Mexican itinerary

Here is a tentative itinerary for our trip through Mexico bound for Argentina. It is the first leg out of the US and Canada, and I want to ease into the "Latin" part of the trip slowly.

We are in no Rush, I have avoided both the Sea of Cortez and the Gulf/Caribbean coast. We have been on several occasions to the Beaches, and there will be plenty of time as we make our south for sand and sea. On the other hand we have never been to central Mexico.

The map shows a rough itinerary, but it is by no means definite. I do want to see some of the colonial cities, 3-4 days in Mexico city and enter through Copper Canyon. I am yet to receive the Lonely Planet, so have done little research, and do not want to over plan the route, but I would hate to miss the hidden-to-me treasures.

Point of references are as follow:

A Douglas AZ to cross
B Hermosillo
C Creel to enter the Copper Canyon area
D Batopilas
E Guachochi to exit Copper Canyon
F Torreon
G Saltillo
H Zacatecas
I San Luis Potosi
J Santiago de Querétaro
K Mexico City
L Oaxaca
M Pochutla
N Mapastepec
O Tapachula



From Tapachula, we have options to cross into Guatemala that can be explored as we get closer.

Some of the cities/villages along the way are just reference points I used to draw the line. So this is just a general South bound route in Central Mex.

What am I missing/will I miss with this general itinerary? Any suggestions re. routes and places to visits would be welcome.

I am not fearful of travelling in Mexico, we speak Spanish and are seasoned travellers. A smile and common sense are our weapons of choice.

Looking forward to comments and suggestions.

Thanks in advance

I would opt to exit Copper Canyon via Hidalgo de Parral and ride to Durango over going East to Saltillo. Torreon is a dump btw and you can avoid it by this route. I think you'll enjoy the mountains in Oaxaca and Chiapas over taking the coastal route and the highland border crossing La Mesilla is far better place to cross than Tapachula. A run down Mex 175 to P. Angel or P. Escondido or Huatulco would be highly recommended as well. Don't rush through Mexico as it is very rewarding. Saludos, Jim

I would try to spend some time between Zacatecas, Queretaro, Guanajuato, and San Miguel due Allende. These are all nice cities.

Thanks a lot guys, exactly the type of first hand knowledge I was looking for. Will start reconnecting the dots.

Great to know about La Messilla crossing.

I am getting excited just typing this line woohoo!! can you say road trip

Your glaring error has already been pointed out twice. To reiterate, cut out Torreon and Monterrey and go south to Durango. When you route through Durango go through Santiago Papsquiaro. It's more interesting than the route directly south from Parral. Give me a should if you want to meet up.

Definitely substitute Guanajuato city for Queretero and look into the pyramids at Teotihuacán. They are just off the highway.

You might consider going south from Fresnillo, Zac to Guadalajara and getting to Mexico City through Michoacán. You will miss out on some culture, but the riding is better. Depends on what you are into.

Also, I wouldn't back track just to go to Hermosillo. IMO there is not much to see there.

Suerte!

I think the aquaduct in Queretaro is worth seeing. The is a nice one in downtown Zacatecas, but its not a big as the one in Q.

Morelia is perhaps the most beautiful city in Mex IMO and has a great aqueduct too.

Very true, but these guys are aren't going that way. They will be heading through Zacatecas and maybe Queretaro.

It's not like we are on a mission or anything, if I am convinced enough we'll stop in Morelia, I like the aquaducts.


Segovia, Spain 2008





Thanks again for the suggestions, so far I have eliminated Hermosillo, added Durango, made a few points on the Oaxaca area, then down the Coast and a hard left (East) at Huixtla for La Mesilla, Quatemala.

Awesome! Enjoy your odyssey.

Everything said so far is right on but you can also take out Hermosillo. It's not worth seeing and there are many cops just waiting to give a "ticket" for speeding through their town. You can easily ride from Douglas all the way to Creel in one day via Casa Grande and Guerrero.

If you get to Mexico City before September we will be happy to put you up and show you some of the sights.

Make the Mexico City to Oaxaca leg infinitely more interesting by jogging to Puebla and then heading down to Oaxaca via the Sierra Secreta and Tehuacan.

YES! & the Pueblo Magico(read up on these cities, some of which are real gems) town of Patzcuaro is nearby. As you have Saltillo on your list, skip it & go to nearby Real de Catorce & stay @ the hotel of same name(see their website) for more flavor of Mexico. Also consider adding Guanajuato & a run east to the coast then down through to Palenque & across Chiapas toward your GT entry point.

I second both of these recommendations ^ Oaxaca to Puerto Angel via Mex 175 is like 8 hours of Stelvio, except with more free-range poultry and donkeys

I've overnighted at the Hotel Mexico in Tehuacan before and found it excellent, with secure parking.

Good that you say there is no rush , there is sooooo much to see ,
but as usual you need to make choices and prune some parts and add others.
I have nothing harsh to say about Torreon , it has its character and interesting points
mainly industrial modern . But it may not appeal to all because it lacks some of the
features tourists seem to demand , conformity to some ideal of Mexican scenery.
But yes, trim it and visit it in future.
Agree with SR suggestion of heading down from Hgo Del Parral to Durango on Mex 45
and turn west on Dgo 44 to Sta Maria del Oro and cross the mountains to take Mex 23 south through Tepehuanes an Sgo Papasquiarp . Very scenic.
From Oaxaca city south on Mex 175 take it easy and enjoy it over two days of riding. It doesn't look like much but south of Miahuatlan it is WOW . You want to stop to enjoy the stuff a lot , pity it would be to race through.Good hotels in Miahuatlan and San Jose del Pacifico amid all the curves.
La Mesilla is a good crossing after the highlands of Chiapas but the Tapachula region is also very nice if you explore the roads up into coffee country of Nueva Alemania and Union Juarez high on the slopes of Volcan Tacana ( neat place to overnight)
Take the border crossing of Cacahoatan which is the one NE of Tapachula , quite laid back and will put you in line to in Guatemala either take the coast foothill route via Retalhuleu and then to Xela ( WOW route) or immediately start heading NE into the mountains via San Marcos to Xela (also WOW route)
The choices are hard , you will just have to come back for more CA trips

Morelia is a great city, and be sure to visit Patzcuaro which is close by.

After Oaxaca and into Chiapas state, the riding past Tuxtla Gutierrez and onto San Cristobal is stunning. In Tuxtla take a ride up to Cañon del Sumidero, come back down then hit the libre to San Cris, not the cuota. San Cris itself is a bit of tourist town but beautiful and well worth a visit.

From there its a great ride to the Tonina ruins outside of Ocosingo, then onto Palenque if youre so inclined to see some really stunning ruins, but Tonina is totally chill and in the morning you will have the place to yourself. There are some little cabins you can stay at right outside the entrance to the ruins, quiet, very chill, real rural Mexico kind of stuff.

As far a crossing into Guate is concerned, La Mesilla is worlds better than Tapachula, and the riding to La Mesilla and onwards is excellent.

Like Sjoerd mentioned, there is so much stuff worth seeing and riding, that its extremely difficult to take it in on one trip. In addition, a small country like Guatemala is worth lots of your time as well, so much to see.

Wow! Just love Adventure Rider!

Thank's so much for the detail info, it is great because I now have ideas on which to base more research.

Now what about time? What would you qualify as a reasonable (whatever that means) period of time to make it to the GT border at a leisurely but steady pace?

The plan for the entire trip is a hair over 6 months, all the way down to Ushuaia, then north to Buenos Aires, and from there we intend to do a loop to Brazil, through Uruguay up to Rio, Brasilia and back down to B.A to ship the bikes back. We will be 3 travelling on 2 motos, and air shipping over the Darien, so 3 days of down time as oppose to 10 by boat.

So with that in mind how long for the Mexican part of the trip? Knowing that as we get much further south there will be lots of opportunities to do long miles, and that it is more likely that we will have another opportunity to visit Mexico at some point in the future, than to ride the Atacama desert, Ruta 40. and the Bolivian salt flats... I am asking, to help me put things in perspective, not so much to plan for a determinate itinerary. When we rode Central Europe in 2008, we had scheduled about 3 months, and we spent so much time enjoying Spain, Italy, and Greece that we never made it to the Adriatic Coast of the Balkans, and that's in an area where you can bank on having great roads all the time.

I know this is a very personal choice, but what makes sense to the experts, considering that apart from the Puerto Escondido/Huatulco area we want to focus our ride on central Mex, and spend 3 nights in Mexico city, and whatever else will make sense (time-wise) for all the other points of interest?

PM me and I will send you an illustrated guide that will have you thinking that 3 nights in Mexico City is one too many.