Finally we are making the big one this next winter. Down the Gulf Coast to the Southern end of Mexico, cross over, up the West Coast, turn inland just before Guadalajara and out the highlands back to the Northern Border. We are big on sidetrips!
Need Recommendations? Lots of them, Where to stay for a week or more, Places to stay, FOOD!, favorite route for a big rig, stuff we should not miss seeing and more. Yes, yes, yes we have Church's Bible, the Mexico sites and Google.
Leaving early Nov. Time returning - yet to be determined.
A nice side trip--go to Belize! We left our 5W in Mexico and took our TV into Belize for a week and drove all the main paved roads and a bunch that weren't. Also took a day trip to Tikal (a tour)--wish we had two days there. It was a good break and they sort of speak English.
BillMoRex&Princess
'06 Chev D/A--'08 Cardinal 35 SB
Fulltiming since 8/93
Morelia is a fascinating city and the trip over to Ocampo was completely different scenery than we are used to in Mexico. Lots of fuzzy long needle pine trees and wood construction. We went to Ocampo to see the Monarch butterflies and then discovered a pyramid ruin that wasn't in any of our guide books but was well signed once we got close to it. There was us and a couple of Mexican families having a picnic on the pyramid the day we were there and not another soul around.
We've had several people tell us to stay at the balnearios at Villa Corona. We've never done that but I think its getting hard to find a spot to stay around Guad or Lake Chapala so maybe Villa Corona is the best close option now. The last time we stayed at Chapala it was in PAL so that tells you how long its been since we were there.
If you haven't done so, check out the highlands of Veracruz. Great little towns, excellent winding highways. Lots of places to pull over for the night. Emerald Coast, La Pesca,Tamps, Barra Del Tordo, Tamps. I could go on. . . . .
Very near to the junction of Mex 37-D (Morelia Patzcuaro) and coastal hwy 200 (links Zihuatanejo and Manzanillo) is a cute RV park by the name of Flores de Las Peñas in the village of Las Peñas 20 kn north of Playa Azul. This park has sites with absolutely the best ocean view in all Mexico. Hookups. The park has large pictograph blue and white signs on the highway. Happy trails on your trip.
Yes, Villa Corona's "Chimulco," an RV park with hot springs pools, is a delight. It is situated close enough to Guadalajara to utilize this huge city for its many amenities, yet far enough away to still be comfortable.
One can easily use the park as a base to explore a large area, to take in towns like Tequila and Magdelena to the northwest; Cocula (birthplace of Mariachi, and Carlos Santana),Talpa, Mascota, San Sabatian through to Peurto Vallarta, going west; Autlin, La Huerta, Melaque and the Costa Alegra going southwest; Sayula, Cd. Guzman, Comala and Colima and the interesting area around the volcanos, driving south; Lake Chapala, Mazamitla, Patzcuaro, Uruapan, Morelia, driving southeast.
Some of these areas you will want to revisit with your RV but its also nice to stay in hotels in some towns to get a different perpective.
You are all great! Keep up the suggestions. We will also be looking for a stay put location for future trips instead of moving every week or so. Also we may do the trip in the reverse order as posted in the first post.
Thanks again!
rocmoc n AZ/Mexico
Is it possible to make this one a sticky as I too am interested and we have been contemplating “the big one” for quite some time. We have had friends we met 3 years ago in San Carlos that did it and took 7 months. They would do it again in a heartbeat but unfortunately didn’t keep very good records. The Belize side trip is a fascinating idea
The east coast beaches are only crowded at Easter and Xmas, so I think going down the west coast in Nov is better, you have less chance of a hurricane finding you and you will be able to get into all the RV parks along the way as they aren't full yet.
Don't miss San Cristobal in Chiapas, the Hotel Bonampak is still taking RVs I think and it is a wonderful area to explore and ...sshhhh... shop! OMG! The shopping is wonderful for artesania.
If you have time to spend a week then I'd say take your rig into Belize. You have to buy separate insurance and be sure to fill the tank before you cross the border as Belize gas is very high. It's a small country though and we rarely have to buy gas there. Go to the west in the Cayo district near the town of Santa Elena is a great RV park, Inglewood. The owners are nice people, Greg and Veronica, worked 30 years in Inglewood Calif and returned to Belize to retire. Opened the park and are very conscientious. It's about 11 miles from the Guatemala border, in a lush gorgeous tropical jungle with many rivers and waterfalls in the area. Take a tour to Tikal in Guatemala, one day or overnight would be better. You really shouldn't miss Tikal if possible, spectacular. The towns along the lake before you enter the park specialize in beautiful carved hardwood bowls and other stuff, really worth stopping to see and the prices are very good. Go to the Mennonite town of Spanish Lookout, take your toad across the river on the hand turned ferry, get some of the best cream and ice cream at the local dairy. There are mayan ruins, incredible high canopy jungle, lots of birds and animals, incredible flowers... I love western Belize.
Oh, and every bar has Guinness on tap, the local beer Belikan is pretty good and the local rum, One Barrel, is great!
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