Travel, live, and retire in Mexico!

with
Rosana Hart

Traveling to Cancun

Most people fly into Cancun International Airport (CUN). It's on the mainland, only about six miles from the southern tip of Cancun Island, where the Hotel Zone is. Quite a few American and Mexican carriers offer frequent direct flights from various cities in the United States, often daily. Flights come from other cities in Mexico, too. It's only about an hour and a half from Miami, six hours from New York or Toronto, 8 hours from Los Angeles, and 17 hours from London.

Some tips for getting a good price on your Cancun air fare:

Shop around. Use the internet if you are comfortable with it.

Be flexible about what days of the week you will fly to and from Cancun. There are specials that are less on certain days.

Consider a vacation package, where your airfare and hotel are combined. Do a little homework on the hotels offered, to be sure you'll enjoy staying there. Many extremely nice hotels do take part in packages, and you might be able to stay in a much fancier place by taking advantage of vacation packages.

Students going for spring break should look over the variety of packages offered to them. Many of these are charter flights.

Local buses and taxis

You can easily get around with the inexpensive buses that go up and down the Hotel Zone and into downtown. There are plenty of taxis, too; ask the rate before getting in, as the rates are determined by a set of zones that exist.

Driving to Cancun from the U.S.

It's a long way, and many of the roads are quite slow. Read my description of our trip along part of the highway from Texas.

Taking long-distance buses in Mexico

Mexico has outstanding long-distance bus service, but it's a mighty long way from the U.S. But if you're touring Mexico by bus anyway, then you know what's involved in riding the buses. Cancun is about 20 hours by bus from Mexico City. If you arrive in Cancun by air, you might want to take bus trips to other destinations in the Yucatan.