bettie

I wanted to go to Hawaii and my husband wanted to go to PV, so we decided on Cancun. Does anyone have a suggestion of where we can find some traditional mexican flavor in Cancun, such as food, open air markets, he loves to bargain with the vendors. Is there a town near by that still has the feel of old Mexico? Any help would be appreciated.

Little_Man

There are some open air markets in downtown Cancun.
Go to the downtown restaurants, like Las Habichuela (not sure if that's the exact name) for wonderful food, and great atmosphere.
A day trip to Playa Del Carmen might be a good idea for shopping.

Percy

I am assuming that you are going to be staying in one of the large hotels along the "Cancun Strip."
These are all nice hotels and they back onto the lovely white sand beach.

If you walk out the front door of your hotel...( thye are set back about a block) just keep walking straight ahead for about a block and you will come to the "Main Blvd" called "Kukulkan Blvd.
The bus comes along about every 10 minutes and for 60 cents $US, you hop on the bus and tell the driver to let you off in downtown Cancun... here you will see all the open air markets , side walk restaurants and many many shopping places.

Also like Frankie mentioned,you can hop another bus from downtown Cancun and go to Playa Del Carmen, another nice quaint Mexican place to shop.

Percy

Jean_Valjean

If you are on the "strip", try going to Maria Bonita at the Camino Real. Excellent, authentic Mexican food and great tamarind margaritas. It is a bit expensive, but certainly worth it.

RobertSDF

Unfortunately, you won't find much of the traditional Mexican flavor in Cancun. The so called "markets" in the tourist zone and the main part of the center of Cancun are really just tourist shops. However, their are some local markets to be found in the Cancun neighborhoods for both shopping and food.
Playa del Carmen is somewhat more Mexican than Cancun but is changing fast. (a new Sam's will open soon, unfortunately)
If you have time, it is really worthwhile to visit cities such as Merida and Valladolid--both can be done by good first class buses. Merida is a really beautiful Mexican Colonial city.
Hop this helps!

caribbeanguy

Merida or Valladolid really worth the visit, there's a lot of tours to Chichen Itza, they make a stop in Valladolid.

Visit this page, you will find a lot of information about Merida and Yucatan ( events, things to do, etc).
http://www.yucatantoday.com/culture/...o-indigena.htm

There's a town, Ticopo, 21 kilometers from Merida on highway from Merida to Cancun, where 470 Mayans participate in a mayan show, you can see their daily activities and traditions. For a day trip or overnight stay in Merida you can visit this page: http://www.thomasmoretravel.com/eng/mayanruins.php3

- Xcaret has a night show, if you decided to go, it's very beautiful also, represents the history of mexico with dancers and songs.

- Go downtown Cancun, La Habichuela and Labná have yucatan cuisine. In front there's a park, Las Palapas, with local shows every weekend.

- Market 28 it's a good option to bargain..

suze

First off... have you bought the plane tickets already? I would go to Puerto Vallarta or Hawaii in a heartbeat (and have many times), you will never ever catch me in Cancun ;-)

TioGringo

Cancun sometimes gets a bum rap as far as places to get "authentic Mexican food". Fact is, the locals eat SOMEWHERE, and it's probably not Outback Steakhouse or Hooters.

There's a good article in this month's "Arthur Frommers Budget Travel" magazine on places in Cancun where you can not only get great Mexican food, but authentic Yucatecan style Mexican food.

Naturally, these cluster downtown, and you can find 'em in Mercado 28. The article mentions several places that aren't far off the tourist path but that cater to locals.

When looking over the menu, look for dishes with Mayan sounding names, concentrate on the seafood, or look for perennial Yucatecan favorites like sopa de lima. Also, don't wash it down with Corona, get a Leon Negra.

Here are a few restaurants mentioned in the article:

* Labna, Margaritas 29
* El Cejas, Mercado 28
* El Rincon Yucateo, Uxmal 35 (west of Tulum circle)
* Cocina la Chaya, Mercado 28
* Parque de las Palapas, between Av. Tulum and Av. Yaxchilan
* Club Nautico, Puerto Juarez (just north of ferry dock)
* La Faena, Plaza de Toros (Av. Bonampak)
* La Parilla, Av. Yaxchilan 51

It's not in the article, but one of personal favorites for good Yucatecan food is the unpretentious Miramar on Isla Mujeres (right next to the ferry dock landing) --- friendly place, laid back, with fresh seafood, a mean sopa de lima, and cheap Leon Negras.

Buen proveche,
Mark
www.tiogringo.com

RobertSDF

Great advice from TioGringo! Mercado 28 was the one I was trying to remember in my earlier post! Also great advice on the beer--anything but Corona! (I enjoy Leon Negra, Sol, Victoria, Montejo and many of the good Mexican beers)