We are planning our next trip to Mexico and have a few questions for the experts out there. We have gone down the West coast a couple of times from Nogales and down the middle from Juarez to San Miguel de Allende and Mexico City but we have not done the East coast and are trying to learn more about that area. We are thinking we would cross the border at Agua Prieta and then down through Chihuahua and over to Monterrey and Tampico and down the Gulf from there. We would eventually like to get to the Yucatan. We are in AZ which is the reason for using Nogales or Agua Prieta - we have also used Tecate to tour Baja.
We use a combination of the SCT online maps and Microsoft Streets & Trips and anything else we can find. We use the On The Road In guides and logs as well as the Church books and online updates and logs. We also use the SCT calculator to figure distance and tolls. We'll add some links to the SCT stuff and tell how we use them below.
A rough estimate of the tolls gave us numbers between $6500 to $7500 pesos if we take the West coast down and cut over through Guadalajara to the Mexico City area and through Pueblo to Veracruz for the combination of our motorhome and toad. If we take the route from Agua Prieta through Chihuahua and Monterrey we get a rough toll estimate of around $3400 pesos for the two vehicles. The distance in KM estimate going to the East side also seems to be shorter. We understand the peso is going through changes, as is the dollar, so have not converted pesos to dollars yet. Whatever the rate it would appear that a lot of dinero could be saved by heading East? Does anyone have thoughts about the distance and toll differences and/or comparisons between the East Coast roads and the West Coast roads? We know we probably will not use the toll road for the entire route. We may bypass some of the higher cost tolls and may take a variation of the route rather than the exact route the calculator suggests. But it stills appears to be considerably less expensive to head East. We may go down by one route and back using the other. All plans are still up in the air.
We have also heard about the new bypass route around Mexico City and may still go that way so are wondering if anyone has any more specific directions than what we have found so far. We found the write up on the Church Updates website and we found a write up on this forum. We also found the directions from Pepe's to go to Cholula and can't quite figure that out either. Looking at the SCT maps and our Streets & Trips we don't see the new road they are talking about and can't quite figure out where this new road might go. There is a solid green line on the SCT map but it is not identified as being a road so we are not sure about it. The written directions do not seem to match what we see on the map either. There are towns shown on the SCT maps that might be along that route so maybe someone can provide a little more specific idea of where the road goes based on proximity to various towns along the way? There are towns mentioned in Pepe's write up that we cannot find on the SCT maps. Maybe someone can look at the SCT map and explain the route using that map?
Our research also includes trying to determine where any RV parks might be and planning some of our route based on RV park locations. Either way we go we know there are gaps where there may not be any decent RV parks around. We have all the On The Road In and Church book and website notes as well as Woodall's and Trailer Life. Maybe someone has some other places to park not mentioned in any publications? We know there may be Pemex stations along the way that would be big enough to find a place to park overnight but we don't know where they might be. Does anyone know of specific Pemex locations that can be used as overnight stops along the eastern route?
We still think the SCT maps are the best maps we know of for most of Mexico. We downloaded all the .pdf files to our computer and can go in and move around the maps and zoom in on areas of interest. These maps are locked so you cannot print them by normal means so we use a Print Screen program from Gadwin to enable printing of any area of any map. We zoom and and isolate an area and then do Print Screen to capture a specific area of the screen to get a clear detailed map of any area of Mexico.
http://aplicaciones4.sct.gob.mx/sibuac_internet/ControllerUI?action=cmdEscogeRuta This SCT route calculator can be used to chart out a route. It will tell you the point by point route with all distances in KM. It will also show where the tolls are and how much each toll is. We have a motorhome so we look at the Autobus 2 ejes calculator for those tolls and also at the Automoviles calculator for the same route to get the tolls for the car - add them together for the total toll amount. You can do a total point to point map from start to finish or you can do shorter distance maps of sections along the way to get a more precise breakdown. I probably shouldn't call these maps - they are not really maps - they are route planners I guess. They are very good for planning routes but they are just line drawings and point to point written guides - not a map. They can be used in conjunction with the SCT maps.
http://dgp.sct.gob.mx/index.php?id=440 Scroll down and click to see individual maps of each state in .pdf . I think these are gov't road maps that can be folded if you buy them. They are roughly 3 feet by 4 feet overall at 100% zoom so cannot be printed as a whole. But sections can be printed using Print Screen.
http://dgp.sct.gob.mx/index.php?id=439 Index to some more maps from SCT. There is a pretty good road map of all of Mexico in here somewhere.
http://www.gadwin.com/printscreen/ I use the free program PrintScreen 4.3 to Copy & Paste sections of the SCT maps. You can paste them to My Photos as a .jpg file or you can paste them to a word processor or whatever. We print out areas of interest and keep them in a loose leaf notebook for easy access. We also have them in our navigation computer and can access the .pdf files any time. We move specific map areas to a Word file and can then enter written information or whatever to go along with that map section.
http://www.rollinghomes.com/madds3.htm The Church updates talk about the Mexico City Bypass around page 237 or 238 - links to Pepe's directions are a little further down on the webpage.
http://www.rollinghomes.com/Road%20Log%20-%20Mexico%20City%20NE%20Bypass%20-%20Tepotzotlan%20to%20Cholula.pdf This is the direct link to Pepe's bypass instructions to Cholula from the Churches website.
http://www.rollinghomes.com/Road%20Log%20-%20Mexico%20City%20NE%20Bypass%20-%20Cholula%20to%20Tepotzotlan.pdf and this is the link to directions from Cholula going North from Pepe's also found on the Churches website.
http://ontheroadin.com/ We have looked at all the RV park information and updates for every state in Mexico. We have purchased their logs if they have one for our planned route - or any part of our planned route.
http://www.onlineconversion.com/length_common.htm We use this conversion website to convert KM to miles or vice versa.
http://maps2.nris.mt.gov/topofinder1/latlong.asp We find this to be the best online converter for Latitude and Longitude. Our GPS is always on so we think we usually know where we are and where we might be going. Both On The Road In and the Church book use Lat Lon to locate RV parks etc. We can enter numbers in our Streets & Trips to locate the parks. We have also used Google Earth and Lat Lon to get a birds eye view of some of the RV parks.
We hope some of what we have learned will be of some use and that someone out there can tell use more about the eastern route. Thanks for any help.
I have the trial version of S&T 2009 and the maps for Mexico are much better than pervious. I do notice a ring road around Mexico City. I am not sure if that was shown in previous versions or not. I Might siggest, you download the trial version for free and plot your routes to see the difference. They will not tel you the amounts of the tools, but there is a web site somewhere I once heard that lists all the tolls for Mexico. I have saved a few of my Mexico trips previously (Nogalies to PV), but now see they are on the new version of S&T.
2004-Newmar Scottsdale 3760 Motorhome, Workhorse powered with Alison Tranny.
You already have a LOT more info than I've ever had for a trip into Mexico (or anywhere else for that matter) so I'd recommend that you just go for it. Heck, most of the time I don't even have a final destination in mind; just a general idea of what I want to see and do. I plan each day on the night before!
Half the fun in a trip is getting there, and if you have everything planned out to the last detail, you lose the ability to improvise and get locked into a schedule. Where's the fun in that?
Turtle & Toad, On the Road
37' Georgetown XL w/3 slides, 1 1/2 bath, & 275 watts of solar power
06 Taco TRD (for "Off the Road") www.turtleandtoad.com I am here
Only States/Provinces that I have spent at least a week in are shown
Very impressive amount of research you've already done. You know more than most folks who've been here for years. I believe you would find the cost of the trip would be significantly lessened if you went down I-10 to San Antonio, I-37 to Robstown, and US 77 to Brownsville. No tolls, although higher gas prices are somewhat higher. I note that the gas prices in Harlingen are about $2.37 a gallon this morning. You should wait until you're into the interior where the price will be about $2.13 a gallon.
Take the route through Ciudad Victoria to Tampico and then a bumpy ride on down to Veracruz. You can catch autopista in state of Campeche and zoom on over to Yucatan. This will be where you hit major tolls, although there are a few short stretches along the way where you'll pay a few bucks.
I think the savings in tolls would certainly be worth it to stay in US to Brownsville. But then you'd miss all of those love desert miles and the mountains and valleys crossing over from Guadalajara. There aren't a lot of campgrounds in the central part of the country, but there are WalMarts in most large towns who'll allow you to boondock quite securely. You can also stay at virtually all Pemexes and there are many of them. Give the guy fifty pesos tip and you'll sleep securely.
Have fun. Lighten up and enjoy the country. Like Tioga George sez…
Wm. W. Thompson, PhD
Professor of Marketing
UT-Pan American
Edinburg, TX
In the original post we did include a link to the website where tolls can be located and calculated. The calculator can also be used to get distance estimates. The SCT maps also show many, if not all, the toll locations.
Different strokes for different folks. We find planning the trip is part of the fun and adventure of it. That does not mean we are not flexible or that the trip does not vary from the plan. If we find a place we like we spend more time. If a place we thought we would be interested in is not what we expected we can move on. As we travel we meet people who tell us about things to see and do that we had not heard about before.
What we thought we might learn by asking questions was which roads and routes others have taken that might be preferable to other routes. We made our first camper van trip through Mexico in 1971 and have been there many times since. But we have never traveled the East Coast so thought maybe folks on this forum could share some of what they know about that area. We thought that was part of the purpose of this forum. What we meant to convey is that we are not set on any particular plan and that we would like to hear from others about things to see and do. We would also be interested in information about specific roads and routes to learn reasons to go one way as opposed to another. Many other posts on this website are asking the same sort of questions. Others who read this and other posts might also be interested in learning these things.
We have a 40' motorhome towing a little car. We have found can be a good idea to have some idea of where specific places to park for the night be. We know where most RV parks are which means we also know that there are no RV parks in some areas. We thought someone out there might share what they have learned in their travels. Others who read these posts might also be interested in that information.
We included what we have learned so far with links to websites we have found in an effort to share with others who might be interested in that information. We have found websites we have not seen mentioned by others so thought there might be some interest in learning about them.
I use the SCT Traza Tu Ruta all the time. It is very accurate on both distances as well as toll charges. Easier for me I guess, as we have a standard SUV and a small 1 axle TT so the charge is very clear cut.
Thanks for posting your info. There are lots of people interested in traveling here but aren't quite sure how to go about it. Good job!
We'll be in Veracruz in December for a couple of weeks and looks like we have chosen Tamiahua.
You can boondock at most Pemex as someone above stated, sometimes they aren't the best option due to idling trucks. In the center of the country closer to DF many of the Pemex have guards, tip the guard and make sure the Pemex is open all night. We have also spent the night at any toll booth rest area, we've also stayed at the aduana stop 30 or so miles across the border. We sometimes like to cross the border in the evening, get to the aduana and spend the night there. Restaurants with large parking lots are another place we stay fairly often, have dinner with them and ask. We have our favorite stops all down the coast - on both sides - and tend to return to them year after year. Now, we haven't been back to the US for over a year so we will have to see if they are all still open.
Also, most ruins that are open to the public will let you spend the night in the parking lot for a small fee. This includes places like Uxmal and Chichen Itza. It's very convenient for getting into the ruins in the morning before the tour buses arrive and for going back in the evening for the light shows. Palenque is an exception, they don't have level or very large parking areas but there are a lot of campgrounds and some can fit a large rig.
drtee wrote: I believe you would find the cost of the trip would be significantly lessened if you went down I-10 to San Antonio, I-37 to Robstown, and US 77 to Brownsville. No tolls, although higher gas prices are somewhat higher. I note that the gas prices in Harlingen
This way is only 200 mi longer and virtually has no significant tolls until you get to Veracruz. It's got to be faster also. But maybe you would rather stay South of the border.
Be sure to get Microsoft's S & T 2009, the maps of Mexico are a significant improvement over any previous edition and look very accurate based on my previous GPS tracks.
The only change I would make from drtee's suggestion, would be to go south from Harlingen and cross at Los Indos. No Mexican city there and a fast no traffic crossing.
Offline
