In March I was on a 10-day pilgrimage trip to Mexico. I enjoyed it and thought it would be insightful to share my experience here with you. I will share what I saw, and also some valuable tips for anyone who wants to go to Mexico.

Highlights

Mexico City is located 2,200 meters above sea level, and 25 milion people live there!
Taxco is a small Mexican city, known for its silver, and Volksvagen Beegles on the streets.
Acapulco was visited by many celebrities in 20th century like Marilyn Monroe.
Going on your first trip to Mexico with an organized group or with people who have been there before can be a good idea.

Before my trip, nearly everyone I knew was telling me to be cautious because Mexico is considered a very dangerous country. Others advised me to be careful about what I eat and drink there. The number of warning signs kept increasing, and after my initial excitement about the trip, I started to feel more and more stressed.

However, I also watched a couple of YouTube videos and saw that Mexico might not be as terrifying as some people made it seem. So, I flew to the country, visited many places, and returned to Poland without any harm (well, I did get a little bit sick after the trip, but besides that, everything went fine).

This post will be quite different from my usual ones because it won’t focus on actuarial topics. Instead, I’ll share my experiences from this trip to Mexico, along with some background information.

Additionally, I’ll include some travel tips that helped me a lot during my flight and my stay in Mexican cities.

¡Vamos a sumergirnos en ello!

Mexico City

Mexico City is the capital of Mexico. It was built on the site of a former lake and the ancient Aztec city that existed before the Spanish conquest.

It lies high above sea level—**2,200 meters**—which can initially cause headaches after arrival due to the altitude.

The city, along with its surrounding smaller cities, is enormous and home to over **20 million people**. That makes Mexico City one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world.

I stayed in Mexico for three days. It was a pilgrimage trip, so the main destination at both the beginning and end was the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Guadalupe, where the image of Mary of Guadalupe is located.

In the 16th century, visions were reported in which Mary appeared to an Indigenous man named **Juan Diego**. She expressed concern for the Indigenous people and how they were being treated by the Spanish.

To this day, Mexico is a place where both Indigenous and Spanish cultures coexist and have blended together, which is truly unique.

Other places I visited in Mexico City include the main square Zócalo, the canals of Xochimilco, and the National Museum of Anthropology, where you can see the original Aztec calendar—the one that famously predicted the end of the world in 2012 (which, as we know, didn’t happen!).

Overall, the city is incredibly inspiring and diverse in each of its parts. Visiting Mexico City alone can make for a rich and memorable trip.

Teotihuacán

Unfortunately, it wasn’t allowed to climb one of them, but I still managed to take some photos.

After a tour of the pyramids, we had a unique opportunity to eat and see a dance show.
Yes, I also managed to have some photo with them, which you can see, made me smile. They were very welcoming and warm people.

If you visit Mexico City, you should definitely visit Teotihuacán. However, pyramids can also be found in other parts of Mexico.

Puebla and Cholula

The next big city we had a chance to visit was Puebla. The city was built for Spanish settlers, which is evident in its architecture that differs from that of Mexico City, for example.

Near Puebla, there are many colorful towns worth visiting, one of which is Cholula. This town also has a pyramid, but it was buried underground, and a church was later built on top of it.

The view from the top offers a stunning panorama of the surrounding mountains and one of Mexico’s many active volcanoes. This volcanic activity causes frequent earthquakes in the area.

Taxco

Only the locals can probably drive smoothly on these roads. Most of the taxis are **Volkswagen Beetles**, which were produced in Mexico until 2003!

Acapulco

After several days of walking through Mexican cities, we had the chance to spend three days in Acapulco, a famous Mexican resort on the Pacific Ocean.

The city became popular in the 20th century when it turned into a holiday destination for Hollywood stars such as Marilyn Monroe. Many of them built their own hotels there—some of which still operate to this day.

Nowadays, foreign tourists tend to choose resorts on the Caribbean side of Mexico, like Cancún, while Acapulco has become more of a seaside holiday spot for Mexicans. However, we were there, along with a few other tourists—but we were definitely the minority.

Each day the temperature was over 30°C, and the weather was sunny. We had time to relax and recharge before continuing our journey through Mexican culture.

Useful Tips

After the trip, I’d like to share some tips that I think can help you properly prepare for your journey to Mexico.

If you're taking a long-haul flight to get there, try to choose an aisle seat. It makes it easier to stand up and move around during the flight.
Take some cash with you—preferably Mexican pesos. US dollars are also accepted in some places. I think 1,000 pesos per person per day is a good estimate, but it really depends on how much you plan to buy or eat. An average meal at a restaurant costs around 200 pesos (which is about 40 PLN or 10 USD), and bottled water is around 10 pesos (2 PLN or 0.5 USD). You can pay by card in many places in Mexico, but cash is often preferred—it’s easier for tipping and buying souvenirs.
Use sunscreen with a high SPF. During the season, it’s mostly sunny in Mexico. Also, keep in mind that Mexico City sits at 2,200 meters above sea level. Using sunscreen will help your skin stay healthy and prevent burns.
Learn at least a few basic phrases in Spanish. English is spoken in hotels, resorts, and some restaurants, but in many places, people don’t speak it much. Knowing a bit of Spanish can be helpful, and locals will appreciate the effort to speak their language.

Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed my trip to Mexico and can recommend visiting this country to everyone.

There are many beautiful cities, sights, mountains, and of course—**delicious food**.

It’s a **vast country**, so I suppose there are also many hidden gems I didn’t get to see.
On the other hand, there may be regions that are indeed more dangerous than, for example, Mexico City.

That’s why going on your first trip to Mexico with an organized group or with people who have been there before can be a good idea.

I’m planning to visit this country again. However, this time, I’d like to go with my girlfriend, plan the trip ourselves, and focus more on trying food at restaurants and exploring Mexico City on foot. After the organized trip, I know a bit more and feel more confident about how a trip to Mexico feels.

This concludes today’s post. Have you been to Mexico? Are you planning to visit this country? If you want, let me know in the comments.

Thank you for reading this article, and see you next week!

Is Mexico Worth Visiting? My Travel Takeaways