When I arrived at Benito Juarez airport in Mexico City towards the end of February 2017, I’d already been travelling and away from home for over 6 months and Mexico had a lot of amazing places to live up to. But it certainly did, and then some! My initial plan was to spend a week in Mexico City, then head over to Cancun for Spring Break and then head off elsewhere (I’m not really one for making too detailed plans!), but those vague plans soon changed as I was swallowed into a country which attracts tourists from every corner of the earth.
Mexico City was so much better than I originally anticipated. As one of the most populous cities in the world, I was expecting people everywhere, infrastructures on the verge of breaking point and an underlying level of dirt throughout the city. I was so wrong. The city itself is HUGE, so the 24 million people are nicely spread out and the districts each have their own personality and charm. There is an abundance of things to do as well, from watching Nacho Libre wrestling, to visiting cathedrals and monasteries, to sipping Coronas sailing down the intricate canal-system at Xochimilco. Plus there aren’t many places in the world you can get 5 tacos and a glass bottle of Coke for the equivalent of 80p.
Next up was Cancun for Spring Break. Cue all the exact stereotypes that you’d imagine at this time of year. After a few memorable nights at Coco Bongos, we had met a couple of Aussies and another English guy who had plans to spend the next month travelling around the affectionately-known ‘Gringo Trail’, which basically is the name given to the typical route taken around the Yucatan Peninsula (by US & European tourists, hence the name ‘Gringo’), so we put our names down and off we went, plans out the window.
The proceeding 3-4 weeks was spent in some of the most amazing places I’ve ever been to. Cancun, Tulum, Playa Del Carmen are all hugely popular resort towns, but have so much more to offer than 5* hotels and great All Inclusive deals. Some other lesser known places including Holbox, Isla Mujeres & Bacalar had some of the most beautiful beaches you could imagine, and slightly away from the more trodden tourist tracks, you got a more authentic feel for Mexico, with Mayan ruins, incredible food and endless amounts of cenotes to dip your toes in after a tough day of exploring.
Of course, a trip to Mexico wouldn’t be complete without a visit of Chichen Itza, one of the new 7 wonders of the world (which you can organise from pretty much every resort in the area). All in all Mexico has to go down as one of my top two or three destinations – an absolute must-do for travellers of all ages!