Sometimes road trips are the only way to see a country's beautiful natural destinations since I don't like renting cars. We went on a road trip in Mexico that took us to many beautiful waterfalls which are only accessible by car. The road trip was well worth it despite some problems with CarRentals. I will summarize the car rental gotchas which you would want to avoid in the itinerary below.
We were going to go for a road trip to Mexico City. I think this route is a good one for destinations. One-way car rentals are expensive and you would be better off doing a modified round trip version.
We decided to skip the Teotihuacan destinations because we had to end our trip early for a funeral. I have been to Teotihuacan on trips and can recommend it as a destination, but I can't vouch for the quality of the food. I have heard people recommend it.
The city has nice mountain views. It isn't as modern and cosmopolitan as Mexico City, but still a big city that is worth a visit.
It's convenient to fly into and big enough to offer a variety of rental car options, so it makes sense as a launch point, even though we did a lot of driving just to get out of the city.
Monterrey Mexico
From a little overlook off the side of the road, you can see the first waterfall.
There were hardly any people at this waterfall. It was enjoyable. The entry fee is $ 1.5 or so.
The waterfall and river is more of a stop for tourists than just a place to swim. If you want to do anything, you need to rent a guide and life jacket. We stopped for the view because of that. You can learn more about what you can do here.
There is a dirt road that goes from the north to the south. The day before we drove this area, it had rained, but it was very muddy, and we wouldn't have wanted much more rain than we'd had.
The life jacket rental was necessary, but it was more of a self-guided exploration. Entry fee is a few dollars, then it's another dollar or so to park and rent a life vest
You can follow the ropes through the pool if you have a life vest. The sand on the bottom of the pool is white and the water is blue, which makes it look like a cavern. The most impressive parts of this spot are not pictured here because I don't have a waterproof camera.
This spot is an amazing jungle playground with an other world feel which became a theme of this road trip. My picture doesn't do it justice, but it's worth a stop. If you want to find a better idea, you need to search on the internet.
A little more of a guided experience is required atTamul waterfall. Our guides took us on a 30 minute truck ride to the entry point. The ride on the canoe was about an hour and a half. I am pretty sure a better guide is supposed to lead you all the way to the waterfall, but our guides turned around after the stop with the nice photo-op.
The canoe ride is gorgeous. There are small cascades that come down through the rock formations when the water is blue. It feels like something out of a movie.
There is a sculpture garden hidden in 80 acres of rainforest. The sculptures are made of concrete and are reminiscent of an MC Escher painting or Indiana Jones. The sculptures cover 80 acres, but the part which you can actually see in 2 hours is smaller. It is a unique experience to climb all over these structures and the nearby town of Xilitla is also worth a visit.
You had to purchase tickets in order to explore on your own. According to their website, you have to reserve a time slot in advance and reserve a "mandatory guide" I don't think I'd do it again with that sort of guided tour experience, just because I like to wander on my own. A guided tour could be better. It is1-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-65561-6556
Please let me know if anyone has been there recently and can comment on your experience.
Despite deviating from our jungle waterfalls theme, Bernal was one of my favorites. We traveled through beautiful mountains on the drive from Las Pozas. The town was nice and we had a great view of the peak.
I wrote about all the cool things to do in Mexico City. Since it was in our original itinerary, I thought I would include it here, even though we had to skip Teotihuacan. If you have a rental car, you should drive there yourself. The entry fee is a few dollars, so the main cost is transportation.
There is a lot of ground in this picture and it is worth seeing at least once. I think this would be more interesting with a tour guide.
I don't want to rent cars. We found a cheap rate for a one way rental and went for it. This resulted in two headaches.
It took us an entire hour to find the place we were supposed to return the car to. We found the unit in the end. If we didn't find it, what's the plan B in that situation?
We didn't approve of the one-way fee the rental company charged after we returned it. They put it on. We disagreed with Chase since the rate charged differed from the rate we had agreed to. There wasn't any luck. The rental company had to decline our dispute because they had proof that we rented a car with them.
The road trip was amazing, but there are so many beautiful spots in Mexico. Drew had a plan for an alternate route. We can't vouch for it since it's not the route we used, but it hits some of the same places.
It's too risky to drive at night in Mexico because you can't predict where free-roaming livestock will pop up, and you can't see them in the road.
Many of Mexico's treasures can be found in the jungles or the mountains. Most treasures wouldn't be treasures without the journeys needed to reach them. I amgrudgingly rent cars from time to time.
I would love to do another Mexico road trip to see more waterfalls, cenotes, and small mountain towns. I would rent from a big brand and plan a route. We still remember this trip fondly even though we have CarRentals headaches.
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