Yucatan - All Mexico

Where does it go?

We rendezvous at an RV Park in Mission, Texas where we meet the Wagon Master and prepare for our crossing. We leave early in the morning and cross the Anzalduas bridge into Mexico, just west of Reynosa where we do all the required paperwork for our 3 months in Mexico.

Once done, we loop around the large city of Monterrey and head for Saltillo, where we stay in an RV Park behind the Hotel Imperial. We will have a welcome meal and entertainment at a nearby restaurant.

Next we head for Zacatecas. To be honest, the RV park there is a bit noisy. It is attached to a hotel again, but there are trains and trucks using air brakes nearby. Still it is the only place to stay in this city, and Zacatecas is worth it. There is also an indoor pool we can use.

The next morning we take a tour of the large El Eden Mine. This mine is no longer active, in fact there is even a nightclub down there. It is suitable even for anyone in a wheelchair, and is a fascinating tour. Following that we will take a tour of this beautiful world heritage city, that always reminds me of Barcelona, Spain.

The next day we will take a tour to the pre-Colombian ruins of La Quemada. This tour may not be suitable for all, as it involves some hill climbing.

Our next stop is Guanajuato, personally my favourite Colonial City. We will take a city tour there. The city has a network of fascinating underground roads and is home to the macabre Mummy Museum. This is an optional stop we can arrange. It freaks out many customers, others find it fascinating. Ask your wagon master if interested. In the evening we will take a walk around the back streets with Musicians. Many customers have mentioned this as one of the most memorable experiences of this tour. From Guanajuato we will also take a day tour to San Miguel de Allende, a Colonial City very popular with North American expats.

Onward to Mexico City for 4 nights. We will take an overnight bus tour with hotel here. Visit the archaeological museum and the folk Ballet, among other attractions. Dog care will be arranged. The traffic in Mexico City necessitates using a hotel for a night.

Time to head for the east coast, we will have a fairly lengthy drive from Mexico City over to the Emerald Coast. We will visit the ruins of El Tajin. This is not Mayan, it is Totonac and it is unique.

We then head down the east coast, with stops in Veracruz (tour), Villahermosa and Isla Aguada, which is a nice beach spot and we do a Dolphin Tour there. After this, we head inland a bit to the Colonial City of Campeche and the Mayan ruins of Uxmal, with tours in each. We are now well into the Maya world.

We will stay in the city of Valladolid, from where we will do several day tours of the Maya Coast. This is now quite a built up area and it is no longer practical to camp there.

Next we head to the Belize border area and the town of Chetumal. We can arrange some optional tours to 2 nearby Mayan ruins by taxi. Inexpensive, and for those who cannot get enough of the many sites we are going to visit on this tour. We will also take a boat tour of Lake Bacalar, often referred to as ther Maldives of Mexico. A beautiful multi-colored lake.

Next, we head inland across the south of Mexico with a stop at the impressive ruins of Calakmul. These  ruins are seldom visited and we have to travel 40 km up a jungle road to get to them. Large pyramids rising out of the Jungle. On our way out we will visit a cave where thousands of bats emerge each evening.

From Calakmul, we will head to the well known site of Palenque for a tour and a chance to swim in a river with a series of waterfalls.

Next, back to Villahermosa with a tour of the famous Olmec heads this time. Then on to the Tuxla Gutierrez area where we stay at Hogar, an American run orphanage. We will leave our rigs there and our dogs in care, while we take a bus to the Chiapas town of San Cristobal de las Casas, including a bizzare tour where Mayan rituals are dominant over its Catholic heritage.  On the way back we will make a stop at Sumidero Canyon for a boat ride up this impressive deep Canyon. On one trip, a customer opted to follow in their car and take their dog to a dog friendly hotel. However we do arrange care.

Once we are done at Hogar we start our journey back north toward Oaxaca. This is too long a trip so we spend one night in a soccer field enroute. In Oaxaca we will take few tours, including more pyramids.

Next we head back to the Mexico City and we will visit Mexico’s major archaeological site at Teotihuacan. From Mexico City we will head to a spa where we will camp and take a day tour to see the Monarch Butterfly Reserve. Then on to Patzcuaro, where we will also have tours.

From Patzcuaro, we head to the Guadalajara area. We stay at a Hot Springs resort and will take tours to Tequila and the interesting round pyramids at Guachimontones.

Time to head back to the coast. We will stay at Boca beach, 30 min north of Melaque. In 2026 we will hit the St Patricks celebrations in Melaque, one of the best in the world according to some Irish web sites, with the craziest fireworks festival you have ever seen. Paul, our customer rep, lives in Melaque in winter, so you will meet him here.

We then head further north through Puerto Vallarta to Lo de Marcos, one of the best RV parks in Mexico. We will take a nature river tour in San Blas, a memorable experience.

Next, north to Mazatlan where we once again have a couple of day tours. From there, some beach days at Las Glorias, not far north of Mazatlan, then on to San Carlos for a couple of days and our farewell meal. We would normally stop at Huatabampito, another beach location, but in 2026 it will be a zoo, due to Semana Santa, the largest holiday in Mexico.

Our final night will be in Santa Ana where we will have a potluck and bonfire, and we cross the border, back into the US the following day. Depending on Semana Santa issues, we may cross at Lukeville instead of Nogales.

There are some longer driving days on this route, but we make plenty of stops on those. There is more dry camping or partial hookups. Generator usage is allowed with restrictions set by the Wagon Master.

The complete schedule is further below.

What does it cost and include?

The price (for 2027) is $21,500 Canadian. That is approximately $15,500 USD. (2026 is $14,400 USD). It includes all RV Parks, at least 30 guided tour days, 35 full meals, 3 nights hotel and 4 cooking classes. We always add unscheduled extras. The trip often includes Spanish classes if we have a native Spanish Speaking Wagon Master. We have a Green Angel (like AAA) escort for most of the trip.

Why do you price in Canadian dollars (starting 2027)?

We do run trips in both English and French. The company runs them as separate entities. However the Canadian dollar does tend to keep pace with the Mexican Peso better then the USD. Since 95% of our expenses are in Pesos, this protects us more from wild exchange swings, plus overall about 3/4 of our customers are Canadian, when you include both English and French operations, so it makes sense to price in that currency. We do, however, accept US dollars at the book exchange rate (not buy/sell) and you may make your payments in US equivalent. We have a widget to do the conversion, that appears on several pages on our sites.

What is the RV Park and highway infrastructure like?

I won't lie to you. The highway infrastructure is mixed, and RV park quality in the south is not as good as further north. Many power supplies are only 15 Amp and some parks have a common water supply and dump. Do not expect Thousand Trails type resorts. However, this trip is so damned interesting you probably will not mind. There is more dry camping on this trip than on our other ones. Approach this trip as an Adventure and you will have a great memorable time.

Are there any long days?

Yes, more so than on our other trips, but on longer days we make plenty of stops

Here is the schedule

This is the schedule for 2026. 2027 will be very similar, and it gives you an idea. The start date may vary by a day or 2.
If you are on a cell phone, you will have to turn it horizontal to view the chart below. You may also dowload a PDF at Yucatan2026.pdf

     Here is a Widget to convert Canadian Dollars to USD

This route is approximately 8500 km (5300 miles)