Mexico Vacation? A USB travel adapter is useful!
Mexico, home of tacos and tequila also has an extremely long history with the Maya civilisation dating from before 2000 BC and the Aztec civilisation in the 14th to 16th centuries. There are many reminders of these cultures scattered across Mexico, but the country has used its magnificent beaches to cultivate a growing tourist industry.
Taking a vacation in Mexico, you’ll want to keep those memories through photographs which means keeping your smartphone and camera fully charged. Remember to pack a USB travel adapter in your hand luggage to make charging multiple items a doddle! Mexico uses the same electrical system as the USA, including the type A and type B plugs. If you are visiting from a country with a voltage other than 110-127V power, check our dual voltage article to make sure your items are safe to use.
So where to start? Well, one of the most common crossing points from the USA is the town of Tijuana on the California border, with around 300,000 crossings daily. For most, they are just passing through, but the city is interesting to visit, known for its nightlife and music and is the birthplace of Tijuana Brass.
Heading south, you’ll enter the state of Baja California and Baja California Sur that make up an 800-mile long spit of land that separates the Gulf of California from the Pacific Ocean. The landscape is diverse, with deserts, jungles mountains and of course the famous beaches and sand dunes. At the very tip, you’ll find Los Cabos, famed for having 350 sunny days per year, great golf, pleasant climate and surfer’s paradise.
Heading east from Tijuana, the USA-Mexico border runs for approximately 1,254 miles from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico.
Mazatlan on the west coast was once a popular tourist destination with a 15-mile sandy beach. The town is now working hard to bring them back with many museums and an old town offering a more traditional Mexican experience.
The birthplace of both mariachi and tequila, Guadalajara is located in the Jalisco state and has become known for great nightlife, not surprisingly! But the city has plenty of history and museums celebrating the Mexican culture. Definitely worth a visit!
Mexico City is the country’s capital and has a rich history with many museums dedicated to Mexican history, but it has suffered in the past with a high crime rate. Now it is becoming popular again and is definitely a must visit city with its baroque architecture and the Aztec temple, Temple Mayor.
Just south of Mexico City you’ll find Acapulco. Once the playground of Hollywood stars and Presidents it gained a bad reputation, but the city has turned that image around and it’s once again becoming popular for people looking for lively nightlife. I’m sure most remember the Four Tops hit, Going Loco in Acapulco, that was written for the film Buster staring Phil Collins.
No visit to Mexico is complete without a mention of the Yucatán Peninsula, an area in the south-east that separates the Gulf of Mexico from the Caribbean Sea. The capital is Merida, and a cultural highlight that deserves a visit with a mix of Mayan, Spanish, French, British and Lebanese influences.
In the heart of the Yucatan, you’ll find Chichén Itzá, a Mayan city that is one of the best preserved in Mexico. Izamal is worth a visit for the spectacle of every building in the town being painted yellow! It also has Mayan ruins in the center to explore.
Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum on the east side of the Yucatan are now world famous as seaside resorts and just off the coast you’ll find Cozumel, offering some of the best scuba diving in the world.
We can’t talk about Mexico and not mention Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead), a Mexican vacation from 31st October to 2nd November to celebrate and remember friends and family. It is a real celebration, with bands, parades and festivals. One of the best is reportedly in Oaxaca, a very traditional Mexican city that has largely resisted development.
We’ve missed out a lot in this very short piece, but don’t do the same when you visit. Remember to take your USB travel adapter and keep your smartphone and camera charged and preserve the great memories you will take away with you.
