Originally published Sunday, November 23, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Comments (4)
E-mail article
Print view
Five top — and safer — Mexico vacation spots
It's understandable why Americans are thinking twice about venturing south of the border. A wave of gruesome violence, much of it related...
Los Angeles Times
It's understandable why Americans are thinking twice about venturing south of the border. A wave of gruesome violence, much of it related to drug trafficking, has swept Mexico in the past two years, leaving thousands dead.
This past summer, armed assailants shot up a town in Northern Mexico that's a gateway to the spectacular Copper Canyon region, killing 13 people. A pile of decapitated bodies turned up 75 miles from the great Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza on the Yucatán Peninsula.
Although the U.S. government hasn't warned Americans to stay away, it has urged caution. On its Web site, www.travel.state.gov, the State Department reports: "While millions of U.S. citizens safely visit Mexico each year, including thousands who cross the land border every day for study, tourism or business, increased levels of violence make it imperative that travelers understand the risks of travel to Mexico. ... Common-sense precautions ... can help ensure that travel to Mexico is safe and enjoyable."
Travelers in Mexico must stay alert, especially in towns near the border with the U.S. and in the northwestern states of Sinaloa and Chihuahua, which are rife with criminal activity. But there remain many safe, or at least relatively safe, destinations.
Here are five favorites that I have visited — all of them twice or more.
Mexico City: Yes, the Mexican capital is a noisy, congested, chaotic place where you should steer clear of those green and white VW Beetle taxis (some engage in kidnapping) and watch your back at ATMs. But it's also the hemisphere's biggest, oldest, most historic metropolis, a bottomless trove of superb art museums, genteel parks, excellent restaurants.
First-time visitors usually gorge on the greatest hits: the bustle of the Zocalo (great central plaza), the superb murals in the Bellas Artes performing arts hall by Diego Rivera, the National Museum of Anthropology in Chapultepec Park. But also try to spend an afternoon just strolling and sampling the pleasures of one of the many neighborhoods, perhaps Coyoacan, with its elegant Colonial-era private homes and cobbled streets.
Puebla: One of Mexico's most beautiful and authentic cities is a mere three hours' drive from the capital, off a good highway past the twin volcanoes Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl. Puebla's ample historic center has well-preserved baroque buildings, many of them open to the public.
The cathedral is a priority, as is the Museo de La Revolucion (Museum of the Revolution), where the Serdan family fought a 14-hour gun battle with federal troops and police on Nov. 18, 1910, the symbolic start of Mexico's 10-year civil war.
Veracruz City: This tropical port, where the conqueror Hernan Cortes first stepped onto the New World mainland, is often overlooked by travelers dashing to the beaches. That's a shame, because Veracruz is a hospitable city with a raffish charm and an intriguing mixed-ethnicity character.
Its plazas teem with music at night. On nearly any evening you can hear trios, quartets and larger ensembles playing traditional "son jarocho," mariachi, marimba and Afro-Caribbean styles all jostling and overlapping. The expansive harbor front and the miles-long "malecon" (seafront promenade) are terrific places for people-watching.
Playa del Carmen: Leave behind Cancun's overpriced, overbuilt chain hotels and venture south toward the calmer environs of the Yucatán Peninsula. There are accommodations to fit practically every budget, from luxurious small beach hotels to funky resorts with palapa-style bungalows for a fraction of the price. Either way, you'll get access to miles of white sand lapped by calm, warm, turquoise waters. And whatever you do, don't pass up the chance to visit the late-Mayan ruins at Tulum.
Puerto Escondido: This provincial town in southern Oaxaca state is well-known as a hippie-surfer hangout, but it's much more than that. Sleepier and less developed than Oaxaca's other main beach destination — Huatulco, which received huge government development subsidies — Puerto Escondido retains an authentically Mexican atmosphere.
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
NEW - 04:00 PM
Amtrak cleared for 2nd daily train to Vancouver, B.C.
Comoros crash spotlights risks of Third World air travel
Flights getting back to normal after O'Hare computer problems
Get ready for heavy traffic for July Fourth holiday
Rome tourists get $980 restaurant lunch bill

Tribal Fireworks Rivalry
The Fourth of July marks a long-standing fireworks rivalry between two clans of a Native-American family in Suquamish.
Entertainment | Top Video | World | Offbeat Video | Sci-Tech
nwjobs

Post a comment

Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
Tax tips for new independent professionals
Post a comment
nwautos

Choosing a new SUV? Weigh the impact your choice will have on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment
nwhomes

Find a new home or condo that fits your lifestyle.
Search New Developments
Builder Directory
- Yakima teacher reprimanded for sending 5-year-old student home with bag of feces in backpack
- Palin resignation leaves questions on 2012 run
- Fire sends service providers scrambling
- 6 jurors swear a cop's wife swayed panel in Kent civil rights case
- Going to Gas Works Park? Good luck
- Bicyclist killed Wednesday night is identified
- Mariners Blog | Mariners, Angels have serious trade deadline advantage over Texas Rangers
- Powerful sedative found in Michael Jackson's home
- It's a blank slate now but will the Othello station fulfill plans for high-density shopping area?
- Franklin Gutierrez gives Mariners a spark in 8-4 win over Yankees
- Palin resigning as Alaska governor
494 - Seattle Mariners at Boston Red Sox: 07/04 game thread
342 - Obama's own party worried health plan lacks votes
248 - Recession wipes out 9 years of job gains
85 - Yakima teacher reprimanded for backpack feces
84 - 6 jurors swear a cop's wife swayed panel in Kent civil rights case
69 - Obama's practical immigration-reform approach: Legalize status of illegal workers
66 - Global warming may impede eelgrass growth
64 - Eyman initiative looks likely for November ballot
55 - Woman accuses Sounders FC player Nate Jaqua of sexual assault, seeks more than $10 million
54
- Paddler's paradise: South Sound offers quiet and beauty
- Politics Northwest | Stephen Colbert takes on lawsuit against Seattle fireworks show
- Winter snowpack melts into waterfalls
- Speculation grows for Boeing 787 plant in South Carolina
- Jerry Large | An aging parent forces agonizing decision
- Going to Gas Works Park? Good luck
- Liven up Fremont's attempt to break a world record for a 'zombie walk'
- Lynnwood's City Bank gets tighter scrutiny
- Costco contacts customers as beef recalled
- Bicyclist killed Wednesday night is identified









