Cheap One Man Trip to Mexico

Old Dec 15th, 2014, 05:27 PM
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Cheap One Man Trip to Mexico

I'd like to plan a short trip to Mexico alone. I just finished college and have some money saved up and I'd like to make a trip to Mexico in under $5000. I would really appreciate any suggestions for hotels, transportation, cities to visit, and what to do during the days. Thank you for your input!! Airfare and all has gotta be in the $5000 and its just me traveling alone.
jaggigenie is offline  
Old Dec 15th, 2014, 05:59 PM
  #2  
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 1,529
Likes: 0
Received 8 Likes on 1 Post
Short trip means how long? 4 days? 2 weeks? $5,000: Dollars? Pounds? Pesos? Beaches? Ruins? Colonial cities? Hotels? Hostels? Do you know any Spanish? Help us out. Mexico is a BIG country.
baldone is offline  
Old Dec 15th, 2014, 06:56 PM
  #3  
kja
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,089
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
You might want to look at the Moon Guide and/or the Rough Guide.
kja is offline  
Old Dec 16th, 2014, 07:25 AM
  #4  
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 4,255
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Also, where are you coming FROM? Are you (or do you want to become) a diver?
hopefulist is online now  
Old Dec 16th, 2014, 09:35 AM
  #5  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 97,137
Received 12 Likes on 11 Posts
The budget is no problem. But how long do you want to go for? Are you interested in major cities, small towns, colonial cities, beaches, what?

Your idea is completely do-able and relatively easy to plan but you don't give us enough to even get you started.
suze is offline  
Old Dec 17th, 2014, 04:25 AM
  #6  
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 1,765
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I spend less then that in a 3 month visit.
Stewbear is offline  
Old Dec 17th, 2014, 08:06 AM
  #7  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 97,137
Received 12 Likes on 11 Posts
http://www.ezilon.com/maps/north-ame...xico-maps.html
suze is offline  
Old Dec 17th, 2014, 02:20 PM
  #8  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Hi all, sorry for the lack of information, I created this posting in a rush.

Im living in Albany, New York and I'd like to fly into Cancun and I'm looking for a trip in April? Unless someone can suggest a better time of year to visit, I'm pretty flexible.
I was thinking the trip could be anywhere from 6-10 days.
My budget is 5000 US Dollars
I'd like a clean hotel thats in a central part of town and/or close to the beach if possible.

Im interested in colonial cities and historic sites. Museums and ruins would also be interesting. I'm not a skilled diver but scuba diving sounds fun. I can always book the small things like that once I'm there though. And of course, I would spend a couple days on the beach.

Let me know if there is any other information I have to plan out
jaggigenie is offline  
Old Dec 17th, 2014, 02:21 PM
  #9  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
In Mexican Dollars, my budget is 68,090
jaggigenie is offline  
Old Dec 17th, 2014, 02:30 PM
  #10  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 97,137
Received 12 Likes on 11 Posts
Instead of staying in Cancun, I suggest you look at smaller (more interesting) towns along that coast... Playa del Carmen, Akumal, Tulum, Puerto Morelos, etc.

www.locogringo.com is a good website to use for planning in this area.

Again, your budget is huge for the trip you describe.

As a point of reference I recently went for two weeks in Puerto Vallarta and my total cost was $2500USD (that was $72/day pocket money, plus a roundtrip nonstop flight from Seattle, and a very nice studio condo.
suze is offline  
Old Dec 17th, 2014, 05:39 PM
  #11  
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 1,765
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Sounds like you are living pretty high Suze. LOL
I average under $30 a day after plane/housing.
Stewbear is offline  
Old Dec 17th, 2014, 05:40 PM
  #12  
kja
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,089
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I think you would be hard-pressed to see all of the kinds of things you hope to see from a single base, but with 6 to 10 days you can see a lot if you select 2 or 3 different bases. Again, I urge you to consult some good guidebooks.
kja is offline  
Old Dec 17th, 2014, 07:08 PM
  #13  
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 10,244
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes on 1 Post
Colonial Cities: The big one is Merida, beautiful and historic, and also quite lively on weekends, when they shut the downtown to traffic and music fills the air.

Next is probably Valladolid. Much smaller and quieter, but offers easy access to Chichen Itza and Ek Balam, as well as a cenote.

Ruins: Apart from the two mentioned, you can easily visit Uxmal and the Puuc cities from Merida.
If you decide to stay on the beach, you can still visit the ruins at Coba and Tulum, and take a rather long bus ride to Chichen Itza.

I'm not a diver, but the snorkeling is good at Playa and Akumal.

With your budget you could easily extend your stay to two weeks and see most of these sights.
Fra_Diavolo is offline  
Old Dec 17th, 2014, 07:43 PM
  #14  
kja
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,089
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Good summary, Fra_Diavolo! I'd add that snorkeling from Puerto Morelos might be worth considering.
kja is offline  
Old Dec 17th, 2014, 10:11 PM
  #15  
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 4,255
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I'd go for at least 10 days if you can - the more, the merrier! I'd head to Tulúm for some beach plus the Tulúm and Cobá Maya sites (try to hit them each 1st thing in the morning); we stayed in town and loved walking to restaurants and produce stands. I dove the reef and cenotes from Tulúm - very cool - and we snorkeled more cenotes and with sea turtles at Akumal.

Then Valladolid - cute and closer than Mérida for a quick trip; visit Chichén Itzá 1st thing in the morning and don't miss Ek Balám, a favorite of ours. Straight north in San Felipe there are 1000s of flamingos and great tarpon fishing. If you still have time, Isla Mujeres is a nice stop.

My photos with blog, travelogue, and review links on the main page of each collection are below in case you're interested - all my recommendations are embedded there.
Happy trails!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/collections
hopefulist is online now  
Old Dec 18th, 2014, 08:52 AM
  #16  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 97,137
Received 12 Likes on 11 Posts


Stewbear, Of course it can be done cheaper than my nice Puerto Vallarta vacations. But I only have 1-2 weeks, not months to travel, so a shoe-string budget is not necessary.

My point is that his $5000 budget is HUGE for the type of trip he's asking about.
suze is offline  
Old Dec 18th, 2014, 02:37 PM
  #17  
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 1,529
Likes: 0
Received 8 Likes on 1 Post
I might suggest a little different itinerary: If you are interested in colonial cities, museums & historic sites, consider flying into (or out of) Mexico City. Maybe spend 3 days before moving on to Cancun, if you took your full 10 days. Volaris flies direct for a little over $100 US. April begins the hot season in Mexico, and a few days in the DF would be cooler than the colonial cities of inland Yucatan.
baldone is offline  
Old Dec 20th, 2014, 04:46 PM
  #18  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 909
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
We are going to Oaxaca for a week in January. We will spend about $2,400 everything included and we are not particularly looking to go on the cheap. In other words you can either live very well or spend a whole lot less. Note April will be very hot but may a good time to find bargains. With your budget you could do the beach and fly somewhere else, maybe Oaxaca City, for a colonial city and still have cash left over. I would check out good travel guides and hone in on what you want to do and where you would like to go.
Dude is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
CalebDeLaPaz
Mexico & Central America
5
Jun 23rd, 2015 01:57 PM
Michelle23
Mexico & Central America
9
Feb 19th, 2009 10:55 AM
AmyNYC
Mexico & Central America
9
Dec 5th, 2005 07:25 PM
Nancy
Mexico & Central America
8
Aug 6th, 2002 01:40 PM
katie
Mexico & Central America
8
Jun 7th, 2002 10:06 AM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are On


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -