About Mexico

With white-sand beaches and warm blue water, ancient archaeological sites, and trendy cities and small villages, there's a Mexico for every traveler. Visitors don't have to choose just one, and that's part of what makes it one of the world's most popular tourism destinations.

Hundreds of websites—from government tourism bureaus to the sites serving up advice articles alongside hotels or vacation packages—cover Mexico travel. But only a few of them are very strong, so you should be able to streamline your search without missing out on valuable information.

The best place to start your online Mexico vacation research is Visit Mexico, the official tourism bureau website. Here you can browse by destination, activity (from golf to mysticism), theme (including family, senior, and couple) or experiences (think dining, World Heritage sites, and more). It also offers information about entire regions, which can be very helpful if you're focused on a particular destination and want to find nearby points of interest.

Mexperience is a website based not in Mexico but England, though the information is well organized and useful just the same. It covers major cities, colonial cities, beach destinations, archaeological sites, and more. It also hosts two blogs, one focused on travel and practical aspects and the other on culture and news.

General information will only get you so far, and unless you're taking an extended trip, you'll have to narrow your search down to a particular city or region. Visit Mexico has a list of links to various cities' tourism websites, though it's in a PDF document and not very user friendly. Another way to track down specific city or region websites is to do a web search using the place name and a search term such as "tourism," "visit," or "travel." And, SmarterTravel.com has travel guides for some destinations in Mexico, including Cancun and Puerto Vallarta.

Lonely Planet and About.com have more information about Mexico travel and specific popular travel destinations. Lonely Planet provides good cultural and practical information as well as opinionated listings of hotels, restaurants, and activities in its city guides. About.com blends current news useful for travelers with advice articles on travel in Mexico.

A few more sites for information

• State Department: The U.S. Department of State has practical travel information including entry requirements and customs regulations, plus information on safety and transportation in Mexico.
• Centers for Disease Control: The CDC website's Mexico page has information about vaccinations and preventative medicine for travelers.
• Mexperience: In addition to offering good general information (as detailed above), Mexperience also provides a useful overview of getting around in Mexico, including extensive information about air service, bus travel, taxis, and driving.
• Let's Go2Mexico: This site has 360-degree panoramas of plazas, beaches, museums, markets, and more in some of Mexico's most popular visitor destinations. As of publication, most but not all of the panoramas listed had photos.
• Our Mexico: This website with a bent towards independent travel has articles on a variety of topics including lesser known destinations and festivals.
• Travel Library: Travel Library's list of links isn't particularly systematic, but it does include sites focused entirely on surfing, day hikes, motorcycling, and other specialized activities in Mexico.
• Mexico Ministry of Tourism: The Mexico Ministry of Tourism answers questions about travel in Mexico, and also maintains a list of Spanish language schools in the country.

The information and websites listed here were valid at the time of publication, but some details may have changed since that time. Please check directly with the provider for the latest information.