warrsher

I know we are asking alot because we want temp not often above 26 cel and at the same time our budget is low. We live on Vancouver Island,British Columbia, Canada and spent Jan. And Feb. 2019 back packing Thialand,Vietnam and Cambodia and loved everything about it except temperature was mainly above 30 deg cel. And often 36 or so.
This year we are in Zihuatanejo, Mexico for Jan and Feb, 2020 and love everything about it except the temp is normally 31 deg everyday. I know there are some high altitude places in Mexico that are cooler but we are not comfortable travelling around Mexico as we are a 73 year old couple. We also realized this time we do not want to spend 2 months in one place. Ideally a week to 10 days then move along. Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. United States is too expensive as our Canadian dollar is only worth $0.70
Thank you
Warrsher

suze

You could move further north but staying on the west coast of Mexico for cooler temps.

I'm seeing historically for Zijuat 31.5/19.4c while Puerto Vallarta shows typical January as 28/16c, and Cabo San Lucas as 25/13c high/lows. Mazatlan is another would be similar.

Those cities are not "traveling around Mexico" they are very well known tourist beach resort towns.

RoamsAround

Have you thought about touring around New Zealand - the entire country will have temperatures below 26 C. in January and February but still be relatively mild. It's a fabulous country with lots to see and do, very friendly locals (it will take you 20 minutes to get gas for your car - 5 minutes to fill the tank and 15 minutes to talk with the clerk) and it is a very safe to travel around.. We spent 6 week touring the country and would go back in a heartbeat

Fodorite018

We just got back from Prague and the temps will definitely not be hot, and it was very inexpensive. We did this as well as Dresden and the two make for a great pair, IMO.

warrsher

Will look at those for another year. Unfortunately we are booked here tillMar 3rd then fly home.

baldone

I'm confused; is it that you don't want to travel around period (I say confused since you said you said you'd move on every week to 10 days) or is it that you don't want to travel around Mexico? If it's the latter, your fears (if you're indeed afraid) are unfounded. Zihuatanejo is far more dangerous than any of the cities I'm about to mention. During January & February, ​​​​​the central Mexican highlands are typically pleasantly sunny, dry and cool, with highs hovering around 24-26 (if not a bit less) for much of the area. The cities of Morelia, Patzcuaro, Queretaro, San Miguel De Allende, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosi & Zacatecas are all within a short 1st class bus ride of each other. Fantastically charming, full of history, much cheaper than beach areas, and devoid of the tourist throngs of PV and Cabo.
PS wife and I live in San Miguel, and spent a year in Queretaro. She's 68, I'm 65, so we're not spring chickens. Weve been to all those cities several times, driving our own car with absolutely no issues.

crellston

I agree with baldones comments re travelling around Mexico. We spent October to December 2017 travelling around Mexico visiting all of those place he mentioned. We mainly took the bus between destination and typically spent 4-7 days in each place. Most places we loved and could easily have stayed a lot longer but wanted to see more of the country. Also really liked Oaxaca further south. We had read lots of stuff about how dangerous Mexico was but in reality we found it as safe as anywhere we have travelled. The climate was pretty much perfect in most places warm but not hot during the day and cool at night (Zacatecas was freezing at night!). In fact, I would say Mexico is pretty much ideal for what you wan5 to do.

I also agree with roamsarounds comments re New Zealand. It is indeed a wonderful country and one tha5 we have visited Sever times for long spells, exploring the country by campervan. However, Jan/Feb is peak tourist season and it will be very crowded, mostly with tour groups from the Chinese mainland. Although currently, tourist numbers are vastly reduced because of the Coronavirus outbreak. Also, it is quite an expensive destination, certainly on a par with the US.

In Europe a lot of people head to southern Spain. We spent a couple of six month spells in Andalucia. Not as cheap as Mexico but not bad. Generally good weather but probably not hot enough for the beach in Jan. Great food and loads to see. I would base somewhere near Malaga and use trains or a car to visit places like Granada, Seville, Córdoba Etc.

kja

Even though you aren't enamored of another trip to Mexico, you might take a look at San Cristobal de las Casas.

warrsher

Sorry if I confused you. Our fear has been the travel between different places in Mexico. I guess we heard too many stories about being stopped on the highway checkpoints by the wrong people. The more I talk to people now it appears if you take the 1st class buses they are pretty safe. I will do alot more study on this between now and November as we would like to spend 3 months next winter in Mexico and spend the time in cooler temperatures. We did book all of Jan and Feb this year in Zihuatanejo and have found we do not like being in one place that long, so will plan different for next winter. As I mentioned before we spent 2 months in SE Asia with no itinerary just moving on when we felt like it and really enjoyed that. There never was a problem finding inexpensive lodging there. Could we expect the same in Mexico. We just look for clean and safe. Thanks
Warrsher

mlgb

No doubt the "stories" you heard had to do with people in private cars. The first class buses are great.

Having just returned from Mexico City, Puebla and Oaxaca I'd certainly recommend the first two. Puebla in particular has great weather and is more affordable Mexico City as far as hotel rates. I was less enamored with Oaxaca (and it's a bit more expensive as well as warmer , being over 30 several days). But it certainly is popular with the over 65-crowd (and expat/snowbird crowd) and I'm sure you'd feel comfortable there or in some of the other spots baldone suggests (listen to him!). There is plenty to do in Mexico City and Puebla as far as historic sites and museums, markets, and they both have Uber which makes getting around within the city and from bus station to hotel easy.

Oaxaca, unfortunately, does not offer Uber and you have to do taxis.

PS I hate hot weather too.

crellston

We were able to find inexpensive lodgings in Mexico in much the same way as we have in Asia in the past. In terms of costs, I think it is on a par with Thailand but not as cheap as Vietnam for like for like quality. In terms of moving on as and when the mood takes you, it is much the same as SE Asia. Buses are easy to source at short notice and, whilst we did plan our last trip to Mexico we did change things around when we got there and it wasn’t a problem finding accomodation on arrival.

i am currently looking at options for next Dec/January and, as we are based in England, it is, quite frankly it is a toss up flying east to SE Asia or west to Mexico. Airfares aside, in terms of cost, there isn’t much difference. In terms of safety, at least on the roads, I am more concerned re the lunatic driving in Asia than I am about hijacking or robberies in Mexico.

baldone

Often, reports of bus related assaults are simply the same incidents reported by multiple media outlets, which make bus travel seem far more dangerous than it really is. Additionally, there have been sensationalized reports from Tamaulipas (because US citizens were involved), which is a known 'hot-spot' where most tourists don't go. And there have been assaults on some of the personnel buses that transport workers to/from Mexico City from surrounding suburbs/municipios. First Class bus passengers are required, or should be, to show ID before they board or buy tickets. This is a semi-recent thing to prevent, or minimize, Central Americans from transiting through the country. This was primarily in response to Trump's demand to cut down on illegal immigration to the border, but it also increased security. 2nd class buses can pick up passengers pretty much anywhere along the route which isn't as secure. There was a widely reported robbery of a privately chartered tourist bus in Chiapas that received a lot of media attention. I agree with Crellston in that generally finding lodging on short notice isn't a problem unless it's a holiday period such as Semana Santa.

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