Mexico

Tourists from the US, UK, EU, Canada and Australia need no visa and are admitted on arrival. At major airports the old paper tourist card (FMM) is now digital — your entry and authorised days are logged when your passport is scanned, and the arrival fee is bundled into your airfare, so there’s nothing to pay or carry. At land borders a paper form still applies, free for stays up to seven days and about 983 pesos (~US$54) beyond that.

The real change is the one nobody warns you about: Mexico stopped defaulting to 180 days in 2025. Officers now grant the length that matches your stated trip and ask about return tickets, accommodation and income — repeat and long-stay visitors get the most scrutiny. State your actual plans, carry proof of onward travel, and confirm the days you were given before leaving the immigration hall.

The UK Foreign Office (FCDO) draws its no-go areas differently — specific zones rather than whole states — and travelling against FCDO advice can void your travel insurance, so UK visitors should check their own government’s map, not just the US one. One to note for culture travellers: Pátzcuaro, a headline Día de Muertos town, sits in Michoacán, a Level 4 state.

The dry season, November to April, is the best all-round weather and the peak — warm, low humidity, highest prices December to March. May to October is greener, cheaper and wetter, with afternoon storms. Mexico City sits at 2,240 m, so it stays mild year-round with cool nights and strong sun, and the altitude can take a day to adjust to.

For the culture, Día de Muertos (1–2 November, with Mexico City’s big parade on the preceding Saturday) is the headline date — book Oaxaca or Mexico City far ahead. The Guelaguetza in Oaxaca fills the last two Mondays of July, and Semana Santa (Holy Week) empties the cities onto the beaches.

If a clean beach matters, the coast you choose matters more than the month. When the seaweed is in, locals simply move to the sheltered islands or switch coasts:

• Sargassum season (Jun–Aug) on the mainland Riviera MayaSkipTulum, Akumal and Playa del Carmen beaches — worst hitGoIsla Mujeres or Cozumel, and the islands’ leeward west sides, largely clear
• A clean summer beach anywhere in MexicoSkipthe open Caribbean shore entirelyGothe whole Pacific coast — Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, the Oaxacan coast — which sargassum never reaches
• Hurricane peak (Aug–Oct) on the CaribbeanSkiplocking in non-refundable beach weeksGoflexible bookings, or the drier interior — Mexico City, Oaxaca, the colonial Bajío

The first-trip regions sit far apart: Mexico City (world-class food, museums and Teotihuacán day-tripping), the Yucatán (Cancún and the Riviera Maya beaches, the Maya ruins of Chichén Itzá, colonial Mérida), Oaxaca (food, craft and the deepest culture), the Pacific at Puerto Vallarta, and Los Cabos at the tip of Baja. A week does one or two of these well — not the lot.

Because the distances are continental, you fly between regions (Aeroméxico, Volaris and Viva link the hubs; Mexico City–Cancún is about two hours) and use the bus or train within them. The combinations that work are the ones that share a corner: Cancún with the Yucatán, or Mexico City with Oaxaca and the Bajío.

For the south and east, ADO runs the quietly excellent coaches — comfortable, reserved-seat, air-conditioned — and the military checkpoints you pass are routine. The much-hyped Tren Maya is now fully open across all 34 stations and even reaches Cancún airport, but it isn’t yet dependable transport: delays are common and its stations often sit far from the sights (the “Chichén Itzá” stop is about 6 km from the ruins, in Pisté, needing a mototaxi). Treat it as a scenic ride, not your backbone.

If you drive, do it in daylight, on the toll (cuota) roads, and keep clear of the “Do Not Travel” states. At Mexico City’s airport, use the authorised prepaid taxi booths or an app — street-hailed taxis are the one to avoid.

The money traps matter more than the fees. Always pay in pesos and decline “charge in your home currency” — dynamic currency conversion runs roughly 5–15%, often 8%-plus — and withdraw from bank-branch ATMs rather than the standalone orange Euronet machines in the tourist zones, which charge the most and push conversion hardest. Tip in pesos, around 10–15%.

Cenote rule that catches people out: since 2021 Quintana Roo bans all sunscreen and insect repellent in cenotes — even “reef-safe” or biodegradable — to protect the water; you must shower before entering, and the fine is around 200 pesos or refused entry. And never drink cenote or tap water anywhere.

Spanish is the language; English is common in the resort zones and tourism but limited elsewhere, so a few words go a long way. Plugs are US-style Type A/B at 127V, so North American devices fit; the emergency number is 911. Never drink the tap water (the problem is the pipes, not the treatment) — bottled or purified only, though showering and brushing teeth are fine.

Keep small-denomination pesos for tips, cenotes, markets and taxis, and remember Mexico City’s altitude (2,240 m): pace the first day, drink water, and go easy on the mezcal until you’ve adjusted. Weighing Mexico against another Latin-American beach-and-nature trip? See Costa Rica vs Mexico, measured.