South/Central America/Mexico, 9 days: where to?

Unherd

It's been years since me and the lady have traveled, but we're thinking we may be able to get away for a week and half in late jan/early feb. I've never been to mexico or anywhere else in that direction, so I'm wide open to suggestions. brazil, argentina and oaxaca are high on the list as we start to do our read ups.

we want to start and end the trip with a day or two at the beach, with some cities, sights, and/or cultural spots in between. some moving around is expected, but since we'll most likely only have a week and half, we'd prefer not to cover too much ground, and we definitely want to avoid anywhere that's real touristy. crazy remote spots are great. hiking/camping, and especially biking would also be cool. please to knowledge me soulstrut.

Dante

Unherd said:

It's been years since me and the lady have traveled, but we're thinking we may be able to get away for a week and half in late jan/early feb. I've never been to mexico or anywhere else in that direction, so I'm wide open to suggestions. brazil, argentina and oaxaca are high on the list as we start to do our read ups.

we want to start and end the trip with a day or two at the beach, with some cities, sights, and/or cultural spots in between. some moving around is expected, but since we'll most likely only have a week and half, we'd prefer not to cover too much ground, and we definitely want to avoid anywhere that's real touristy. crazy remote spots are great. hiking/camping, and especially biking would also be cool. please to knowledge me soulstrut.

Oaxaca is your option, definitely. The city is awesome and the beaches too.

PATX

Dante said:

Oaxaca is your option, definitely. The city is awesome and the beaches too.

Yes. Although I think that is busy season on the coast so you may not get your first choice accommodations everywhere - plan ahead unless you are cool with hammocks on the beach. But it's perfect for a short trip - and you can get a night or two in Mexico City on the way in or out.

Brazil/Argentina is also awesome, but much, much further away so 2 nights of your vacation will be red-eye flights to and from the US.

jaysus

Southern mexico has so much to offer, really rich foods and history. You could spend a couple days in san cristobal, the market there is incredible and it is also the city where the zapatistas had their media uprising. After that you could head to oaxaca, or vice versa.

I would place mexico above many other central american countries for travel, save for maybe nicaragua.

I also wouldn't worry too much about crowds since most of the world is absolutely terrified of mexico right now and even before that only stoned out brahs and cheese/pulque heads visited oaxaca in my experience.

jdeez

jaysus said:

Southern mexico has so much to offer, really rich foods and history. You could spend a couple days in san cristobal, the market there is incredible and it is also the city where the zapatistas had their media uprising. After that you could head to oaxaca, or vice versa.

I would place mexico above many other central american countries for travel, save for maybe nicaragua.

I also wouldn't worry too much about crowds since most of the world is absolutely terrified of mexico right now and even before that only stoned out brahs and cheese/pulque heads visited oaxaca in my experience.

yeah. san cristobal is great. palenque, agua azul, guatemala, oaxaca city, puerto escondido, mexico city can all be hit up in a week/week.5. i went to all of those and vera cruz (bleh) and san miguel de allende in about 2 weeks.

ketan

jdeez said:

jaysus said:

Southern mexico has so much to offer, really rich foods and history. You could spend a couple days in san cristobal, the market there is incredible and it is also the city where the zapatistas had their media uprising. After that you could head to oaxaca, or vice versa.

I would place mexico above many other central american countries for travel, save for maybe nicaragua.

I also wouldn't worry too much about crowds since most of the world is absolutely terrified of mexico right now and even before that only stoned out brahs and cheese/pulque heads visited oaxaca in my experience.

yeah. san cristobal is great. palenque, agua azul, guatemala, oaxaca city, puerto escondido, mexico city can all be hit up in a week/week.5. i went to all of those and vera cruz (bleh) and san miguel de allende in about 2 weeks.

we recently spent 3 weeks in mexico ciy and chiapas, and i highly recommend both. let me know if you want any tips.

incredibly/sadly, we didn't hit up one beach the entire time, but i hear there's a really nice, secluded beach spot in the south of Chiapas called Boca del Cielo.

http://styleandframes.blogspot.com/2011/05/boca-del-cielo-chiapas.html (not my blog)

rootlesscosmo

Fly to cancun; drive south on the coast for 4 days; drive back.

francozola0

Definetely San Cristobal in Mexico enjoyed Taxco , in Argentina El Calafate and the Perito Moreno glacier and in Brazil / Argentina Iguacu falls

Delay

rootlesscosmo said:

Fly to cancun; drive south on the coast for 4 days; drive back.

this!

Unherd

Thanks for all the suggestions, keep em coming. Me and my girl agree that "sit in a car near cancun" is currently in the lead.

That said, this article's got us thinking about argentina or belize. Thoughts anyone?