Backpacking Mexico: 11 best places to visit
The most rewarding stops for backpackers in Mexico, ranked and mapped — and real routes through them, written by travellers who went.
Read Mexico stories- 1
Mexico City
CDMX
Vast, delicious megacity.
- 2
Oaxaca
Oaxaca
Food, mezcal and craft.
- 3
Tulum
Quintana Roo
Cliff ruins over the Caribbean.
4
Palenque
Chiapas
Maya temples in rainforest.
- 5
Guanajuato
Guanajuato
Colourful alley-maze city.
- 6
Chichén Itzá
Yucatán
The iconic Maya pyramid.
7
Playa del Carmen
Quintana Roo
Beach town and cenotes.
- 8
Puerto Escondido
Oaxaca
Pacific surf and sunsets.
9
Mérida
Yucatán
Colonial Yucatán capital.
- 10
Sayulita
Nayarit
Boho surf village.
- 11
Copper Canyon
Chihuahua
Deeper than the Grand Canyon.
Backpacking routes through Mexico
Real trips through Mexico, drawn on maps by the people who took them.
Oaxaca to Palenque: Mezcal, Mountains and the Chiapas Highlands
Southern Mexico by mountain van and night bus: Oaxaca's food and mezcal, San José del Pacífico, Puerto Escondido surf, San Cristóbal and Palenque's ruins.
Yucatán by ADO Bus: Cenotes, Ruins and the Lagoon of Seven Colours
A two-week Yucatán route by ADO bus: Valladolid's cenotes, Chichén Itzá at opening time, Mérida, Tulum's clifftop ruins and swimming Laguna Bacalar.
Been backpacking in Mexico?
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