Tips Traveling To Mexico – Mexico is such a spectacular tourist destination. Visitors to Mexico are regularly impressed by its warm culture, delicious cuisine, fascinating archaeological sites, beautiful beaches and charming traditions.
Yet before packing your bags to enjoy the country’s splendor, there are several Mexico travel tips and cultural advice for visitors to be aware of when traveling to Mexico. We regularly see many similar questions about traveling to Mexico in travel forums, nomadic groups, and travel chats. So after spending the better part of the last decade traveling and having temporarily lived in more than half of Mexico’s 32 states, we wanted to publish an in-depth look at the best Mexico travel tips to help visitors get around the country.
Tips Traveling To Mexico
Mexico Travel Tips aims to help travelers prepare for their trip to Mexico by arming them with local knowledge, cultural etiquette and money-saving tips along with up-to-date information for 2023.
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Whether you are traveling to Mexico for the first time, exploring the country in depth, or considering Mexico as a place to live as an expat or digital nomad, this article is for you. We hope these Mexico travel tips provide many resources for easy travel, staying safe, and having fun in this beautiful country!
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In our opinion, Mexican food is one of the best cuisines in the world. So be sure to enjoy it throughout your Mexico trip. But new visitors can take some modest precautions to reduce the risk of getting sick while exploring Mexico’s cuisine.
Also, travelers to Mexico are recommended to be open about the cuisine you will find. Understand that Mexican cuisine can be misunderstood and misinterpreted when prepared elsewhere in the world. For example, Tex-Mex cuisine can be delicious, but it is sometimes mislabeled as Mexican cuisine, which can be very different. First-time visitors to Mexico are often surprised by the many exotic local dishes.
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It is best to strictly avoid drinking tap water in Mexico. There is a risk that tap water may contain contaminants such as bacteria, which can cause illnesses such as traveler’s diarrhea. So don’t drink tap water in Mexico.
That said, if you’re served a glass of water in a restaurant in Mexico, it’s fine to drink it. Restaurants serve only purified water. Often patrons will buy a bottle of water, usually ordered as an “agua natural”, in which you get a bottle of water.
Sometimes restaurants in Mexico also offer free water. If so, this water is usually purified water (from a large 5-gallon container
So don’t hesitate to drink water at a restaurant in Mexico. This Mexico travel tip also extends to water-based drinks, such as
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. These water-based drinks are made from pure water in Mexico, so it’s all good. Street vendors also use purified water in their drinks. So drink up and stay hydrated!
There is a long-standing advisory warning visitors to avoid drinks containing ice in Mexico. This is a cautionary tale, fearing that the ice is made with tap water. But this Mexico travel tip to avoid snow is an old one. In 2023, the ice served in restaurants and bars in Mexico is almost always made from purified water and is safe for consumption.
They usually make their drinks with pure ice. You can tell easily by the ice’s built-up, often tubular, shape. If ever in doubt and want to be extra safe, you can always leave the ice on. But doing so is probably unnecessary.
Visitors to Mexico should not be afraid of iced drinks in general. So grab that frozen margarita and enjoy!
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It may also be helpful to know that much of Mexico’s local cuisine is regional and can even be hyper-local. For example, Yucatan cuisine (eg,
Sandwiches that reign supreme. Veracruz-style fish (with tomatoes, capers, and olives) found on the Gulf side is a very different presentation than the Baja-style fish tacos found on the Pacific side of the country. Speaking of tacos, Mexico has so many regional taco varieties that there’s even an entire Netflix series dedicated to them.
Doing a little research on the specific local foods of the state or city you’re visiting can ultimately reward your taste buds.
There are many famous dishes you can try in Mexico. Despite being from Puebla, mole poblano is considered the national dish of Mexico. If visiting in the first half of September leading up to Mexico’s Independence Day, it is traditional to eat it
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, is often considered the national dish. Of course, there are always tacos, which many people also consider the national dish of Mexico and can be a delicious idea throughout the country!
Whether or not to eat street food in Mexico is a question that comes up all the time and is frequently debated. Ultimately, the answer may come down to personal preference and risk tolerance. Eating street food in Mexico is somewhat less risky. But this is a risk that can be easily mitigated.
The CDC suggests that “street vendors…may not be held to the same hygiene standards as restaurants, so eat food from street vendors with caution.”
Travelers to Mexico can get stomach aches while eating street food. Visitors fresh off a quick trip to Mexico can proceed with caution to avoid the unfortunate possibility of traveler’s diarrhea. Avoiding street food can be a very cautious but safe approach to help you stay well. But in doing so, you’ll also miss out on plenty of delicious treats.
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While it is possible to get sick from street food in Mexico, the same can be said for restaurants, whether in Mexico or elsewhere. The key to reducing risk when eating street food in Mexico is to ensure good hygiene by each vendor.
If you choose to partake in the many stalls lining the streets, here are our best Mexico street food tips to follow:
On a personal note, we regularly (often daily) eat all the delicious street food we can eat in Mexico. In the many years we’ve traveled/lived in Mexico, we’ve only gotten foodborne illness once. But it was restaurant, not street food.
When in a restaurant in Mexico, crispy tortilla chips and delicious salsa are sometimes brought to the table, free of charge. North of the border, we’re used to dipping the chips straight into the salsa. But in Mexico, it’s customary to put salsa on your chips and other foods instead.
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Also, note that salsas come in varying levels of spiciness. So before you pile a spoonful on your chip, give it a little squeeze to test it, potentially setting your mouth on fire.
Finally, know that the color of the salsa is not a good indicator of how spicy the salsa may be. Whether they’re red or green, all salsas can be mild or hot, depending on the amount and type of chili used.
Meal times may differ in Mexico compared to our home country. Meal time in Mexico is very late! A large lunch after 2:00 PM and a light dinner after 8:00 PM are standard in most parts of Mexico.
For visitors to Mexico who are accustomed to having lunch around noon, then dinner around 6 p.m., you may find that restaurants are empty or completely closed during those times. To adjust to Mexican meal times, you may need to change your meal times by a few hours.
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But don’t worry. These are traditionally not as pronounced as the later meal times catered to tourists in the resort areas of Mexico. In Mexico’s tourist destinations, dining times often accommodate the home preferences of an international crowd. So you won’t even notice the late eating hours in places like Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum. Yet throughout Mexico, you’ll find restaurants opening later and people eating later.
Tipping restaurant servers in Mexico is customary and expected. But tipping etiquette in Mexico may differ from where you’re from. In Mexico, expect to tip 10%-15%+ at restaurants.
At the right restaurant and/or for great service, a 15% or more tip is a nice gesture that will be appreciated by qualified wait staff.
It is not common for restaurants in Mexico to add a tip or service charge to your receipt. But this practice is observed on occasion. This practice is more common in Mexico’s tourist hotspots and when dining in large groups.
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Occasionally, restaurants may add a suggested tip or service charge and include this in the total. If a restaurant does this, it is usually 15% of the total bill.
Some diners get annoyed when there’s a suggested tip on the bill. If so, just know that you can adjust this suggested tip upwards or downwards if you wish. personally,
