John Noble - Mexico

The highlight of your Mexico trip might be climbing a 1300-year-old Maya pyramid as howler monkeys growl in the sweaty emerald jungle around you; or dining on salmon enchiladas and chrysanthemum salad at a Mexico City fusion restaurant; or dancing through the night at a high-energy Guadalajara nightclub; or kayaking at dawn past a colony of Baja California sea lions. Every visitor goes home with their own unforgettable images. Such a large country, straddling temperate and tropical zones, stretching 5km into the sky and along 10,000km of coastline, with a city of 21 million people at its center and countless tiny pueblos everywhere, cant fail to provide a huge variety of options for human adventure.

Mexicos multibillion-dollar tourism industry is adept at satisfying those who like their travel easy. But adventure is what youll undoubtedly have if you take a small step off the prepackaged path. Even as megabuck developments change city skylines and consume prime slices of coast, the opportunities for getting out to the wild places and local communities are developing too. Locally based tourism outfits, including genuine ecotourism operators the kind that actually help conserve local environments are waiting to take you hiking in the Oaxaca cloud forests, whale-watching off the Pacific coast or volcano-climbing in the central highlands.

Mexicos cities still juxtapose manicured poodles and begging grandmothers, but are increasingly sophisticated places with slick restaurants and coffee houses, ever-better entertainment offerings, and parks and pedestrian areas where you can escape the grinding traffic. A hip, artsy scene reveling in Mexicos thriving music and art currents has emerged in most cities. This creative country is enjoying a resurgence of international appetite for its art, movies, design, music and cuisine. Mexicos hotels and inns have jumped aboard the ship of style too: many are charming, tasteful and appealing places combining contemporary and traditional design, with that bold use of color in which Mexico has long specialized.

Creativity has burgeoned since the year 2000, when Mexico voted Vicente Fox of the PAN (National Action Party) into the presidency, finally throwing off eight decades of one-party democracy under the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party). Though neither Fox (200006) nor his successor, Felipe Caldern, have found any easy panaceas for the deep economic inequalities between one Mexican and another, or between Mexico and the US, Mexicans now have a far greater confidence that their voices can be heard.

With its economy strung to the coat-tails of the US, Mexico felt the chill wind of recession in 2009; though production, and trade with the US, bounced back in 2010. But the Caldern years will be remembered most of all for the states war on Mexicos brutal, increasingly powerful drug gangs. Caldern deployed 45,000 troops and federal police around the country to combat the mobs, bringing an explosion in intergang warfare, which accounted for most of the 14,000 drug-related killings between 2007 and 2009. Whether the strategy will succeed remains to be seen, but most Mexicans supported it, despite the violence and its economic effects. These included a dip in tourism, although tourists have rarely been affected.

Mexico is a great country for making plans as you go. You can just pick a spot on the map (or in this guidebook), hop on a plane or bus or get in the car, and enjoy choosing what to do when you get there. Accommodations for all budgets are easy to find, and transportation is plentiful and inexpensive. If you have limited time and specific goals, you can work out a detailed itinerary and reserve accommodations in advance. But be ready to change plans once you get there: Mexico offers so many wonderful things to see and do that youre guaranteed to want to fit more in. Therell always be that colorful local festival happening, or that beautiful unknown beach you hear about, or that great new horseback ride/boat trip/waterfall hike/crafts village. These are times to put the guidebook down and do your own exploring.

If this is your first trip to Mexico, especially if its your first trip outside the developed world, be ready for more crowds, noise, bustle and poverty than youre accustomed to. But dont worry most Mexicans will be only too happy to help you feel at home in their country. Invest a little time before your trip in learning even just a few phrases of Spanish every word you know will make your trip that little bit easier and more enjoyable.

Mexico has had some bad press in recent times over drug-gang killings, chiefly in towns near the US border. While theres no denying the reality of this violence, tourists have not been its targets and it mostly happens well away from places most travelers are likely to visit. You can check your foreign ministrys Mexico travel information for any current warnings.

No time is a bad time to visit Mexico, though the coastal and low-lying regions, especially in the southern half of the country, are fairly hot and humid from May to September (these are the months of highest rainfall and highest temperatures almost everywhere). The interior of the country has a more temperate climate than the coasts. In fact, its sometimes decidedly chilly in the north and the center from November to February.

July and August are peak holiday months for both Mexicans and foreigners. Other big holiday seasons are mid-December to early January (for foreigners and Mexicans) and a week either side of Easter (for Mexicans). At these times the coastal resorts attract big tourist crowds, room prices go up in popular places, and accommodations and public transportation can be heavily booked, so advance reservations are advisable.

Your dollar, euro or pound will go a long way in Mexico. Assuming the pesos exchange rate against the US dollar remains fairly stable, youll find this is an affordable country to travel in. Midrange travelers can live well in most parts of the country on the equivalent of US$75 to US$125 per person per day. Between US$40 and US$70 will get you a pleasant, clean and comfortable room for two people, with private bathroom and fan or air-conditioning, and you have the rest to pay for food (a full lunch or dinner in a decent restaurant typically costs US$12 to US$20), admission fees, transportation, snacks, drinks and incidentals. Budget travelers staying in hostels can easily cover the cost of accommodations and two restaurant meals a day with US$40. Add in other costs and youll probably spend US$50 to US$70.

The main exceptions to this are the Caribbean coast, parts of Baja California and some Pacific resort towns, where rooms can easily cost 50% more than elsewhere.