Our Mexico Travel Guide For Digital Nomads

We just moved to Mexico and wow, we’re feeling like it’s the best country in the world. If you’re searching for the sea, sun and a lot of fun, there you go. We’re planning to stay here for six months, the maximum permitted without a visa. We want to visit all the Country, from South to North : Merida, Tulum, Oaxaca, Puerto Escondido, Mexico City and Baja California. Even though leaving Europe at the beginning of January was pretty hard, once we arrived here our life changed completely.

Yeah, Covid exists in a paradise like Mexico too, but if you follow the basic rules in force in the region where you’re, you shouldn’t have any problem. We have dedicated a complete chapter in this article regarding how to get to Mexico during Covid pandemic: we hope our experience will help you.

From the best Mexican town to our favorite day trip in Yucatan, Cancun, Tulum, Playa del Carmen, from the most secret Mayan ruins to the most popular Chichen Itza, discover our “digital nomad” Mexico! 

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If you’re from Europe like us, then Mexico will be a life-changing country. So different from our culture, either you’ll fall in love with it or you’ll hate it. Expect so many beautiful and different places, dreamy beaches, Maya ruins, local food and great people. For us, Mexico is such a good place that you’ll want to live there forever, losing the count of the days. Mexico is pretty good, whether you’re traveling on a budget or not. The Country is so big and vast that you’ll have different time zones and weathers, mountains, oceans and an incredible wildlife. Mexico is a really complete country, so keep on reading to organize the perfect trip.

Yes, Mexico is one of the last countries in the world not imposing a quarantine, a special insurance or a COVID test at the entrance. The problem will actually be leaving or coming back to Europe or the US. 

You’ll not be forced to comply with a quarantine, but, of course, it’s better to self-isolate or not attend crowded spaces the first few days you’ll be in Mexico.

The only direct flights from Europe are from Paris, Madrid or Amsterdam. They’re operated by Air France, AeroMexico, KLM and Iberia. These are the only flights that are really leaving Europe. Since COVID began, a lot of companies have been deleting the flight at the last moment. In this case, you’ll not get refunded but you’ll get a coupon, which is actually not the coolest option. Give a call at the airport and at the airline company to make sure the flight is still planned. Of course, before booking the flight, you should make sure you can actually leave your country. We don’t know the rules for every European country, but for example following the Italian restrictions, you can’t go to Mexico right now. That’s why we had to make a stop in Paris from Venice to leave Europe. So, call the Mexican embassy in your country to know the rules and if you can, find a way to exit your country. 

Once you’re on the plane, you’ll have to fill out a medical declaration and a paper with your data for your visa. Before traveling, you’ll have to complete an online declaration for the immigration office. They will have to scan it, so make sure to save it on your photos or documents. You might have to show a return ticket to your Country or another. At the immigration office they don’t speak English, so knowing basic Spanish may help. They can ask you for your hotel reservation, your job, how long you’ll stay in Mexico and if your answers satisfy their criteria, they will let you in and decide the length of your visa. You can stay in Mexico up to 180 days without a visa from the embassy, which is really cool. If you want to renew your visa, you can exit the country by car, bus or plane and get it renewed for a maximum of 3 to 4 times in a row. 

Traveling to Mexico during the pandemic is safe. Mexicans are really strict on rules and in every city we went, everybody was following the direction against COVID-19. Merida and Yucatan are the places where people were following the most regulations. Mexico City, being in the red zone, is pretty much empty and everybody is wearing masks both in open and closed spaces. The only exception was Tulum. People in Tulum are pretty crazy and in a completely different mood than in the rest of the country. Almost nobody is wearing masks, both in closed and open spaces. Of course, you’ll need it in big supermarkets, but many small shops will not require you to wear a mask. Same goes for bars and restaurants. So, even if it’s not the most responsible thing to do, if you need a break from COVID-19 life, Tulum is the destination for you.

Accommodation – While hostels can be really cheap in Mexico, Airbnbs and hotels can be quite expensive. Mexico is a huge country so obviously prices change a lot depending on where you are and on the time of your visit, in low or high season. Mexico City has a large range of prices and this is cool because you can stay in the fanciest neighborhood like Roma Norte or Condesa and spend an average of 20$ per night. Merida, the biggest city of Yucatan, rich in Maya’s culture with the ruins of Chichen Itza, close to many great cenotes and beaches, is way more expensive than Mexico City. Here the rental of Airbnbs starts from a minimum of 1000$ per month. Tulum, the most popular city in the Quintana Roo region, is pretty expensive as well, especially from December to April. Playa del Carmen or Cancun can definitely be cheaper options, but especially if you choose Cancun you’ll be pretty far away from Tulum, but still on the Caribbean coast. Oaxaca region and Puerto Escondido are definitely cheaper destinations that will still permit you to enjoy the beach every day. If you’re organizing your trip and you’re on a budget, we advise you to choose the cities depending on the season: in this way you’ll be able to visit all the destinations at a lower price. 

Food – Food in Mexico is just wow. Mexican food is very varied, even if it changes a lot depending on which region you are. Of course, the most popular tacos and burritos can be found everywhere, but they will have different variants. If you’re on the coast, the food will be more based on fish and seafood: ceviche, tacos and burritos with shrimps and fish, grilled or fried fresh fish, grilled octopus and many more delicious dishes. Fish is not really expensive close to the beach, for example you can enjoy really good fish tacos at 1/2$. Meanwhile, meat is really popular as well in Mexico, but I’m not a really big fan of it. They used to put many spices on it and my stomach doesn’t really appreciate them. So, especially the first days in Mexico I don’t recommend you to eat meat, or if you don’t have choice, go for some chicken. Meat is even cheaper than fish, but it always depends on where you eat. If you choose fancy restaurants everything will be more expensive, but still way less expensive than Europe or the US’s standards. That’s a thing we love about Mexico: you have many choices when it comes to budget. You can decide to go to touristy places and treat yourself with more expensive choices or eat some great street food for a few dollars. If you are planning to visit Tulum, check out our favorite restaurants there.

Transportation – Uber and other taxi’s apps are pretty popular in big Mexican cities, and besides being cheap it’s also very safe. Standard taxis can be a good option if you speak Spanish, if not they will ask you double of the standard price and they will try to scam you. Everybody here in Mexico advised us not to take cabs during the night and if you have a car, prefer not to drive. We recently bought a car here in Mexico and it’s definitely a life-changing thing. Even though you need a Mexican residency to register your car, in Mexico it is not illegal to drive a car which is not in your name. The options are two: either you ask your Mexican friend to register the car at his/her name, or you make a deal with the owner of the car in order to leave the car at his/her name. If the police stop you, you can say it’s the car of a friend and you just borrow it. Same goes for car insurance. In Mexico it is legal to drive a car without insurance, but if you don’t want to do that, you can put the insurance in the name of the owner or a Mexican friend. Bikes, scooters and buses are definitely useful if you live in the city center. Otherwise, in Mexico it’s pretty dangerous to go on highways or to drive for a long way with a motorbike or a scooter. Regarding transportation and police, once they see you’re not Mexican and you don’t speak Spanish, they will try to find some excuses to racket you. In this case, try not to give up and try to find a way to pay the less of the requested amount. Police will most probably try to threaten you saying you’ll have to go to jail for some days or pay a lot of money, but since the system is very corrupted, you can ask to pay less than the average fine.