. Do not eat salad. Be careful about eating food from street vendors. And for god’s sake, always carry toilet paper and Pepto!
Also keep in mind that foods you eat in the US have different FDA standards in Mexico and you may have weird reactions to things that don’t bother you here. After two months of hives, I discovered that I was allergic to Mexican shrimp and Chinese food? Why? Levels of iodine in both. It’s higher in Mexico. Go figure.
The gf and I went down into Baja about a year ago (we live in LA). We got stopped by military-type people at roadblocks who may have wanted a bribe, but I was too dumb to notice. They made me get out of the car, they patted me down, opened the trunk, looked through the cooler, helped themselves to some water, kept asking me things in Spanish (which I don’t speak) and gesturing with their automatic rifles and pistols. It was pretty exciting. I think they got bored with us after a while so they let us go.
We stayed at youth hostels the whole time we were there. If you hunt around, you can find some terrific deals. Our favorite place was about a 3 hour drive south of the border. We stayed in our own room at the top of a small tower overlooking the ocean. The caretaker always had free red beans and rice cooking away, and sold bottles of beer for $1 each. The nearest town was about 15 miles away. It was amazing. Well, wouldn’t you know it, they have a website.
We managed to get Mexican car insurance at a drive through place right at the border. Only took about 15 minutes. BTW, you have to do this. Even if your current insurance says you’re covered in Mexico, you still must have Mexican insurance. Trust me.
You might be thinking of either Uxmal (in Yucatán) or Tenochtitlan (near Mexico City). Uxmal is spectacular and less crowded than Chichen Itzá, but I haven’t been to Tenochtitlan.
I drove from southern California down Baja California to Guerrero Negro (Pacific coast side) and cut across to the Gulf of Mexico (Sea of Cortez) side to Mulege and camped out. Nice, warm water. Another time I flew into La Paz (gulf side) and rented a car and drove down to Cabo San Lucas. Many possibilities. You should get a map and consider what road trip you might want. The auto club has good baja stuff. I never had a problem with night driving. I speak some Spanish. But I have heard of people who had problems with cops. I think the baja side of Mexico would be safer. It’s less populated and seems more laid back. I hope you get to do your trip. Your Spanish friends would be fascinated with the different scenery and cultures. Be sure you check with U.S. Immigration about how they can get back and forth between the borders smoothly. Might be info. online.
This is a really good point. Frankly, I would have them double check with their consulate in the States or with Spanish authorities before they leave Spain to make sure they can cross into and out of Mexico. INS - or whatever the hell they are called these days - is notorious for giving out wrong or half-assed info. And that’s IF they answer their phone! I’d call a couple of times to make sure.
You’re also going to want to have proof of your citizenship with you, just in case.
Also, I was once told when I was in Mexico that if you get into a wreck, for the love of Og, just give the other driver some pesos and leave quickly. You do not want the police involved!
Be safe. Used to be that tourists were kinda’ untouchable in Mexico, but that’s not always true anymore.