Mexico Vacation Guide

The currency is the peso and has been hovering between 10.50 pesos and 11 pesos to the U.S. dollar, so it's fairly stable. It's been in place since 1920, the end of the Mexican Revolution.

Traveler's checks and credit cards are accepted at most tourist-oriented businesses. Use extreme caution when using ATMs: Try to use one that's inside a building (not just in an enclosure facing the street) and avoid making withdrawals at night. Exchange houses called casas de cambio are found along all major tourist routes in cities and offer better exchange rates than banks do. By all means, avoid hotels, which give the lowest exchange rates.

Generally Monday-Friday 9 am-1:30 pm. Some branches in larger cities may be open on Saturday and until 5 pm during the week.

Mexico's VAT (value-added tax) is 15% except in Baja California and the Caribbean coast, where it's 10%. Only basic staples such as tortillas, rice and beans are exempt. A tax-refund program is under review.

Tip 10%-15% in restaurants and a couple of pesos at gas stations. Taxi drivers are not tipped in Mexico unless they perform an extra service, such as carrying bags. Chambermaids in hotels should be tipped US$1 a day and bellhops at least US$2, depending on the amount of luggage. Skycaps at airports get a minimum of US$2 per bag.

The best time to visit Mexico is mid-September through mid-May, though some parts still have a fair amount of rain in October and November. (It rains most during the summer, but usually not often enough to spoil a vacation.)

Mexico City is chilly in the early morning and at night during the winter. Be prepared for higher humidity in coastal areas and at the inland archaeological sites in the Yucatan Peninsula. Summer temperatures there can hover around 100 F/38 C with near-100% humidity. The average coastal day temperatures year-round are in the 70s-80s F/23-32 C, with nights in the 60s-70s F/15-27 C. Take a sweater and an umbrella any time of year.

Long sleeves and pants plus plenty of insect repellent are recommended for the mosquito season. Always wear a hat and plenty of sunscreen (SPF 30 or higher) when visiting the tropics and coastal resorts to avoid painful sunburns. When sunbathing, avoid the hours between 11 am and 2 pm, when the sun is strongest. Packing an umbrella and light jacket or sweater is advisable year-round.

Wear conservative clothes for business meetings (save the club clothes for later). Women may get by with a pantsuit or jacket and skirt. Don't parade around in shorts when traveling in a city; save them for the beach. Residents are more formally dressed.

Major hotels have business centers with Internet access with up to US$16 per hour. New hotels are opening with wireless access available in guest rooms and the lobby. You'll spend a fraction of the hotel fee off-site at cyber cafes located in everything from a real coffee shop to a dress store. Look for the big Internet sign outside. Most have high-speed or Wi-Fi access. Most Mexican airports have gone wireless.

If you want to mail something aboard from Mexico (other than postcards), the most reliable services are UPS, FedEx or DHL, which are found in all major cities and beach resorts. Mex Post, which has an office at the Mexico City airport, guarantees faster service for a slightly higher cost than the local post office. Mexico's postal service has a reputation of being very slow.

Mexico City and Cancun have the English-language daily The Herald, published by The Miami Herald, and there's little else in English-language newspapers in the country. Beach destinations such as Cancun, Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta and Acapulco (plus larger metropolitan areas) have free visitors guides, which are handed out at the airport and are available at hotels and tourist offices.

Service fees are tacked onto regular long-distance or collect calls from your hotel room, which makes them expensive. The least-expensive way to call is to use a phone card, which fits all Telmex public phones found on street corners and in department stores, hotels and the airport. Cost of the card is either M$30, M$50 or M$100, and they can be purchased at newsstands and in gift shops. No area codes are necessary for local calls; in-country long-distance connections require 01 before the number; and if you're calling to the US, dial 001 beforehand. For other countries, check with the operator (040) for the country code.

Some U.S.-issued cell phones can be used in Mexico. Check with your provider for the code. Reception is pretty good in big cities, resorts and elsewhere in the country as cell towers continue to pepper the landscape and local demand for the product is at an all-time high.

Many international carriers serve Benito Juarez International Airport (MEX), which is 4 mi/6 km from Mexico City. Most large cities and big tourist destinations also have major international airports, which have undergone or are undergoing renovations to bring them up to date with high-tech demands such as Wi-Fi access. The biggest project is the Mexico City airport with billions of dollars projected for dramatic changes, including a whole terminal for Aeromexico connected by a rail system that will be completed in the next few years. Cancun will open a new terminal for international flights in June 2007, and Los Cabos added a facility for groups.

Several regional carriers, including Aeromexico and Mexicana, offer frequent flights within the country. Low-cost airlines such as Click and Aladia also have national flight itineraries.

Some U.S. bus companies have permission to operate within Mexico, and they now take visitors from several U.S. border towns into the interior. In addition, Mexican bus companies offer efficient first-class bus service between major cities. Some buses—usually those designated de lujo, ejecutivo or primera—are air conditioned, have toilets and might even have movies and snack/beverage service. Second-class (segunda) service connects smaller towns, makes lots of stops and is generally less prompt and less luxurious.

Getting around Mexico by car isn't as dubious an undertaking as it used to be. Rental cars are available in most major cities and tourist destinations, and about 1.5 million North American visitors drive into Mexico each year.

If you're considering driving beyond the 12.5-mi/20-km border zone, be aware of the following requirements: A visitor driving his or her own car to Mexico must have proof of ownership (title or registration), a valid driver's license and a Temporary Vehicle Import Permit. If your car is financed, you must also have a notarized letter from the financing institution giving you permission to drive it into Mexico. Under no circumstances may you take someone else's car. You'll also have to provide assurance that you won't be leaving the car in Mexico, which can be done in one of three ways: with a credit-card imprint, with a nonrefundable bond (up to 2% of the vehicle's value) or with a refundable security deposit equal to the car's total value.

Note: If you've opted for the credit-card imprint, make sure to get your Temporary Vehicle Import Permit stamped when you leave the country or fines will start mounting up.

Mexican liability insurance is not required by law, but you should have it. U.S. and other foreign insurance is not recognized in Mexico, and should you be involved in an accident without having Mexican insurance, you will face many problems, including automatic imprisonment until responsibility is determined. It's easy to get a temporary policy. Agencies are located in nearly every U.S. border town. The insurance carriers are also good sources of information about document requirements and driving conditions—stop in one before you attempt to drive across the border.

For rental vehicles brought in from the U.S., the rental contract must be in the visitor's name, and you will need written permission from the rental agency to cross the border. Be aware that many agencies do not allow their vehicles to cross international borders, and others may have strict guidelines: Be sure to check first. Although it's not always the case, plan for delays of about an hour at border crossings.

Mexico's highways range from excellent paved (usually toll) roads to pothole-ridden two-lane blacktops and rutted dirt roads. Toll roads can be very expensive, however. Expect to pay roughly the equivalent of US$1 for every 6-12 mi/10-20 km.

Although you will hear tales of banditry on Mexican roads, most visitors drive in Mexico today without incident. Still, you should not drive after dark, and some isolated roads should be avoided altogether—the only other traffic is likely to be drug traffickers (or the army in search of them).

To find out if any roads are considered unsafe when you'll be traveling, consult the Green Angels, Mexico's excellent highway patrol. By day, hundreds of green trucks manned by an English-speaking staff patrol the country's main roads. They will not only provide you with accurate, up-to-date information but also assist you with towing or simple repairs. (There's a charge for parts, but not labor—though a tip is always appreciated.) Local tourist offices in Mexico can provide you with the phone number of the appropriate Green Angels office.

Taxis are plentiful and are usually moderately priced, but exercise caution in obtaining a cab. In Mexico City, you should never hail a taxi in the street. Always use a radio taxi. Your hotel can provide the phone numbers of reliable companies. In smaller towns, taxis don't use meters. Agree on the fare with the driver prior to getting into the cab. If it's metered, make sure the previous fare has been cleared. For traveling between nearby towns, shared taxis are often a good option. These will usually await fares beside the town's main plaza.

Rail service from the U.S. and within Mexico does not exist. The only exception is the famous Chihuahua al Pacifico Railroad, which runs through the Copper Canyon area.

Tourist Offices

The national tourism office (SECTUR) in Mexico City provides over-the-phone assistance—in Spanish and English—24 hours a day. Ave. Presidente Masaryk 172, Mexico, D.F. Phone 5250-0123. Toll-free 800-903-9200.

Canada: Mexican Government Tourism Office, 2 Bloor St. W., Suite 1502, Toronto, ON M4W 3E2. Phone 416-925-2753. Fax 416-925-6061. There are also offices in Montreal and Vancouver.

U.K.: Mexican Government Tourism Office, 42 Hert Fort Square, Mayfair, London, England W1Y7TF. Phone 4471-499-8586. Fax 44171-495-4035.

U.S.: Mexican Government Tourism Office, 21 E. 63rd St., Second Floor, New York, NY 10021. Phone 212-821-0314. Fax 212-821-0367. There are also offices in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and Miami.

Mexico does not have a tourist office in Australia.

Mexican Embassies

Australia: Embassy of Mexico, 14 Perth Ave., Yarralumla, ACT 2600. Phone 6273-3963. Fax 6273-1190.

Canada: Embassy of Mexico, 45 O'Connor St., Suite 1500, Ottawa, ON K1P 1A4. Phone 613-233-8988. Fax 613-235-9123.

U.K.: Embassy of Mexico, 16 St. George St., London W1S 1LX. Phone 20-7499-8586. Fax 20-7495-4035.

U.S.: Embassy of Mexico, 1911 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, DC. 20006. Phone 202-736-1000. Fax 202-797-8458.

Foreign Embassies in Mexico

Australia: Australian Embassy, Ruben Dario 55, Col. Polanco, 11580 Mexico, D.F. Phone 1101-2200. Fax 1101-2201. There are also consulates in Guadalajara and San Nicolas de los Garza.

Canada: Canadian Embassy, Calle Schiller 529, Col. Bosque de Chapultepec, 11580 Mexico, D.F. Phone 5724-7900. Fax 5724-7980. There are also consulates in Acapulco, Cancun, Guadalajara, Mazatlan, Monterrey, Oaxaca, Puerto Vallarta, San Jose del Cabo and Tijuana.

U.K.: British Embassy, Rio Lerma 71, Col. Cuauhtemoc, 06500 Mexico, D.F. Phone 5242-8500. Fax 5242-8517. There are also consulates in Acapulco, Cancun, Ciudad Juarez, Guadalajara, Merida, Monterrey, Oaxaca, Tijuana and Veracruz.

U.S.: U.S. Embassy, Paseo de la Reforma 305, Col. Cuauhtemoc, Mexico City, D.F. Phone 5080-2000. Fax 5080-2001. There are also consulates or consular agencies in Acapulco, Cabo San Lucas, Cancun, Ciudad Juarez, Ciudad Acuna, Cozumel, Guadalajara, Hermosillo, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Matamoros, Mazatlan, Merida, Monterrey, Nuevo Laredo, Nogales, Oaxaca, Piedras Negras, Puerto Vallarta, Reynosa, San Luis Potosi, San Miguel de Allende and Tijuana.

Distant Neighbors: A Portrait of the Mexicans by Alan Riding (Vintage Books). An analysis of the Mexican psyche.

Insurgent Mexico by John Reed (Greenwood Press). Journalistic account of Reed's adventures with Pancho Villa's army in the Mexican Revolution.

The Labyrinth of Solitude by Octavio Paz (Grove). The scholarly exposition on the Mexican character by the country's Nobel Prize-winning poet.

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel (Doubleday). A novel that relates the fantastic events—and fantastic food—experienced by a Mexican family in the early 1900s.

The Old Gringo by Carlos Fuentes (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). A novel by Mexico's pre-eminent fiction writer that concerns a U.S. journalist's experiences in the Mexican Revolution.

La Capital by Jonathan Kandell (Random House). A stirring and sweeping history of Mexico City from the time of the Aztecs through the colonial era and the Revolution to today. As engrossing for its social portraits as for its political analysis.

Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo (Grove Press). Disturbing psychological tale of a young man's return to a village destroyed by the Revolution. The dead talk to each other in their graves.