Inexpensive and less touristy place

Old Jan 18th, 2011, 10:00 PM
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Inexpensive and less touristy place

We are looking to travel in early March to a place that is low cost (flight) from Seattle and are looking for suggestions for a good city. We are not really interested in the usual tourist spots but more in the culture and way of life.

We are hoping that by avoiding much in demand places we get a lower cost flight ticket.

Any suggestions would be great (safety is another concern, so a safer city would be nice)

Thank you

(already been to Cabo and Tijuana)
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Old Jan 19th, 2011, 04:07 AM
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Looking to avoid well-touristed destimations is a good strategy to reduce overall trip costs, but I doubt that starting by identifying such destinations is a sound strategy for reducing flight costs. It can actually cost airlines more to fly to less-touristed locations; predictability of demand and competition is what keeps costs down. You're likely to do better by (1) looking for low fares to the right general part of the world and then seeing whether that far gets you near someplace you'd want to be, (2) looking for attractive destinations where lodgings etc. are low priced, then trying to find flights, and (3) being flexible on precisely when/how you fly, using one of the many websites that let you readily see what you'd save if you varied your dates from a target one.

San Miguel de Allende, maybe.
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Old Jan 19th, 2011, 05:25 AM
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Oaxaca, Mexico, would be a good choice--beautiful location, lots to do, tons of culture and fabulous crafts, lively place both day and night. March will be quite warm. You can get lovely, simple accommodations for around $50-60 a night.

Granada in Nicaragua is also nice, with plenty to do in the surrounding area.
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Old Jan 19th, 2011, 05:40 AM
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Belize and Costa Rica have three international airports between them, so there's no way to save money on flights to those countries by targeting non-touristy areas.

So, that would leave Mexico, which has the additional wrinkle of being unsafe in many non-touristy places.
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Old Jan 19th, 2011, 05:55 AM
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What are your interests - beach, ruins, music, art, colonial cities, diving? Let us know and we can help you better. Likely your cheapest flights will be to Cancún. There are places within striking distance that are rarely visited, like San Felipe on the gulf coast - great for tarpon fishing and thousands of flamingos, cute little town. We liked Valladolid, too. My photos, blogs, and travelogues are below. Good luck!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/collections
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Old Jan 19th, 2011, 05:57 AM
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www.peoplesguide.com/mexico

good guide for you to pick up...

many cheap to stay as long as you are careful with safety.

www.tavel.state.gov Mexico

many nice areas you can fly cheaply to LAX or SAN

Deluxe bus down around from there to save.

www.ticabus.com goes down to CA from Tapachula

if you want to go down that way...

all the way to Panama if you have the budget and time.

Have fun,
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Old Jan 19th, 2011, 07:14 AM
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If you're not picky, just keep your eyes peeled for good flight prices and then plan from there. I was lucky to find $199 flights from Toronto to San Jose (Costa Rica) for January 4.
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Old Jan 19th, 2011, 10:35 AM
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I think there are a couple contradictions in your request.

<We are hoping that by avoiding much in demand places we get a lower cost flight ticket.>

Airfare doesn't really work like that. You get the best deals into the more mainstream tourist destinations where there is the most demand and the most people traveling.

<safety is another concern, so a safer city would be nice>

Again there has not been any violence to date in any of the usual tourist destinations. The bad stuff that's happened recently is in the border towns, large cities, and off the tourist path.

That said, here's some suggestions:
fly into Puerto Vallarta & head north or south along the coast
Guanajuato
Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa
Merida
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Old Jan 19th, 2011, 04:57 PM
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Actually on the West Coast the least expensive I have found is Acapulco but would never be my first choice especially for inexperienced Mexican Travelers.
For cheap airfares PV is a good choice. Their are small clean basic hotels where you can sty for around $30 US a night including the Aztec Hotel.
You can eat very cheap at The Taco stands, the Mercado & a number of local restaurants if you go but a couple of blocks out of the normal tourist areas. If you go away from the beach on the far side of Insurgentes on Madero, Cardenas & Badillo Avenue where there are several wonderful budget price cafés which will have about 90 % Mexican as customers. Full meals for well under $10.
Now Zihuatanejo is about 25 % cheaper but airfare from Seattle would be more.
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Old Jan 19th, 2011, 08:49 PM
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Mexico City is often very cheap from Seattle, and you can get great deals on hotels and everything there. I also think you can be quite safe there.
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Old Jan 19th, 2011, 09:55 PM
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Puebla. You can catch an express bus from the Mexico City airport that goes directly to Puebla. Same with the return, so plan your flight in such a way that an overnight stay in Mexico City or at the airport is unnecessary. Click on my name and you should be able to find my trip report. We were there in January and there were very few tourists. The hotel was cheap and just around the corner from the zocalo.
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Old Jan 20th, 2011, 05:52 AM
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I think the best deal would be to go sanjose in costa rica, you can get a flight around $200. Once you reach Costa Rica, there are many options you can look for.
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Old Jan 20th, 2011, 12:04 PM
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Once you reach Costa Rica, you will find that any perceived savings on airfare is quickly spent on food, accommodations, and activities.

And good luck with that $200 airfare.
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Old Jan 20th, 2011, 12:40 PM
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Tru dat - I fly out of Portland, Oregon and flights are more from up here in the NW than most places in the US.
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Old Jan 21st, 2011, 08:47 AM
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You consider Playa del Carmen 'less touristy'. I'd say only in relation to Cancun.....
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Old Jan 21st, 2011, 06:01 PM
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Great replies, thanks. We are thinking of Cancun -the Yucatan -the main reason is that we want to bicycle around which is important for us

any suggestions on bike rentals there would be great!
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Old Jan 22nd, 2011, 07:07 AM
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neither cancun or the maya riviera (cancun south to tulum along the coast) is a great place for riding bikes. cancun is a big city. playa del carmen is a small but Very busy with tourists city. the only road between them is hwy 307 which is iffy for driving let along biking.
however, you could fly to cancun then go inland to valladolid & merida. these are non-touristy cities with some real history to offer unlike cancun which is a built for tourist town. valladolid has only 45,000 ppl, and is near Chichen Itza and Ek' Balam.
if you went down to tulum, riding bikes would be ok. you could ride down to sian ka'an biosphere & around the beach community.
here's a web site that might help your plannning:
http://www.ecotravelmexico.com/Rivie..._Bike_Tour.php
this is the only bike rental info i found:
http://directory.mayanriviera.com/li...kes-tours.html
and just for fun:
http://www.bikerumor.com/2009/12/28/...es-and-racers/
happy planning 8-)
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Old Jan 22nd, 2011, 07:16 AM
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Cancun is neither "inexpensive" or "less touristy". I think the Mayan Riviera is a great place to go on vacation but it really doesn't fit any of the criteria you first mentioned in your post.
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Old Jan 22nd, 2011, 07:36 AM
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What about Puerto Morelos, between Cancun and Playa del Carmen? Haven't been yet, but going in March -- it might fit a lot of your criteria. It's looking good to me, anyway. I know you can definitely rent bikes there and bike around.
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Old Jan 22nd, 2011, 09:05 AM
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Puerto Morelos is a nice little village that offers everything from low key to high luxury accommodations. The reef snorkeling is excellent there.
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