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Flights in Mexico are no longer particularly cheap, although flying still represents good value for the money, especially considering the long, hot bus trip that may be the alternative. In recent years, the large airlines have left many of the domestic routes to smaller carriers. However, these start-up airlines and their timetables are particularly volatile; new ones are founded and older ones flounder at an alarming rate.

Buses are the most common mode of transport and bus routes are extensive. Long-distance buses are fairly comfortable, air-conditioned and acceptably fast. Local rural buses tend to be ancient, decaying, suspensionless models grinding out their dying years on dirt tracks. Combis, collectivos and peseros are minibuses used for local transport.

US driving licenses are valid in Mexico, and driving a car can be a good way to get to some of the most beautiful and isolated towns and villages, although you need to be forgiving of road conditions. In Mexico City, car use is restricted to lessen air pollution: the timetable for car use is based on the last digit of the license plate (eg, if your license plate ends with the number 5 or 6, you cannot drive on a Monday; if it ends with 7 or 8 you cannot drive on Tuesday, etc).

Car and passenger ferries connect Baja California with the Mexican mainland; ferries also run between the mainland and the Caribbean islands of Isla Mujeres and Cozumel. The government is privatizing Mexico's railways, and passenger services on many lines have ceased. Where they still exist, trains are usually cheaper (and much slower) than the bus, but vary between relatively comfortable and downright unsafe. The good news is that the spectacular Copper Canyon Railway (Ferrocarril Chihuahua al Pacífico), between Chihuahua and Los Mochis has been privatized but is still operating.

Money & Costs

Currency: Peso

Meals


• Budget: US$3-5

• Mid-range: US$5-15

• Top-end: $15 and upwards
  
  Lodging
  

• Budget: US$8-15

• Mid-range: US$15-30

• Top-end: US$30 and upwards

Your costs will also depend on where you spend your time: Mexico's big cities and coastal resorts are much more expensive than rural areas. If you take in a mix of these places, budget travelers should be able to squeeze by on around US$20-30 a day. Traveling in reasonable comfort, staying at the better mid-range places and eating at the more expensive restaurants should cost around US$60 per day. You'll spend a lot more than this if you stay at luxurious hotels and hire a car occasionally.

It's best to bring US-dollar denomination traveler's checks and some US dollars in cash. You can exchange money in banks or in casas de cambio. Note that bank exchange facilities are often only open between 9 or 10 am and noon or 1 pm. Exchange rates vary a little from bank to bank. Major credit cards are accepted by airlines, car rental places and more expensive hotels and restaurants. In heavily touristed areas such as Acapulco, Cancún and Cozumel, you can often spend US dollars as easily as pesos at hotels and restaurants (although the exchange rate will probably be awful). Note that the dollar sign is used to refer to pesos in Mexico so don't mix it up with US dollars which are usually marked US$ or USD.

Mexico has a 15% value-added tax (IVA) but by law this tax must be included in quoted prices. Sometimes - usually in top-end hotels - a price is quoted without this tax. Tipping in restaurants in resort areas is equivalent to US levels - somewhere between 15% and 20%. Outside these areas, a tip of 10% is sufficient at mid-range or quality restaurants; in general, staff at smaller, cheaper places do not expect a tip. Expect to bargain at markets and with drivers of unmetered taxis. Treat haggling as a form of social discourse rather than a matter of life and death.