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Tiffany in MN

Apr 1, 2002, 12:35 PM

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Driving from MN to Cancun - Help!

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I would like to take my car when I come to stay for 6 months starting in November. I will be traveling with my 8 year old son and our cowardly shepherd. I hear that there might be a ferry that goes from Texas to possibly Merida. Does anyone know if that is true? If not, does anyone have any idea how long it would take to drive from Texas to Cancun? I am trying to think of all the options and figure the cost of each. If I could get some advice I would fully appreciate it. In all reality, I wouldn't NEED to bring my car, but it would be nice to have (I wouldn't have to rent a car if I wanted to get out of Cancun). What are your thoughts?

Carlos

Apr 2, 2002, 11:28 PM

Post #2 of 11 (1816 views)

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Driving from MN to Cancun - Help!

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I've never driven to Merida from TX or from anywhere for that matter but I intend to do it sometime soon via the west coast, across TX, down by McAlly(sp?)TX. I'm told my itinerary IF I take my time driving 10hrs/day should be a week or less. Good luck & be safe!
BTW, is a good idea to bring your vehicle and try to buy MX insurance for the duration of your stay!
: I would like to take my car when I come to stay for 6 months starting in November. I will be traveling with my 8 year old son and our cowardly shepherd. I hear that there might be a ferry that goes from Texas to possibly Merida. Does anyone know if that is true? If not, does anyone have any idea how long it would take to drive from Texas to Cancun? I am trying to think of all the options and figure the cost of each. If I could get some advice I would fully appreciate it. In all reality, I wouldn't NEED to bring my car, but it would be nice to have (I wouldn't have to rent a car if I wanted to get out of Cancun). What are your thoughts?

sermextr

Apr 3, 2002, 1:58 PM

Post #3 of 11 (1818 views)

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Driving from MN to Cancun - Help!

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I prefer to drive because there are many interesting things to see on the way.If you decide to drive to Cancun, supposing the ferry doesn't start up or it's too expensive, the drive is fairly pleasant if you follow the gulf coast. Here's an itinerary to consider:Day 1: Texas border to Cd. Victoria.
Day 2: Cd. Victoria to Poza Rica by way of Tampico.
Day 3: See El Tajín and stop at a beachside hotel near Nautla.
Day 4: See Cempoala and stop at Veracruz.
Day 5: Stop at Villahermosa.
Day 6: On the way out of town, take the Frontera exit to go by way of Cd. del Carmen. Stop at Campeche.
Day 7: See Chichen Itza. Reach Cancun.You definitely should invest in a good map or, better, a highway atlas. Driving in Mexico is very different from driving in Canada and the US, but most people are able to adapt.There's a detailed itinerary that covers this trip. Actually, it's part of a loop that covers the whole country and it's aimed at people traveling by RV, but you can ignore the parts that don't apply. You can get it for free at the URL shown below.

cyn2

Apr 5, 2002, 10:42 PM

Post #4 of 11 (1819 views)

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Driving from MN to Cancun - Help!

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i have driven several times from the us to chiapas, by myself with a child (the last time with our dog and cat, too!). the best place i have found to cross the border is in matamaros. do not cross in nuevo laredo. it is confusing. matamaros is easy. the itinerary given to you by the other reader is a good one. make sure you get up early each day and plan to be off the road before dark. you don't need to make reservations. my daughter used to like to look in the footprints handbook to search out places to stay for us. i would give her the names of towns it looked like we would make before dark and a price letter, and she would find us a place. try to get ones with pools. it is not hard, and it was a great reward to her after sitting in a hot car all day. its worth the 5 dollars extra you pay. it is easy to find hotels with parking, all guarded at night. i am always traveling with a full car or truck, as we are slowly moving our household stuff down, and have never had a problem. the most confusing thing is not the driving, but the navigating! all roads in mexico seem to have the same two interstate numbers. the best way we found is to find the next town/city on the map and then head towards that when you hit a crossroads. i have consistently made the drive from the northeast to the texas border in three days, and then to chiapas in three driving days (two overnights). 5 nights total. but these are long days (12+ hours), and i guess it depends on how well you drive by yourself, and how able your child is to entertain himself. incidentally, the best tip i can offer about driving in the us is cracker barrel--not the food, but their books on tape rental program. they have a great selection, suitable for kids too, and you can rent from one location and drop it off anywhere else in the us. good luck.ps the ferry is supposed to start running in may, but i heard from tampa or miami to progresso. look for www.mayalines.com (its just a website now, no info posted. i'm waiting for this myself.) remember when you make your plans that gas is now about $2.50 a gallon in mexico for regular unleaded.
: I would like to take my car when I come to stay for 6 months starting in November. I will be traveling with my 8 year old son and our cowardly shepherd. I hear that there might be a ferry that goes from Texas to possibly Merida. Does anyone know if that is true? If not, does anyone have any idea how long it would take to drive from Texas to Cancun? I am trying to think of all the options and figure the cost of each. If I could get some advice I would fully appreciate it. In all reality, I wouldn't NEED to bring my car, but it would be nice to have (I wouldn't have to rent a car if I wanted to get out of Cancun). What are your thoughts?

Phil Riche

Apr 6, 2002, 8:44 AM

Post #5 of 11 (1818 views)

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Driving from MN to Cancun - Help!

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We drive regularly from Matamaros and back with our small dog. Finding a hotel that accepts pets is always a hassle. I would appreciate it if you would let me know what hotels you stayed at that accepted pets. Also, what is the Footprints Handbook?: i have driven several times from the us to chiapas, by myself with a child (the last time with our dog and cat, too!). the best place i have found to cross the border is in matamaros. do not cross in nuevo laredo. it is confusing. matamaros is easy. the itinerary given to you by the other reader is a good one. make sure you get up early each day and plan to be off the road before dark. you don't need to make reservations. my daughter used to like to look in the footprints handbook to search out places to stay for us. i would give her the names of towns it looked like we would make before dark and a price letter, and she would find us a place. try to get ones with pools. it is not hard, and it was a great reward to her after sitting in a hot car all day. its worth the 5 dollars extra you pay. it is easy to find hotels with parking, all guarded at night. i am always traveling with a full car or truck, as we are slowly moving our household stuff down, and have never had a problem. the most confusing thing is not the driving, but the navigating! all roads in mexico seem to have the same two interstate numbers. the best way we found is to find the next town/city on the map and then head towards that when you hit a crossroads. i have consistently made the drive from the northeast to the texas border in three days, and then to chiapas in three driving days (two overnights). 5 nights total. but these are long days (12+ hours), and i guess it depends on how well you drive by yourself, and how able your child is to entertain himself. incidentally, the best tip i can offer about driving in the us is cracker barrel--not the food, but their books on tape rental program. they have a great selection, suitable for kids too, and you can rent from one location and drop it off anywhere else in the us. good luck.: ps the ferry is supposed to start running in may, but i heard from tampa or miami to progresso. look for www.mayalines.com (its just a website now, no info posted. i'm waiting for this myself.) remember when you make your plans that gas is now about $2.50 a gallon in mexico for regular unleaded.
: : I would like to take my car when I come to stay for 6 months starting in November. I will be traveling with my 8 year old son and our cowardly shepherd. I hear that there might be a ferry that goes from Texas to possibly Merida. Does anyone know if that is true? If not, does anyone have any idea how long it would take to drive from Texas to Cancun? I am trying to think of all the options and figure the cost of each. If I could get some advice I would fully appreciate it. In all reality, I wouldn't NEED to bring my car, but it would be nice to have (I wouldn't have to rent a car if I wanted to get out of Cancun). What are your thoughts?

cyn2

Apr 6, 2002, 12:30 PM

Post #6 of 11 (1816 views)

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Driving from MN to Cancun - Help!

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i don't remember the specific hotels--one night, we had to leave our dog in the car, but it was december so it wasn't a problem. the other night, they let me bring her in with the carrier. this is a 40 pound dog.
the foorprints book is a small (heavy) green handbook called mexico and central america handbook, part of the footprints series. it has the best listings of hotels (a lot in the little towns that other books don't mention) that i have seen. it is easy to carry in the glove compartment, and we use it to look for hotels when we drive.
: We drive regularly from Matamaros and back with our small dog. Finding a hotel that accepts pets is always a hassle. I would appreciate it if you would let me know what hotels you stayed at that accepted pets. Also, what is the Footprints Handbook?: : i have driven several times from the us to chiapas, by myself with a child (the last time with our dog and cat, too!). the best place i have found to cross the border is in matamaros. do not cross in nuevo laredo. it is confusing. matamaros is easy. the itinerary given to you by the other reader is a good one. make sure you get up early each day and plan to be off the road before dark. you don't need to make reservations. my daughter used to like to look in the footprints handbook to search out places to stay for us. i would give her the names of towns it looked like we would make before dark and a price letter, and she would find us a place. try to get ones with pools. it is not hard, and it was a great reward to her after sitting in a hot car all day. its worth the 5 dollars extra you pay. it is easy to find hotels with parking, all guarded at night. i am always traveling with a full car or truck, as we are slowly moving our household stuff down, and have never had a problem. the most confusing thing is not the driving, but the navigating! all roads in mexico seem to have the same two interstate numbers. the best way we found is to find the next town/city on the map and then head towards that when you hit a crossroads. i have consistently made the drive from the northeast to the texas border in three days, and then to chiapas in three driving days (two overnights). 5 nights total. but these are long days (12+ hours), and i guess it depends on how well you drive by yourself, and how able your child is to entertain himself. incidentally, the best tip i can offer about driving in the us is cracker barrel--not the food, but their books on tape rental program. they have a great selection, suitable for kids too, and you can rent from one location and drop it off anywhere else in the us. good luck.: : ps the ferry is supposed to start running in may, but i heard from tampa or miami to progresso. look for www.mayalines.com (its just a website now, no info posted. i'm waiting for this myself.) remember when you make your plans that gas is now about $2.50 a gallon in mexico for regular unleaded.
: : : I would like to take my car when I come to stay for 6 months starting in November. I will be traveling with my 8 year old son and our cowardly shepherd. I hear that there might be a ferry that goes from Texas to possibly Merida. Does anyone know if that is true? If not, does anyone have any idea how long it would take to drive from Texas to Cancun? I am trying to think of all the options and figure the cost of each. If I could get some advice I would fully appreciate it. In all reality, I wouldn't NEED to bring my car, but it would be nice to have (I wouldn't have to rent a car if I wanted to get out of Cancun). What are your thoughts?

Tiffany in MN

Apr 8, 2002, 9:50 AM

Post #7 of 11 (1814 views)

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Thank you for all of your help!

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I feel much more comfortable driving down now. I appreciate your tips and tricks. The driving directions and the guild book are going to be a great help. Thank you so much!

Tiffany in MN

Apr 8, 2002, 9:51 AM

Post #8 of 11 (1814 views)

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Thank you for all of your help!

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I feel much more comfortable driving down now. I will still keep my eyes open for the grand opening of Mayalines (it might be the best and easiest choice depending on the cost). I appreciate your tips and tricks. The driving directions and the guild book are going to be a great help. Thank you so much!

john

May 7, 2002, 3:44 PM

Post #9 of 11 (1821 views)

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Driving from MN to Cancun - Help!

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I'm considering renting an SUV/wagon (that we can sleep in) and driving from Houston, TX to Cancun to Belize. What do you think? How long would this take us?: I prefer to drive because there are many interesting things to see on the way.: If you decide to drive to Cancun, supposing the ferry doesn't start up or it's too expensive, the drive is fairly pleasant if you follow the gulf coast. Here's an itinerary to consider:: Day 1: Texas border to Cd. Victoria.
: Day 2: Cd. Victoria to Poza Rica by way of Tampico.
: Day 3: See El Tajín and stop at a beachside hotel near Nautla.
: Day 4: See Cempoala and stop at Veracruz.
: Day 5: Stop at Villahermosa.
: Day 6: On the way out of town, take the Frontera exit to go by way of Cd. del Carmen. Stop at Campeche.
: Day 7: See Chichen Itza. Reach Cancun.: You definitely should invest in a good map or, better, a highway atlas. Driving in Mexico is very different from driving in Canada and the US, but most people are able to adapt.: There's a detailed itinerary that covers this trip. Actually, it's part of a loop that covers the whole country and it's aimed at people traveling by RV, but you can ignore the parts that don't apply. You can get it for free at the URL shown below.

gail haslett

May 8, 2002, 9:34 PM

Post #10 of 11 (1817 views)

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Driving from MN to Cancun - Help!

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Definately get mexican insurance. We travel from Merida to Brownsville in 3 days and two nights without driving at night. To Houston is one more day and night. Go to Victoria and then down the gulf. Either Ciudad del Carmen route or inland route from Villahermosa to Campeche are good.: I've never driven to Merida from TX or from anywhere for that matter but I intend to do it sometime soon via the west coast, across TX, down by McAlly(sp?)TX. I'm told my itinerary IF I take my time driving 10hrs/day should be a week or less. Good luck & be safe!
: BTW, is a good idea to bring your vehicle and try to buy MX insurance for the duration of your stay!:
: : I would like to take my car when I come to stay for 6 months starting in November. I will be traveling with my 8 year old son and our cowardly shepherd. I hear that there might be a ferry that goes from Texas to possibly Merida. Does anyone know if that is true? If not, does anyone have any idea how long it would take to drive from Texas to Cancun? I am trying to think of all the options and figure the cost of each. If I could get some advice I would fully appreciate it. In all reality, I wouldn't NEED to bring my car, but it would be nice to have (I wouldn't have to rent a car if I wanted to get out of Cancun). What are your thoughts?

daniel

Jul 30, 2002, 11:46 AM

Post #11 of 11 (1815 views)

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Driving from MN to Cancun - Help!

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tiffany:yes, having a car is nice, but there's not much to see around cancun that you can't easily get to by bus/taxi. gas is so expensive in mexico, more than $2 a gallon, so driving there alone would cost a mint.