55 practical guides for daily life in Mexico — filter by topic below.
Named for its thermal hot springs, Aguascalientes is one of Mexico's smallest states — and one of its most festive. The compact, w…
Baja California, the northernmost state on Mexico's Baja Peninsula, is one of the easiest international getaways from Southern Cal…
Baja California Sur is the southern half of Mexico's Baja Peninsula, where desert mountains drop straight into the Sea of Cortez. …
"Mexico is cheap" — until you price a pair of Nikes. Clothing is where newcomer assumptions break hardest: imported brands can cos…
Campeche is the Yucatán Peninsula's quiet gem — a perfectly preserved walled colonial city, the vast jungle ruins of Calakmul, and…
Chiapas is Mexico's wild south — misty highland towns, thundering waterfalls, a canyon you cruise by boat, and Palenque, the most …
Chihuahua is Mexico's largest state, a land of epic scale: the Copper Canyon system, deeper and larger than the Grand Canyon, the …
Coahuila is Mexico's third-largest state, a vast northern territory along the Texas border where desert, wine country, and colonia…
Colima is Mexico's third-smallest state but one of its most complete: a handsome colonial capital, a beloved Pueblo Mágico, a work…
Driving in Mexico is very doable — the toll highways are modern, and a car unlocks the cenotes, pueblos mágicos, and coastlines bu…
Durango, in north-central Mexico, is a city and state built on silver and celluloid. The capital's pink cantera-stone historic cen…
The State of Mexico rings Mexico City on three sides, and it holds some of the country's biggest draws — the pyramids of Teotihuac…
Most newcomers to Mexico City (CDMX) land in one of four neighborhoods — Roma Norte, Condesa, Polanco, or Narvarte. Each has a dis…
Mexico's food scene is the best reason to live here — and the cheapest. From MXN 100 lunch menus to taco etiquette to delivery app…
Guanajuato is the cradle of Mexican independence and one of the country's most beautiful states. Its UNESCO-listed capital is a ma…
Guerrero is Mexico's Pacific playground — Acapulco's cliff divers, Taxco's silver, and the laid-back surf towns of the Costa Grand…
Hidalgo is the land of the basalt prisms — those impossible hexagonal rock columns — plus haunted silver-mining towns, Toltec warr…
Mexico's long-distance buses are famously comfortable — on the top tiers, better than flying economy. The network is run by privat…
Jalisco calls itself the most Mexican of states — and it has a case. This is the birthplace of mariachi and tequila, home to Mexic…
Mexico has two grocery worlds: the colorful mercados and tianguis (street markets), and the big-box supermarkets. Expats who learn…
Mexico City is one of the world's great capitals — Aztec ruins under colonial palaces under cutting-edge museums, all at 2,240 met…
Mexico City's public transit is one of the cheapest big-city systems in the world — and one card runs almost all of it. Here's how…
Mexico is the world's top dental tourism destination for a reason: quality care at 50–75% below US prices, often with same-week ap…
Mexico has three parallel ways to see a doctor: ultra-cheap pharmacy clinics, affordable private GPs, and the public IMSS system. …
In a real emergency, call 911 — Mexico's national emergency number since 2016. Then decide: public ER (free if you're covered) or …
Mexico runs three systems side by side: IMSS for formal workers, IMSS-Bienestar's free care for the uninsured, and private insuran…
Mental health care in Mexico is overwhelmingly private, affordable by US standards, and increasingly available in English in expat…
Mexican pharmacies are cheap, ubiquitous, and generous with generics — but antibiotics and controlled drugs legally require a pres…
Unlike Canada or the UK, Mexico's private system has no gatekeeper: you can book a cardiologist, dermatologist, or orthopedist dir…
One of the best things about Mexican healthcare: you can walk into a lab and order your own blood work — no doctor's order require…
Michoacán calls itself "El Alma de México" — the soul of Mexico — and visitors tend to agree. This is the land of the Purépecha pe…
Morelos calls itself the "City of Eternal Spring" state — warm weather year-round, just 1–2 hours south of Mexico City. It's the c…
Nayarit is the "jewel of the Mexican Pacific": nearly 200 kilometers of coastline where surf towns, luxury peninsulas, mangrove es…
Nuevo León is Mexico's industrial powerhouse state, anchored by Monterrey — the country's third-largest metro, set against the dra…
Oaxaca is Mexico's cultural soul — a UNESCO-listed colonial city wrapped in Zapotec and Mixtec heritage, the birthplace of mole ne…
Banking is the paperwork boss-fight of moving to Mexico: you need residency documents first, and every bank has its own quirks. He…
Puebla is Mexico's colonial jewel — a UNESCO-listed city of tiled facades and baroque churches, home of mole poblano and chiles en…
Querétaro is one of Mexico's most rewarding states for a first-time visitor: a compact territory where a UNESCO-listed colonial ca…
Quintana Roo is Mexico's Caribbean — Cancún's hotel zone, Playa del Carmen's Quinta Avenida, Tulum's clifftop ruins, Cozumel's ree…
Renting in Mexico has one infamous hurdle for foreigners: the fiador (guarantor). Here's how the system works and the three proven…
Mexico's car market has two trap zones: the rental counter, where the booked price bears little resemblance to the price you pay, …
Renting in Mexico looks cheap and easy from abroad — until the traps appear: a guarantor requirement almost no newcomer can meet, …
Mexico's cities run on a mix of app-based rides and traditional taxis, and knowing which to use — and when — saves you money and k…
Mexico rewards street smarts. Most expats live in Mexico City for years without incident — the key is knowing which risks are real…
San Luis Potosí is Mexico's waterfall country. The state packs three worlds into one: the jungle rivers and 100-meter cascades of …
Getting connected in Mexico is cheap and easy: a prepaid SIM costs almost nothing, top-ups happen at any OXXO, and home fiber is f…
Sinaloa is Mexico's Pacific northwest in full color: the "Pearl of the Pacific" resort city of Mazatlán, colonial stronghold towns…
Sonora is Mexico's vast northwestern desert state, stretching from the Arizona border to the shores of the Sea of Cortez. It pairs…
You don't need fluent Spanish to live in Mexico — but 30 well-chosen phrases will unlock restaurants, taxis, markets, and your lan…
Tabasco is the steamy, river-crossed home of the Olmecs — Mexico's "mother culture" — and of the country's best chocolate. Most vi…
Tamaulipas, on Mexico's northeastern Gulf coast, is a state of striking contrasts: busy port cities with French-influenced archite…
Mexico's smallest state is one of its most surprising: a beautifully preserved colonial capital, the finest pre-Hispanic murals in…
Veracruz is where Mexico meets the sea — the country's oldest Spanish port, the sultry birthplace of son jarocho music, and a stat…
Yucatán is the heart of the Maya world — Chichén Itzá, Uxmal, a thousand cenotes, and Mérida, the peninsula's elegant white city. …
Zacatecas is the great silver state of colonial Mexico. Its capital — also called Zacatecas — is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a p…