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I'm planning a month long trip through southern Mexico (D.F, Oaxaca, San Cristobal, Palenque etc.), Belize (San Ingnacio, Caye Caulker) and Guatemala (Guatemala City, Antigua, Tikal) I just wanted to know what kind of budget should I be expecting? What is more economical a guided tour or on my own? If someone has taken a similar route how much did you spend in a month?

That's a lot of ground to cover in one month, especially if you're flying in and out of DF.

Sticking to your budget question, Belize is most expensive; Mexico a bit less; Guatemala very cheap. You won't likely find any tours covering that itinerary, and they'd be more expensive anyway. At the bare minimum, if you're traveling by yourself, you could do it for $1400. If you need to get back to DF to fly out, I'd plan on about $200 for buses in Mexico. Cost for transport in Belize and Guatemala will be negligible. $40/day is a comfortable budget for a solo traveler in Mexico (you can do it for less); $45 for Belize; $20-25 for Guatemala.

Have you set a route? Belize is really out of the way for your itinerary. Tikal is the point farthest north other than Belize - you could easily fulfill a beach craving in Oaxaca, and save a lot of travel time.

Keep in mind that Felix is anti-Belize. Coming down from D.F. IS pretty far. Where are you flying out of? On the route you detail, your best bet is to fly out of Cancun, which is north of Caye Caulker and you can get off the island by the Thunderbolt which will take you to the Mexico Belize Border. Then you don't have to take the arduous journey back to Mexico City. There is no tour that I can think of that would cover this and you canm probably make it a better budget on your own even if there was.

What draws you to San Ignacio? I am not down on the place, far from it....but what makes you want to go there? Not the Ruins "Place of Ticks" which is nicer than it sounds.

If you are set on Tikal, (and you should be) Belize is really right there...but...hold your breath, Felix...I agree that if you have to loop back to Mexico City it IS going out of your way....Also, going down to Guat City is really out of your way as well. I suggest foregoing one or the other direction to save yourself some time. You have to allow about a day of travel time to get down to Guat, and a day back. Not really worth it for Guat city, and , though Antigua can be picturesque, I say not worht it for that either. There are other closer towns to the north that are just a serviceable as cobble stone street cityh, and far less visited by the regular tourist set.(which I am not down on, just nice to stay away from all the other North Americans wandering to and fro down there.)

Truthfully, are are far more able to pull off the trip to Belize than you are the Trip to Guat City. Even then, you have a jam packed itinerary. It is doable and good, but it will not be a leisurely stroll through Latin America. Sort of a frog march through it.

D

Felix is not anti-Belize. I actually like Belize ... just less than everything around Belize. Perspective, you know. (I also like Cayo much more than you.)

I agree with the rest of your assessment. The Guatemalan heartland is quite out of the way too, especially if Palenque is the only place OP wants to visit in Chiapas. Really, with DF as a starting point, I wouldn't venture too far outside of Mexico for a one-month trip. DF, Puebla, Morelos, Oaxaca, and Chiapas could easily eat up an entire, and entirely fulfilling, one-month trip.

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I agree. But I can see where dulcineaa is coming from. So close to Guat, shame not to go in...and Tikal is a place that everyone who loves latin america should visit at least once.

Yes, dulcinea..,you can easily fill up an active month just staying in Mexico....and you still wouldn't have seen alol that you should
D

Tikal is easily do-able from Chiapas, absolutely. There's no way to do Guatemala justice on that itinerary, though.

Three agreements in a row....A whole new world, Felix. Yeah, a month only IN Guat wouldn't do the country justice. Dulce is going for a samploe platter not a main course.

I'm barely began to plan all this, so this is some much needed help, Thank you. Yeah my original plan was just to do southern Mexico but I feel like if I'm already there might as well go to Guatemala and Belize. Yeah i think i am going to extend the trip too. I'm flying out of Tijuana into D.f. and then flying back from Guatemala.

You don't have anything in Chiapas, one of the most rewarding Mexican states to visit, on your itinerary, other than Palenque. If you add that, and perhaps a week or so in the Yucatan, you've got an awesome trip already. Tikal is easily done from Palenque, if you feel the need to cross a border. I'd recommend Bonampak and Yaxchilan on that trip, if you decide to do it.

Well that is COMPLETELY different. You can pull off at least the Cayo from this route. Try Sayaxche as well. You can, should really wish it, make Caye Caulker. Why not try Livingston instead? In Guat and really cool.

quote:

Originally posted by Piecar:
Well that is COMPLETELY different. You can pull off at least the Cayo from this route. Try Sayaxche as well. You can, should really wish it, make Caye Caulker. Why not try Livingston instead? In Guat and really cool.

Puleeze - Livingston sucks donkey sticks. You want beach, you go to Tela or Puerto Escondido.

Stay away from Livingston, Guatemala. The squatters (translated land thieves) have sunken to a new low, and are kidnapping tourists to bring pressure on our new government to legalize the lands they have taken over.

They have been causing problems for the last two months, and I doubt the problems will be solved any time soon.

ah. Well, between the donkey sticks and the kidnappings, I change my mind.

I've been planning to fly into Guatemala City, and go to Antigua almost immediately. Tikal seemed sort of out of the way (at least not on the way to Antigua), but everyone seems to think it's a must-see, so does anyone have any ideas as to how I can incorporate it? Could I do it for like a day from Antigua? or is that too far?
Thanks

quote:

Originally posted by escapadora:
I've been planning to fly into Guatemala City, and go to Antigua almost immediately. Tikal seemed sort of out of the way (at least not on the way to Antigua), but everyone seems to think it's a must-see, so does anyone have any ideas as to how I can incorporate it? Could I do it for like a day from Antigua? or is that too far?
Thanks

Too far. Flores is about 8 hours from Guatemala City by bus; a 45-minute flight on TACA. Tikal is another hour from Flores. It's definitely a highlight of the country, but bear in mind that it's closer to Belize City than Guatemala City - quite remote.

Dulcinea, way too much for one month unless you plan on flying between the locations and only spending a few days in each place.

Pick two countries, Oaxaca, chiapas, guatemala, with a side trip to Copan, and you'd have your plate full.

Guat city, unless you have NGO business, inmigration office business, friends, or like seeing museums of stuffed animals, doesn't have much to see for the average tourist. Better run straight to Antiqua.
Zona 1, where the buses are, and everything but the expensive zones, is dangerous, and I dont use the word lightly. I have too many stories collected of tourists being robbed in daylight to make it only a myth, that and I personally saw a guatemalan get pickpocketed in broad daylight while there. Nightime is worse.

Escapadora,

Flying is the only quick way to go, r45 minutes each way.

The roads are so bad and mountainous it takes all day to drive there, and from what I hear, its a pretty rough trip.

Tikal IS worth flying to, by the way. Its also worth staying at least 3 days there, and spending two of them in back to back visits. At least I found it so.

FLores is not worth staying in, though others would say its cute. Still, its the closest city. What can one do?

Other people... Sorry to hear that llvingston has been degraded from seedy and potentially dangerous to simply dangerous. Sorry I didn't wee it before things got worse.

escapadora....it is IMPOSSIBLE to pull off Tikal in one or even two days from Antigua....IMPOSSIBLE. However....

You are actually not too far away from another set of ruins that are pretty good....In fact, they are far more ornate than Tikal....and you get to cross another border. Why not try Copan jujst on the other side of the Honduras border. The town is better and you can walk to the ruins from the centre of town with ease....I agree with Tortuga, too, on the state of the town of Flores. It really is nothing to see as it is one giant hotel. I don't think anyone who is just a local actually lives on that island. And Santa Elena, across the bridge, is what a Wild West town would look like if it continued to evolve unchecked to today....We won't even talk about San Benito, a little farther down the road.

No one's on the fence about Flores, that's for sure. I love the town, which is one of the tidiest and most tranquil in Guatemala. It's a smallish place, set on an island in Lake Peten Itza. Piecar is right about the hellish towns on the mainland, across the causeway from Flores. And again, there really is no way to pull off a visit to Tikal as a daytrip from Antigua. I know there are tours that are overnight, but that's still a lot of running. It's an hour from Antigua to the airport 90 minutes before your flight, a 40-minute flight to Flores, and then an hour from Flores to Tikal. That's four hours from Antigua to Tikal on a good day.

As for Copan, it's a much different experience from Tikal. Despite not being nearly as remote as Tikal, Copan sees a lot fewer visitors. The ruins are notable for the stellae, which are much more extensive and well-preserved than those at Tikal. However, overall the site at Copan has nothing near the grandeur of Tikal, and is generally much smaller too. The adjacent town of Copan Ruinas is lovely though, but not much closer to Antigua than Tikal. I remember it being 5-6 hours by shuttle from Antigua, while the overnight shuttles from Antigua to Flores don't take much longer.

I have photos from all these places in the link below, if you want to take a look.

There are certainly cute cobblestone streets in Flores. But it is a very artificial place that is clearly meant only for tourists... You'll find that the town's streets are always unnaturally quiet as the only people wandering there are the tourists. There are just far more livly villages in the world. I will say that the top of the hill where the church is has lovely views of the Lago....Felix, do you know the legend of the great stone hourse that lies at the bottom of the Peten Itza? I hope to one day lug some scuba gear to the island and see if I can find the thing.

I remember Copan as being four hourse away, with much more regular service than to Flores. I may be wrong however.

I agree that Copan's ruins are far less extensive (and Tikal is still being dug up....There is more hidden there than there is to see. And there is alot to see) But Copan has the advantage of the storied staircase and the complete ball court. and the stelae that are actually out of the park and just along the road and the beauty of that country side.

D