Mexico travel tips

Best time to visit Mexico

Every guide's best months, checked against its own thirty-year rainfall: a filled month is recommended, a hatched one has over 250 mm of rain. Most of Mexico agrees on Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Nov, Dec.

PlaceJFMAMJJASONDIn words
Mexico CityMarch to May, October to NovemberMarch to May, October to November
OaxacaOctober to April — and late October for Día de Muertos, booked a year aheadOctober to April — and late October for Día de Muertos, booked a year ahead
CancunDecember to April (dry season)December to April (dry season)
TulumNovember to April — the rains and the hurricane season run through the middle of the yearNovember to April — the rains and the hurricane season run through the middle of the year
Los CabosNovember to April — and January to March for the whalesNovember to April — and January to March for the whales
Playa del CarmenDecember to April (the rain and the heat come together in late summer, and hurricane season runs through the autumn)December to April (the rain and the heat come together in late summer, and hurricane season runs through the autumn)
Isla MujeresDecember to April (the sargassum is worst in high summer and the hurricane season runs through the autumn)December to April (the sargassum is worst in high summer and the hurricane season runs through the autumn)
CozumelDecember to April (the visibility is best in winter, and the hurricane season runs through the autumn)December to April (the visibility is best in winter, and the hurricane season runs through the autumn)
MéridaNovember to March (late spring passes 37°C, which is why the city moves at night)November to March (late spring passes 37°C, which is why the city moves at night)
San Miguel de AllendeOctober to May (the rain falls in the afternoons through the summer; the town is busiest at the turn of the year)October to May (the rain falls in the afternoons through the summer; the town is busiest at the turn of the year)
Puerto VallartaNovember to April (the rain and the humidity arrive together in summer and the hurricane season runs through the autumn)November to April (the rain and the humidity arrive together in summer and the hurricane season runs through the autumn)
Isla HolboxDecember to April (the whale sharks are here through high summer, which is also when the island floods and the mosquitoes arrive with the rain)December to April (the whale sharks are here through high summer, which is also when the island floods and the mosquitoes arrive with the rain)
BacalarNovember to April (the rain and the heat arrive together in late spring and the sargassum never does, because this is fresh water)November to April (the rain and the heat arrive together in late spring and the sargassum never does, because this is fresh water)
ValladolidNovember to March (late spring passes 36°C on the peninsula, and the rain comes with the heat)November to March (late spring passes 36°C on the peninsula, and the rain comes with the heat)
PalenqueNovember to April (this is one of the wettest corners of Mexico and the rest of the year is rain in the afternoon, every afternoon)November to April (this is one of the wettest corners of Mexico and the rest of the year is rain in the afternoon, every afternoon)
San Cristóbal de las CasasNovember to April (the rain comes every afternoon from late spring to autumn; the nights are cold in every month)November to April (the rain comes every afternoon from late spring to autumn; the nights are cold in every month)
Puerto EscondidoNovember to April (the big swell runs through the summer, which is what the surfers come for and what everybody else should avoid)November to April (the big swell runs through the summer, which is what the surfers come for and what everybody else should avoid)
PueblaOctober to May (the rain falls in the afternoons through the summer; the city is at 2,100 m and the nights are cold all year)October to May (the rain falls in the afternoons through the summer; the city is at 2,100 m and the nights are cold all year)
GuanajuatoOctober to May (the rain falls in the afternoons through the summer; the Cervantino festival fills the city in the autumn)October to May (the rain falls in the afternoons through the summer; the Cervantino festival fills the city in the autumn)
GuadalajaraOctober to May (the rain falls in the evenings through the summer, hard and briefly)October to May (the rain falls in the evenings through the summer, hard and briefly)
SayulitaNovember to April (the rain arrives in summer and the hurricane season runs through the autumn; the swell is biggest in the wet months)November to April (the rain arrives in summer and the hurricane season runs through the autumn; the swell is biggest in the wet months)
MazatlánNovember to May (the rain and the humidity arrive together in summer, and the carnival is in late winter)November to May (the rain and the humidity arrive together in summer, and the carnival is in late winter)
La Paz, Baja CaliforniaNovember to May (the summer is over 35°C and the hurricane season runs through the early autumn; the whale sharks are here in winter)November to May (the summer is over 35°C and the hurricane season runs through the early autumn; the whale sharks are here in winter)
CampecheNovember to March (the rain arrives with the heat in late spring, and the norte winds blow in winter)November to March (the rain arrives with the heat in late spring, and the norte winds blow in winter)
HuatulcoNovember to April (the rain falls in the afternoons from late spring to autumn)November to April (the rain falls in the afternoons from late spring to autumn)
TaxcoNovember to May (the rain comes in the afternoons through the summer, and the streets become streams)November to May (the rain comes in the afternoons through the summer, and the streets become streams)
QuerétaroOctober to May (the rain falls in the afternoons through the summer)October to May (the rain falls in the afternoons through the summer)
MoreliaOctober to May for the city, and November to March for the butterflies (the rain falls in the afternoons through the summer)October to May for the city, and November to March for the butterflies (the rain falls in the afternoons through the summer)
TequilaOctober to May (the rain falls in the evenings through the summer; the agave fields are bluest in the dry months)October to May (the rain falls in the evenings through the summer; the agave fields are bluest in the dry months)
Todos SantosNovember to May (the summer is hot and the hurricane season runs through the early autumn; the grey whales pass from winter into spring)November to May (the summer is hot and the hurricane season runs through the early autumn; the grey whales pass from winter into spring)

best month · over 250 mm · the letters are the months, January to December.

The guides in Mexico

people walking on sidewalk near brown concrete building during daytimeMexico CityMexicoAztec ruins, world-class museums, and the best street food anywherea large building with a dome and a courtyard with people walking aroundOaxacaMexicoThe best food in Mexico, seven kinds of mole, mezcal from the village that made it, and the Day of the Deadaerial photo of white buildingsCancunMexicoCaribbean turquoise meets Mayan historyaerial photography of beach shore during daytimeTulumMexicoMaya ruins on a cliff above the Caribbean, cenotes in the jungle behind, and a beach road that got expensivebrown rock formation on sea under blue sky during daytimeLos CabosMexicoDesert running into the Pacific at the tip of Baja, with grey whales in the bay every winterLoungers and a thatched parasol on the white sand at Playa del CarmenPlaya del CarmenMexicoA beach town that became a city: a pedestrian avenue of bars and dive shops, white sand either side of it, and the ferry to Cozumel from the middleBoats and sunshades on the shallow turquoise water at Playa Norte, Isla MujeresIsla MujeresMexicoAn island eight kilometres long with the best beach in the Mexican Caribbean at one end, golf carts instead of cars, and Cancún twenty minutes across the waterThe Cozumel shore from the air, houses along a line of white sand and reefCozumelMexicoThe best wall diving in the western hemisphere, an island that empties the moment the cruise ships leave, and a wild eastern shore with nothing on itDancers in white under the red arcades of a colonial building in MéridaMéridaMexicoThe Yucatán’s white city: a colonial grid of courtyards, the best food on the peninsula, free concerts most nights and cenotes an hour in every directionA street of ochre and red buildings in San Miguel de AllendeSan Miguel de AllendeMexicoA colonial town of pink stone and bougainvillea, kept perfectly by the people who moved here for it, with a neo-Gothic church that looks like a fairy taleThe beach and palms curving towards the town at Puerto VallartaPuerto VallartaMexicoA cobbled old town on a bay with jungle mountains behind it, the most welcoming gay scene in Latin America, and beaches reachable only by boatThatched wooden cabanas among the palms on Isla HolboxIsla HolboxMexicoA sandbar island with no cars, no pavements and no bank: golf carts through the sand, flamingos on the lagoon, and whale sharks offshore in summerThe Bacalar lagoon from above, its blues running from turquoise to deep greenBacalarMexicoA freshwater lagoon of seven blues over a white limestone floor, with cenotes dropping out of the middle of it and a pirate fort on the shoreThe white twin-towered church of San Servacio on the plaza in ValladolidValladolidMexicoA colonial town of painted houses with a cenote in the middle of it, an hour from Chichén Itzá and nothing like the coastThe Maya palace at Palenque standing among the jungle treesPalenqueMexicoA Maya city half-swallowed by jungle, with howler monkeys in the canopy above the temples and waterfalls an hour down the roadTiled roofs of San Cristóbal with the highland mountains behindSan Cristóbal de las CasasMexicoA highland colonial town at 2,200 metres, cold at night and full of Tzotzil markets, with the strangest church in Mexico half an hour awayPalms above a rocky bay on the Pacific at Puerto EscondidoPuerto EscondidoMexicoA surf town on the Oaxacan coast with one of the heaviest beach breaks in the world at one end and a calm swimming bay at the otherA street of coloured colonial facades with tables outside, PueblaPueblaMexicoA city of tiled facades under two volcanoes, where mole poblano was invented and the biggest pyramid on earth sits under a churchGuanajuato packed into its ravine, the houses stacked up both sidesGuanajuatoMexicoA silver city crammed into a ravine, with its traffic running through tunnels under it, painted houses stacked up both sides and a student population that sings in the streetsThe lit cathedral towers over the plaza at dusk in GuadalajaraGuadalajaraMexicoThe city that invented mariachi, tequila and the charreada, with murals by Orozco under a dome and the best food in western MexicoSayulita from the air, pools and roofs among the jungle above the baySayulitaMexicoA surf village of bunting and bare feet north of Vallarta, small enough to cross in ten minutes and busy enough to feel like a festivalThe yellow towers of the cathedral against a blue sky in MazatlánMazatlánMexicoA working Pacific port with the longest seafront promenade in Latin America, a restored old town of opera and ironwork, and a carnival that fills FebruaryA bare desert mountain rising straight out of the Sea of Cortez near La PazLa Paz, Baja CaliforniaMexicoA quiet Baja capital on the Sea of Cortez, with whale sharks in the bay in winter and the emptiest turquoise beaches in Mexico up the roadA street of painted colonial houses inside the walls of CampecheCampecheMexicoA walled city painted in sherbet colours on the Gulf, with pirate forts at either end and almost nobody in itOne of the Huatulco bays, a curve of sand between headlandsHuatulcoMexicoNine bays and thirty-six beaches on a coast that was planned rather than grown, with a national park behind it and boats the only way to half of itThe pink towers of Santa Prisca above the white houses of TaxcoTaxcoMexicoA silver town poured down a mountainside: white houses, red roofs, streets too steep for anything but a Volkswagen Beetle, and silversmiths in every doorwayA cobbled street of colonial houses in the centre of QuerétaroQuerétaroMexicoA colonial centre of aqueducts and shaded plazas that most visitors drive past, with the country’s newest wine region an hour up the roadA wet alley of pink stone reflecting the sky in MoreliaMoreliaMexicoA city built entirely of pink stone, with an aqueduct running into the middle of it and the monarch butterflies wintering in the mountains two hours awayA field of blue agave with the mountains of Jalisco behindTequilaMexicoThe town the drink is named for, in a valley of blue agave that is a World Heritage site, with distilleries you can walk into and a train that brings youTwo figures in Day of the Dead costume on a street in Todos SantosTodos SantosMexicoA desert oasis town of galleries and palm groves an hour from Cabo, with a wild Pacific beach that is not for swimming and whales going past it