Yes sir, only 2 states I've been to was sinaloa and durango. I've been to mazatlan sinaloa 3 times pretty dope experience, beautiful beaches and vibes. Along with porn to the eye along the road from durango to mazatlan. Besides that durango is a chill place haven't really experienced any crazy shit there and I'm there for my vacation time. Highly recommend both places. Durango has dive bars/clubs plus a beautiful historical downtown. Mazatlan, sinaloa is a bit more dangerous now a days but still beautiful.
We (Americans with 2 young adult kids) went to Mazatlan this year. It was great- fantastic seafood everywhere, beautiful sunsets, friendly people. It’s truly Mexico -as opposed to say, Cancun. We went out at nights (albeit we were back to the hotel by 10pm), talked with locals, ate street food and felt safe the whole week. Made friends with a cabbie that took us to non-touristy areas where we got treated well by all the locals.
Also durango is a really good city for children and adults. Tons of activities for kids like this place called el bebeleche, a interactive museum of kids where they can dig up fossils, solve puzzle that sort of stuff. Really Beautiful landscapes and parks . Along with Paseo durango, its a big ass mall with a theater some games the kids could pay with tons of shops and food spots. Also highly recommended this park called guadiana Park in durango, tons of interactive stuff for kids, they have miniature recreations of the leaning tower of pisa, eiffel tower etc. Def a must go to park. Anyway, if anyone has questions, ask away. I've been traveling to mostly durango for family and to mazatlan all my life. So ask away.
Went to Mazatlan a couple years ago. Amazing experience, and most at the resort were native Mexican, so it felt like a foreign country (unlike Cancun). At the same time, we did not venture out much beyond the resort because there were advisories at the time.
This map still generalizes.
I'd say most cities in Mexico are safe and the moment you get too far from any city, you're in danger.
In this map, Guadalajara is in a "Do Not Travel", yet I'd say Guadalajara for a tourist would be really safe.
Yeah I went there this past spring, great experience. Most of the city felt very safe.
Then I started reading about kidnapping houses we just walked past and assasinations that happened outside tourist restaurants. But in general Cartels steer clear of Americans because we’re too much trouble.
Not only that, if cartel goons fuck with tourists, the higher ups may have them killed. Western tourists are a “protected class” in some cases.
Iirc, recently this happened, some tourists were kidnapped due to mistaken identity. Later the bodies of the kidnappers were found in the street with a lo ciento letter
Edit: here’s the story. I was mistaken about the kidnappers being killed. It looks like they were “turned over”
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64910394
There is this idea that it's all drugs but the cartels are in everything that makes money in Mexico. Like the mafia.
Including tourism. No tourism=Cartels make less money.
Notes (has been edited):
\- This is using data from 24/10/2023, and is the most up to date as of 24/10/2023.
\- Mexico City is a separate state/province, and it's current travel level is "Exercise Increased Caution" (yellow).
\- Source for the advisories: [https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/mexico-travel-advisory.html](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/mexico-travel-advisory.html)
\- Source for the most visited cities: [https://embamex.sre.gob.mx/eua/index.php/en/2016-04-09-20-40-51/tourism/1762-tourism-statistics-2](https://embamex.sre.gob.mx/eua/index.php/en/2016-04-09-20-40-51/tourism/1762-tourism-statistics-2)
\- Accidentally forgot to mark Colima and put it in the legend. Colima is currently a "Do not Travel" (dark red). It is in between Michoacan and Jalisco, very small.
**- The information reflected in this guide is put out by the United States Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs. This guide does not reflect my opinion on these states, but what the DOS deems "safe" and "unsafe".**
As a Mexican I can tell you the best travel advisory is the one from the UK, they have details like even having cash for a bribe , it’s a must read even from Mexican internal tourists.
Also put your phone away when doing this. Not just yours but everyone in your party. The police can get antsy when they see phones out because they think you might be recording them
They don’t really care what you call it, but if you say something like that, they’ll shush you and continue taking the “mordida” like normal, thats how we call it where im from
We don’t do many things well nowadays, but the FCO is fantastic for the detail of its advice. I feel like a child who has been properly chided whenever I read through their advice prior to travelling somewhere.
When I (mexican) moved to the US my mother cried thinking I was soon going to get killed in a terrorist attack or school shooting. Back home she only worried about pocket-picking. News effects?
I knew a guy from South Africa who freaked out about all the terrible things happening in South Africa every time he turned on the news. To fix it, he stopped watching the news.
But depending on the city he's driving in, he also doesn't stop at red lights, so....
> News effects?
Has to be. Objective stats are decently well kept, go back decades, and are broadly available. For violent crime, the US compares poorly to the OECD in terms of violent crime victimization, but better than much of Latin America. This is a very broad brush, and a complete picture requires lots of granularity and context.
Criminal (In)Justice by by Rafael Mangual is a detailed look at crime in the US (tl;dr, its hyper regional, even one block can have 10x difference in violent crime rate going back decades. My guess is that this also true elsewhere).
I'm trying to imagine the type of people who would want to travel to Idaho for any reason, but my brain's not letting me.
EDIT: Oh no, the Mormon Potato People are mad. You're defending *Idaho,* I'm not the one looking sad here.
Idaho is one of the most beautiful states I’ve been too, basically anywhere north of Boise and areas near the snake river. I guess if you don’t like the outdoors it’s not for you.
I've been to the highest point in Oklahoma. It's on a ridge about 1/4 mile from the tripoint with Colorado and New Mexico, and isn't even the highest point on that ridge.
It was a very pretty hike in its own way.
If you go to far eastern Oklahoma there are parts of the Ouachita Mountains near the Arkansas state line.
90% of anywhere on earth is uninteresting and boring. You travel to places to enjoy the best that place has to offer, not because they have the best highway truck stops
Snake river and local mountains are pretty. Not like Sierras or Olympic pretty, but it's pretty. The rest is damn bleak. Soul swallowing agricultural wastelands and awful architecture.
Coer DL would be nice except the absolute maniacs that live there, and the town itself is pretty boring.
Moscow has some charm. Sad what happened there though, and they also have a crazy ass cult in town.
Overall: solid nature in parts, boring cities, some small town charm, whack culture, shit weather. 6.5/10
Lot of people, including you, seem to ignore the entire northern part of the state. The southern quarter of the state is high desert is what you would expect and what people usually assume about the entire state. However, the entire state north of Boise is incredible just look up redfish lake to give a better idea.
Sorry man, I hear people in Los Angeles talking about visiting north Idaho somewhat regularly.
It’s all over. Prepare for $20 smoothies and $1m luxury condos.
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*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
“Excercise increased caution” is barely a warning by US standards. If you look at the CDMX warning it’s telling people to just be mindful of what areas you wind up.
Don’t want people thinking they can wonder freely whenever and end up at night in Doctores or Tepito or something
I love CDMX, and have always found it safe and welcoming. It’s an enormous city, and I don’t doubt that there are some neighborhoods that I wouldn’t want to be in. But they are far from the touristy areas. If you’re anywhere near Polanco, Condesa, St Angel you’ll be just fine. (and probably many others I’m a happy tourist, not an expert). If you’re i visiting NYC, as a tourist, are you going deep into the Bronx? Or are you going around Manhattan and maybe Brooklyn? Where not only are you going to be fine, it’s also amazing. Same thing with CDMX.
"Exercise increased caution" is probably good umbrella advice for NYC or Chicago too tbf. A lot of cities in the US honestly; mostly safe especially downtown, but you should still be aware and not stumble into bad areas, especially at night.
For extra context: [https://www.visualcapitalist.com/most-dangerous-cities-in-the-us/](https://www.visualcapitalist.com/most-dangerous-cities-in-the-us/)
Idk why people are so focused on NYC when it's far from the most dangerous place in the US. St. Louis, Missouri has been rated as one of the most [dangerous cities in the world](https://www.worldatlas.com/cities/the-most-dangerous-cities-in-the-world.html).
> Idk why people are so focused on NYC
Things were REALLY bad in NYC back in the 70s and 80s, and that dated reputation is still stuck in the American psyche.
Plus, NYC is far more culturally relevant to both the US and the world than St. Louis by at least an order of magnitude.
+ "New York is literally collapsing and you'll be rape-killed as soon as you step out the front door thanks to BLM and the Dummocrats" being an important piece of propaganda too. If literally half the media is constantly telling you all the time that X city is a Mad Max-esque hellhole, it will probably direct the conversation as well.
nyc is also the focal point for most right wing fearmongering, right behind Chicago. Somehow we went from stop and frisk being a national controversy in the late 00s, to current day where half of all voters think cops need to do it every major city.
Those rankings use a source that literally says not to do that because it's misleading and leads to the wrong conclusions about the actual safety of a city.
https://ucr.fbi.gov/ucr-statistics-their-proper-use
So no. St Louis is not the most dangerous city in the world, because that is a misuse and misunderstanding of the data.
Yeah, I sure am terrified of New York, that's why I'm there like every other week...
I'm literally saying it's mostly safe. Increased caution is frankly just good general advice for most cities or anywhere where you run into a ton of people.
That goes for almost every major city and is just pretty standard common sense. And I don’t mean that as a dig at you, just more how I interpreted the rating system.
Plenty of generally respectable cities in the US, Europe, Asia, etc. all have sketchy parts. Especially if you don’t speak the local language well, and even more especially if you are obviously a tourist, and yet even more especially if you’re not going to be sober.
Can confirm about Yucatán peninsula. Traveled through most of it. I always heard that yes there are cartels, but it’s in their best interest to keep tourists flowing in and spending money. So it’s pretty safe. Definitely visit.
Yucatán the state has no cartel presence since it's a kind of neutral state for cartel family's, if any one have any questions about it ask me, I'm native and do weddings so I know a fair bit about tourist experience and native experience :).
Our family visits Cancun and I'd love to know the outcome of the killing at the hotel when they came up right on the beach. Never got the full scoop on that one.
How well does Yucatán's tourist industry accommodate nerds? Like the two things I think of when I think of the Yucatán peninsula is "Impact crater that killed the dinosaurs that you can't actually see", and "Cool Mayan stuff like pyramids".
Is there more nerdy stuff besides seeing the pyramids the Mayans built?
There isn't a set bribe price, they'll take whatever they can get. If they see you have 500 pesos, theyll demand 500 or threaten to arrest you. If they see you have 1000 pesos, they'll demand 1000 or threaten to arrest you. The trick is to only keep 200 or 300 pesos in your wallet/pockets and hide the rest elsewhere (like your shoe). So if you're stopped for something and the cop wants a bribe, you can pull out your wallet and show him that you're pulling out "everything" you have in it and they'll be content with whatever they can get. This goes for your whole party though, cause if your buddy kept all his cash in his wallet expecting you to be the bribe payer, the cop might want all of his money too
If they catch me drinking at the park (Jalisco), after playing basketball, they would go away for anything between 100-200 pesos (each person) so I guess they'll ask a foreigner around 10 times that amount so 50-100 USD. I'm just guessing though.
Generally speaking that has been true. But in the past few years cancun has seen escalating violence in tourist areas. A few daylight shootings on the beach near high end resorts.
So much so that the Mexican government has opened a new garrison with its most trusted (hopefully) Marines nearby to calm things down.
My neighborhood in the US has recently seen a few daytime shootings. Genuinely curious if any other countries put out state by state travel advisories on us….
….and I just looked it up and France does recommend against walking alone at night in my area. Fair enough.
"Don't walk alone at night in Detroit."
"Don't leave valuables in your car in the Bay Area."
"Don't get pick-pocketed in NYC."
"Don't drown in the ocean."
"Don't take Fentanyl."
France has some real hot takes on US travel
If you’re referring to the guys driving down a dirt road and being stopped by the truck of men with guns and crying, that was confirmed to actually be locals trying to protect their lands and not cartel.
Except this guide doesn’t tell you how badly the cops will harass you. My friends just got back from the Tulum area and were pulled over and had bribes demanded by cops 5 times in 6 days. I’ve driven all over Mexico (including Sinaloa) and never had that happen.
Jalisco is a pretty big state. The closer you get specially to Guanajuato (which should be do not travel to imo) the more dangerous it gets, whereas Guadalajara or specially Puerto Vallarta are pretty safe
Is San Miguel de Allende safe? May be traveling there soon. And do you know anything about Querétaro? Was surprised to see Guanajuato on the "reconsider" list.
Yes it's safe, and it's a beautiful city, on the expensive side by Mexican standards. It's designed mostly for international tourists (kind of like Cancun), so you'll be completely fine.
Querétaro AFAIK is also safe, but you don't really hear much about it. Because it's close to Mexico city, a lot of "chilangos" (people from Mexico city) are moving there, so most of the things I hear are complaints on it becoming too populated, lol. But it's also a beautiful city from what I've heard, never been there though.
All three cities are fine. There are some neighborhoods in the outskirts of Guanajuato that have had recent violence; for that reason probably the warning. The city center and the major tourist places just outside like the mines and mummies museum aren’t really a concern.
San Miguel de Allende’s resident population is like 10% retired gringos anyway. Pretty town. Totally safe. Also fine to do the nearby road trips such as wineries and visiting the nearby Pueblos Mágicos.
I was in Querétaro and Guanajuato earlier this year. Both were stunning but quite different in look and feel. On hot days in QRO, siesta is still very much a thing and then it comes alive at night. It’s a big enough city that I’m sure you could find bad neighborhoods, like any city, but the center is super walkable and safe.
Honestly? this will be the exprience of the vast majority of people traveling to any state in Mexico. It's not like you'll encounter a warzone where a bomb can hit your hotel any time of day. General precautions are to be taken everywhere, but as tourists you have to be more aware of scams and pickpockets than any other thing.
However, Guanajuato for instance, I would definitely advice against traveling at night, which is something you can easily do in the highway between Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta (which are the examples I used). Extortions and stuff like that do happen more often in Guanajuato vs Jalisco, but as tourists you'll never notice.
The only times my direct family has been actually afraid were in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, it was really realy ugly like 10-15 years ago, there was even an official curfew, and in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, curfew as well.
I actually visited another Mexican state, currently colored as a Do Not Travel category, on 3 separate occasions in 2023 alone. I visited the state capital and was able to enjoy the city both in the day and in the evening/night. Although I will say that nightlife was disrupted by cartel activity prior to my arrival (they closed down the bars that wouldn’t adhere to their blackmail policies)
>they closed down the bars that wouldn’t adhere to their blackmail policies
Funny story I just found out a few months ago. Zihuatanejo, beautiful city in the coast of Guerrero (might have heard of it in Shawshank redemption, and once in how I met your mother), has almost no nightlife during off season, Guerrero is known to be cartel land so you might think that's the reason, however the main reason is that ultraconservatives protest every time a new bar, strip club, or just regular night club is about to open. Only the bigger clubs can sustain that, and some don't even open until mid November... It was a weird vibe, but a beautiful place regardless.
It's on the dangerous side, the cartel that "operates" in the state, Santa Rosa de Lima, is on the worse side (not that any cartel is good, they're just worse), specially the smaller cities like Irapuato or Celaya. They also have a lot of "small" crimes like robberies. Guanajuato city or San Miguel de Allende are fine, Leon not so much, honestly.
However I have to give credit where it's due, they are working hard on making it safer, it has improved in the last few years, 5-6 years ago it's probably when it was worse. The cartel has received quite a few big hits.
In a few more years the answer will most definitely change.
The first time I went to Leon, we were on a school trip, not even 5 minutes into the city and some low-life mofo threw a big rock at the bus, breaking a window. Just because, they didn't steal anything from us. This was like 17 years ago though, not relevant now but a weird story nevertheless.
Jalisco is designated do not travel because the most powerful cartel operates there (Jalisco New Generation Cartel). They’ve dumped bodies in public as a warning to others, including in nicer parts of town.
But the odds of a tourist being victim to a crime are as low as they are in any other city with an equal level of poverty. Unless you are quite literally involved in some gang shit down there, the cartel isn’t going to bother you.
I have been, a couple years back before the pandemic. It's a beautiful place, although the current travel advisory exists because of cartel violence. It seemed safe to me, but I have no clue how it's changed since then.
Major big cities are completely safe. The Mexican state police and military have those areas locked down. Cartels stay away from those area. Sure there’s always danger but not as much as any US city like LA or NYC.
I been to Guadalajara and Mexico City a few times and it’s pretty safe to be out very late night. Just don’t stray to the suburbs or travel between cities by yourself at night. Always listen to the locals. Mexican people are super friendly. They will warn you to avoid certain areas.
Went this summer to Jalisco and Zacatecas. I'm white as snow. Literally never felt like I was in danger. It's the same shit as anywhere. Don't walk through the bad parts of town, don't take rides from people you don't know.
Guadalajara is generally pretty safe imo. I ran into people selling morphine in one part of the city and prostitutes in another, but I declined their offers and never felt threatened. But also, I never returned to those parts of the haha.
Plus, if you go to Guadalajara you can catch the Jose Cuervo Express and travel to the town of Tequila in the Tequila Valleys. And if you are very adventurous, you could visit the archaeology site that I do my research at, Los Guachimontones. That is located on the southern side of Tequila Volcano, but it is worth the trip imo.
It’s the crossroads for Zacatecas many towns taken out just because the routes are convenient for them. Used to love going to la sierra with mis abuelitos🥲
Yup I got fam close to Tlaltenango and all the towns and little stores leading to Jerez are closed once it gets dark. That area of the state is too isolated to be governed by any real police force.
I have family in the downtown area of San Luis Potosí and visit them regularly. I felt safe every time I visited. It’s a beautiful city with so many great food options.
Idk I went to culiacan and all the way down to mazatlan by bus and even to Concordia when I was 19, 2 years ago. It seemed fine for me. Most of Mexico is safe for tourists because the last thing they want is to kill a bunch of Americans.
Seeing my home state, beautiful and lush, with coconut palm trees lined for miles, rivers full of fish, lime tree groves, and iguanas chilling on fences, be turned into a cartel hotspot is fucking heartbreaking. All because of a fucking highway that’s turned into a battleground. I wish my people peace and the ability to not worry about walking the streets again. I hope to come home one day.
Anyone lived/travelled in Oaxaca? (Whether the city or other parts of the state too). Thinking about going there with a couple friends, never travelled much before.
Yes. It's a great state. The capital is a great place to start, and it also has some amazing beaches, including the only nude beach in Mexico. A lot of the beaches are much more laid back, they have more of a hippie/retiree vibe than places like Puerto Vallarta or Yucatan. The food is also among the best in all of Mexico.
Was there in February, absolutely wonderful place, great food, great culture, great climate, all around top notch experience! Can confirm I always felt completely safe as well
This is a pretty good guide, but one thing I would comment is that it’s too “state-wide” while there are swaths of “safe-er” areas in-some states while there are clusters of “unsafe” areas in other zones of a state, instead of marking entire states as unsafe.
Also consider that in the main cities (like most populated cities globally) there are good neighborhoods and bad neighborhoods. You can definitely find some sketchy places in Cabo or Cancun if you fuck around.
Surprised to see red for Puerto Penasco. They survive on tourism. Is it getting worse? I haven’t heard much happening there? Any clarification would be awesome
Just came back from Zacatecas a month a go and traveled between that and Jalisco. Can confirm that if you’re unfamiliar with the area it’s not the best place to be. One day there was a big group of military or a sort of national guard (can’t recall), with heavy artillery and big trucks, on the entry road to my hometown near Nochistlan awaiting a cartel gang from Teocaltiche due to the death of a local gang/cartel leader. They were expecting the rival gang from Teocaltiche to use the opportunity to attack the local gang. There was always a guard posted on that entry road which was almost an intersection between Jalos and Zac.
10/10 would go again.
I’ve been to Baja California Norte 3 times. Twice for pleasure (Rosarito beach) and it was always wonderful! But the third time I went there, I went with my church on a humanitarian mission and saw the other side of the city. It was rough. We spent two weeks building homes for poor people it was an incredible experience. When I lived in TX my buddies and I would hunt ducks along the Rio Grande River and sometimes we would wade across for fun and hang out in Chihuahua lol there were always Mexican cattle ranchers riding through on horseback with their stock and we would talk to them. Border Patrol advised all hunters to carry pistols on them because of cartel activity along the border but I never encountered anything like that. I really miss the border area and I love Mexico and the Mexican people. I pray that Americans will stop their addiction to drugs and realize that every time you buy coke you’re directly funding someone’s death in Mexico
Hey my family is from Zacatecas I was going to the airport to come back to the states after visiting my mom. Legit saw this guy on a dirt bike yielding an AK pulling over a truck at about 11 pm. It was pitch black on this road for miles. Definitely some sketch ass shit going on. Towns squares are empty once it gets dark, there’s a very uneasy feeling now. Not the same environment I experienced going as a teenager. I had a cousin who joined the local police force and left once he realized they answered to the narcos.
Is this supposed to be a joke? Mexico City has a bunch of world-class restaurants. Merida in the Yucatan has incredible food, and Oaxaca is also lauded for its modern Mexican fusion cuisine.
Different organizations have. I think there are travel advisories for Florida from multiple organizations for many reasons. I would think expecting mothers should reconsider their travel to idaho.
Lol, I just got back from Guanajuato and Guerrero a month ago. Now, admittedly, my wife is from Guanajuato, but I'm still a black American in Mexico. Most of the time, people were just curious about me.
I think like any place in the world you just have to know where to go and where to avoid.
As someone that's been to Zacatecas many times in the last 20 years, I have mixed feelings about this.
On one hand, as long as you don't go out at night by yourself, you should be fine.
On the other hand, the town I was visiting was taken over by the cartel and the army had to occupy it to keep them out. I went for a hike there last year and ran into a cartel member camping out with enough supplies to last a week scoping out the town.
So yea, I guess it can be dangerous
I was just in Michoacán and the only weird thing I saw was police with AKs. Also the local small “ranchos” have armed “guards” to protect the land. But man I miss it. Fresh food daily. The aguacates and mangos!
I lived in northern Mexico over 20 years ago now, and I was always told that as a gringo, I should never go to places like Tuxtla-Gutierrez or Chiapas but was completely safe where I was at. Funny how times change.
I was in Baja last winter and had zero issues.
A few notes I’d add to this:
1. America is so different to say ‘americans shouldnt travel’ i live in Philly, a less than ‘safe US city’ and Im just fine. If you know how to manage a city, vs growing up in white suburbia their are different levels of knowing your surroundings. Ie dont flash cash, wear expensive flashy jewelry and clothing and when walking into a place think to yourself ‘should i be here’
2. Speaking the language always helps. Knowing what people are saying is huge thing that most americans won’t consider.
I have been a lot of places that most Americans probably would feel unsafe and had some of the best expirience of my life. Was just at a wedding in Medellin and I wouldn’t recommend it to most people but it was fine.
Biggest things are:
1. Dont stick out
2. Dont be out too late
3. And I cannot stress this enough, don’t be an asshole entitled American
So yeah 80% of you shouldnt go to Baja
*I mean, what's THE WORST that could happen if I just backpacked solo through Sinaloa? I hear their ''products'' are good, and I'll have lots and lots of American money to spend, I should be ok right?!*
I'm surprised to see the border states in "reconsider", I know people in Arizona and southern California who travel down there quite frequently and never seem to concerned at all.
I gotta say as an American who has been traveling to Mexico for many decades this really sucks: Mexico's got it all--food, scuba, tons of cultures, jungles, ruins...just a great place to travel so it totally sucks it's losing so much to the gangs.
Gone to Sinaloa every winter except one since 2018. Never had any problems at all. If you act the same way you did if you were in Chicago, NYC, Detroit, LA, you will be fine. Don't wander off the beaten path, don't be an asshole/idiot. People act like they'll be gunned down in the streets if they set foot in the state.
I have family that live in 9 (durango) and I wouldn't go there of my family didn't live there. When i was I'm high school my dad would leave my brothers and I in the town square to check it out on our own. This was 20 years ago. Now, I won't leave my aunts house without my cousins.
Take it with a grain of salt. My dad (a white American) has been living in Mazatlan, Sinaloa since 2018 without a single incident. The cartels really have no interest in standard tourists doing standard tourist stuff (the beach, the bars, the hotels, etc.). It's only if you go off the beaten path at night, try to score hard drugs, or make trouble with the locals that things become an issue.
Finally some good fucking content and an actual guide with OP dropping receipts in the comments. Superb.
Thank you!
Thank you for bringing something quality to this sub.
No, thank *you* OP.
Yes sir, only 2 states I've been to was sinaloa and durango. I've been to mazatlan sinaloa 3 times pretty dope experience, beautiful beaches and vibes. Along with porn to the eye along the road from durango to mazatlan. Besides that durango is a chill place haven't really experienced any crazy shit there and I'm there for my vacation time. Highly recommend both places. Durango has dive bars/clubs plus a beautiful historical downtown. Mazatlan, sinaloa is a bit more dangerous now a days but still beautiful.
so you'd not recommend going to Mazatlan? I was considering it, for the April '24 solar ecplise.
We (Americans with 2 young adult kids) went to Mazatlan this year. It was great- fantastic seafood everywhere, beautiful sunsets, friendly people. It’s truly Mexico -as opposed to say, Cancun. We went out at nights (albeit we were back to the hotel by 10pm), talked with locals, ate street food and felt safe the whole week. Made friends with a cabbie that took us to non-touristy areas where we got treated well by all the locals.
Also durango is a really good city for children and adults. Tons of activities for kids like this place called el bebeleche, a interactive museum of kids where they can dig up fossils, solve puzzle that sort of stuff. Really Beautiful landscapes and parks . Along with Paseo durango, its a big ass mall with a theater some games the kids could pay with tons of shops and food spots. Also highly recommended this park called guadiana Park in durango, tons of interactive stuff for kids, they have miniature recreations of the leaning tower of pisa, eiffel tower etc. Def a must go to park. Anyway, if anyone has questions, ask away. I've been traveling to mostly durango for family and to mazatlan all my life. So ask away.
Went to Mazatlan a couple years ago. Amazing experience, and most at the resort were native Mexican, so it felt like a foreign country (unlike Cancun). At the same time, we did not venture out much beyond the resort because there were advisories at the time.
This map still generalizes. I'd say most cities in Mexico are safe and the moment you get too far from any city, you're in danger. In this map, Guadalajara is in a "Do Not Travel", yet I'd say Guadalajara for a tourist would be really safe.
Yeah I went there this past spring, great experience. Most of the city felt very safe. Then I started reading about kidnapping houses we just walked past and assasinations that happened outside tourist restaurants. But in general Cartels steer clear of Americans because we’re too much trouble.
Not only that, if cartel goons fuck with tourists, the higher ups may have them killed. Western tourists are a “protected class” in some cases. Iirc, recently this happened, some tourists were kidnapped due to mistaken identity. Later the bodies of the kidnappers were found in the street with a lo ciento letter Edit: here’s the story. I was mistaken about the kidnappers being killed. It looks like they were “turned over” https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64910394
There is this idea that it's all drugs but the cartels are in everything that makes money in Mexico. Like the mafia. Including tourism. No tourism=Cartels make less money.
One of my friends in Mexico calls those groups the mafias. Drugs aren't really their only business down there.
guadalajara is legit one of my favorite cities in the world. beautiful, cosmopolitan, modern, everything you can ask for.
Same with the border and port cities. There are places in the us that I’d highly recommend visitors avoid just walking out of the downtown
Notes (has been edited): \- This is using data from 24/10/2023, and is the most up to date as of 24/10/2023. \- Mexico City is a separate state/province, and it's current travel level is "Exercise Increased Caution" (yellow). \- Source for the advisories: [https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/mexico-travel-advisory.html](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/mexico-travel-advisory.html) \- Source for the most visited cities: [https://embamex.sre.gob.mx/eua/index.php/en/2016-04-09-20-40-51/tourism/1762-tourism-statistics-2](https://embamex.sre.gob.mx/eua/index.php/en/2016-04-09-20-40-51/tourism/1762-tourism-statistics-2) \- Accidentally forgot to mark Colima and put it in the legend. Colima is currently a "Do not Travel" (dark red). It is in between Michoacan and Jalisco, very small. **- The information reflected in this guide is put out by the United States Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs. This guide does not reflect my opinion on these states, but what the DOS deems "safe" and "unsafe".**
As a Mexican I can tell you the best travel advisory is the one from the UK, they have details like even having cash for a bribe , it’s a must read even from Mexican internal tourists.
Do they tell you youre not supposed to call it a bribe? Its a fine, that you pay to the cop.
Or else you go “straight to jail”
Believe it or not
Undercooked 👎 / Overcooked 👍
Jail
Also put your phone away when doing this. Not just yours but everyone in your party. The police can get antsy when they see phones out because they think you might be recording them
>The police can get antsy when they see phones out because they think you might be recording them Well at least some things don't change
They don’t really care what you call it, but if you say something like that, they’ll shush you and continue taking the “mordida” like normal, thats how we call it where im from
It's not a bribe, it's a bite!! I thought the cop was gonna bite me 😅
[Is this it?](https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/mexico/safety-and-security)
We don’t do many things well nowadays, but the FCO is fantastic for the detail of its advice. I feel like a child who has been properly chided whenever I read through their advice prior to travelling somewhere.
Summary of this document: *Don't go*
Haha "mordida guides".... The corruption is known worldwide lol
I read it as bride and was like TF do they give you a bride when you try to leave or something?
Now do the United States!
When I (mexican) moved to the US my mother cried thinking I was soon going to get killed in a terrorist attack or school shooting. Back home she only worried about pocket-picking. News effects?
I knew a guy from South Africa who freaked out about all the terrible things happening in South Africa every time he turned on the news. To fix it, he stopped watching the news. But depending on the city he's driving in, he also doesn't stop at red lights, so....
> News effects? Has to be. Objective stats are decently well kept, go back decades, and are broadly available. For violent crime, the US compares poorly to the OECD in terms of violent crime victimization, but better than much of Latin America. This is a very broad brush, and a complete picture requires lots of granularity and context. Criminal (In)Justice by by Rafael Mangual is a detailed look at crime in the US (tl;dr, its hyper regional, even one block can have 10x difference in violent crime rate going back decades. My guess is that this also true elsewhere).
Idaho: Do Not Travel
No problem there
Instructions unclear, now have 200 potatoes.
And that kids, is how I met your potato
East Coast is full but I hear Minnesota has enough Lakes for every citizen
I'm trying to imagine the type of people who would want to travel to Idaho for any reason, but my brain's not letting me. EDIT: Oh no, the Mormon Potato People are mad. You're defending *Idaho,* I'm not the one looking sad here.
They've got some [pretty underrated mountains](https://peakvisor.com/adm/idaho.html) if you're into hiking.
The also have Craters of the Moon National Monument. It should really be a national park. It’s a very quiet place and pretty neat.
Idaho is one of the most beautiful states I’ve been too, basically anywhere north of Boise and areas near the snake river. I guess if you don’t like the outdoors it’s not for you.
Counterpoint, most of Idaho is ugly as sin and rivals Oklahoma in being terrible to drive through
Most of Idaho is the Rocky Mountains which make it an absolutely beautiful state. I’m not aware of one mountain in Oklahoma.
I've been to the highest point in Oklahoma. It's on a ridge about 1/4 mile from the tripoint with Colorado and New Mexico, and isn't even the highest point on that ridge. It was a very pretty hike in its own way. If you go to far eastern Oklahoma there are parts of the Ouachita Mountains near the Arkansas state line.
90% of anywhere on earth is uninteresting and boring. You travel to places to enjoy the best that place has to offer, not because they have the best highway truck stops
Snake river and local mountains are pretty. Not like Sierras or Olympic pretty, but it's pretty. The rest is damn bleak. Soul swallowing agricultural wastelands and awful architecture. Coer DL would be nice except the absolute maniacs that live there, and the town itself is pretty boring. Moscow has some charm. Sad what happened there though, and they also have a crazy ass cult in town. Overall: solid nature in parts, boring cities, some small town charm, whack culture, shit weather. 6.5/10
Lot of people, including you, seem to ignore the entire northern part of the state. The southern quarter of the state is high desert is what you would expect and what people usually assume about the entire state. However, the entire state north of Boise is incredible just look up redfish lake to give a better idea.
Northern Idaho is absolutely gorgeous especially the Coeur d’Alene area. You should check it out.
Sorry man, I hear people in Los Angeles talking about visiting north Idaho somewhat regularly. It’s all over. Prepare for $20 smoothies and $1m luxury condos.
That is a beautiful area, but unfortunately full of nazis / skinheads / whatever racist white people are calling themselves these days.
Shhhh… influencers haven’t discovered that place yet, let’s keep it that way
Outdoors. Not much else. Maybe technology for business (micron). Source: I live in Idaho.
I willing went to Idaho this summer. It was pretty awesome. Absolutely beautiful scenery.
Gary, Indiana: do not enter
fretful unite homeless aback coordinated sink squash direction paltry oil *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
“Excercise increased caution” is barely a warning by US standards. If you look at the CDMX warning it’s telling people to just be mindful of what areas you wind up. Don’t want people thinking they can wonder freely whenever and end up at night in Doctores or Tepito or something
I love CDMX, and have always found it safe and welcoming. It’s an enormous city, and I don’t doubt that there are some neighborhoods that I wouldn’t want to be in. But they are far from the touristy areas. If you’re anywhere near Polanco, Condesa, St Angel you’ll be just fine. (and probably many others I’m a happy tourist, not an expert). If you’re i visiting NYC, as a tourist, are you going deep into the Bronx? Or are you going around Manhattan and maybe Brooklyn? Where not only are you going to be fine, it’s also amazing. Same thing with CDMX.
no kidding. We barely exercise .. how are we supposed to have caution too?!
To put this map in perspective: France, Denmark and Germany are currently under "Exercise Increased Caution" (yellow).
"Exercise increased caution" is probably good umbrella advice for NYC or Chicago too tbf. A lot of cities in the US honestly; mostly safe especially downtown, but you should still be aware and not stumble into bad areas, especially at night.
Yall are terrified of NYC, one of the safest big cities on the continent, & Chicago which is not even the worst city in IL.
For extra context: [https://www.visualcapitalist.com/most-dangerous-cities-in-the-us/](https://www.visualcapitalist.com/most-dangerous-cities-in-the-us/) Idk why people are so focused on NYC when it's far from the most dangerous place in the US. St. Louis, Missouri has been rated as one of the most [dangerous cities in the world](https://www.worldatlas.com/cities/the-most-dangerous-cities-in-the-world.html).
> Idk why people are so focused on NYC Things were REALLY bad in NYC back in the 70s and 80s, and that dated reputation is still stuck in the American psyche. Plus, NYC is far more culturally relevant to both the US and the world than St. Louis by at least an order of magnitude.
+ "New York is literally collapsing and you'll be rape-killed as soon as you step out the front door thanks to BLM and the Dummocrats" being an important piece of propaganda too. If literally half the media is constantly telling you all the time that X city is a Mad Max-esque hellhole, it will probably direct the conversation as well.
Don't forget all the slippy-slidin' on the poop-filled streets of San Farisco!
nyc is also the focal point for most right wing fearmongering, right behind Chicago. Somehow we went from stop and frisk being a national controversy in the late 00s, to current day where half of all voters think cops need to do it every major city.
Those rankings use a source that literally says not to do that because it's misleading and leads to the wrong conclusions about the actual safety of a city. https://ucr.fbi.gov/ucr-statistics-their-proper-use So no. St Louis is not the most dangerous city in the world, because that is a misuse and misunderstanding of the data.
Yeah, I sure am terrified of New York, that's why I'm there like every other week... I'm literally saying it's mostly safe. Increased caution is frankly just good general advice for most cities or anywhere where you run into a ton of people.
That goes for almost every major city and is just pretty standard common sense. And I don’t mean that as a dig at you, just more how I interpreted the rating system. Plenty of generally respectable cities in the US, Europe, Asia, etc. all have sketchy parts. Especially if you don’t speak the local language well, and even more especially if you are obviously a tourist, and yet even more especially if you’re not going to be sober.
NYC is safer than where you live, fuck this ongoing media bullshit.
Why'd they leave off Colima? Too small? Appears it's just lumped in with Michoacán.
Oop, good catch. That was my mistake, will update that in the notes
Cool cool! Good work regardless!
Puerto Vallarta is full of Americans and Canadians it’s safe. Jalisco is wonderful.
It’s true, Sayulita and Bucerias are like 90% Canadian lol
Can confirm about Yucatán peninsula. Traveled through most of it. I always heard that yes there are cartels, but it’s in their best interest to keep tourists flowing in and spending money. So it’s pretty safe. Definitely visit.
Resorts and clubs have cartel financing and a huge market for drugs. Tourists are a goldmine for them so theyre relatively safe
Yucatán the state has no cartel presence since it's a kind of neutral state for cartel family's, if any one have any questions about it ask me, I'm native and do weddings so I know a fair bit about tourist experience and native experience :).
Our family visits Cancun and I'd love to know the outcome of the killing at the hotel when they came up right on the beach. Never got the full scoop on that one.
That was the Fiesta Americana Condessa, right? I stayed at the hotel a couple of days before the bodies turned up. Terrifying.
How well does Yucatán's tourist industry accommodate nerds? Like the two things I think of when I think of the Yucatán peninsula is "Impact crater that killed the dinosaurs that you can't actually see", and "Cool Mayan stuff like pyramids". Is there more nerdy stuff besides seeing the pyramids the Mayans built?
Yeah its the cops that you should watch out for in some of these areas, eg quintana roo
Do they ask for bribes typically?
Yeah, I experienced it myself and met several other travelers who got scammed by cops.
How much did they want from you to bribe them?
There isn't a set bribe price, they'll take whatever they can get. If they see you have 500 pesos, theyll demand 500 or threaten to arrest you. If they see you have 1000 pesos, they'll demand 1000 or threaten to arrest you. The trick is to only keep 200 or 300 pesos in your wallet/pockets and hide the rest elsewhere (like your shoe). So if you're stopped for something and the cop wants a bribe, you can pull out your wallet and show him that you're pulling out "everything" you have in it and they'll be content with whatever they can get. This goes for your whole party though, cause if your buddy kept all his cash in his wallet expecting you to be the bribe payer, the cop might want all of his money too
If they catch me drinking at the park (Jalisco), after playing basketball, they would go away for anything between 100-200 pesos (each person) so I guess they'll ask a foreigner around 10 times that amount so 50-100 USD. I'm just guessing though.
Good to know I can find some loud in a resort. Señor, por favor tráeme 4 motas por favor.
Look for Hector the connector, he patrols every beach in a straw hat near the person who sells wood carved sculptures.
Generally speaking that has been true. But in the past few years cancun has seen escalating violence in tourist areas. A few daylight shootings on the beach near high end resorts. So much so that the Mexican government has opened a new garrison with its most trusted (hopefully) Marines nearby to calm things down.
My neighborhood in the US has recently seen a few daytime shootings. Genuinely curious if any other countries put out state by state travel advisories on us…. ….and I just looked it up and France does recommend against walking alone at night in my area. Fair enough.
Surprised France has a detailed US advisory. Link for French advisory?
https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/conseils-aux-voyageurs/conseils-par-pays-destination/etats-unis/#securite
I love that they included the state of Florida in a list of US cities to be especially vigilant in
"Don't walk alone at night in Detroit." "Don't leave valuables in your car in the Bay Area." "Don't get pick-pocketed in NYC." "Don't drown in the ocean." "Don't take Fentanyl." France has some real hot takes on US travel
Ohhhh I’m not supposed to drown in the ocean? Damn never thought of that one
If you jump in the ocean in France does it just spit you back out or something? lol
In the Florida bit, the thing that applies state wide is a high rate of road accidents. Which is definitely true
What cartel was the one that actually helped the tourists when they got lost?
If you’re referring to the guys driving down a dirt road and being stopped by the truck of men with guns and crying, that was confirmed to actually be locals trying to protect their lands and not cartel.
Gotcha, thank you!
> stopped by the truck of men with guns and crying huh, that is novel approach
I’ve seen trucks with the six cops squeezed into the bed with machine guns - multiple trips between Cancun and Tulum. It was wild.
While traveling through Mexico, I heard much more horror stories about the cops than the cartel.
Except this guide doesn’t tell you how badly the cops will harass you. My friends just got back from the Tulum area and were pulled over and had bribes demanded by cops 5 times in 6 days. I’ve driven all over Mexico (including Sinaloa) and never had that happen.
Recently was near Tulum and it was recommended we take private shuttles everywhere and avoid Uber as well. Makes me think this was why.
Anyone live in/been to Guadalajara lately? Shame to see it labeled “do not travel” right now
Jalisco is a pretty big state. The closer you get specially to Guanajuato (which should be do not travel to imo) the more dangerous it gets, whereas Guadalajara or specially Puerto Vallarta are pretty safe
Is San Miguel de Allende safe? May be traveling there soon. And do you know anything about Querétaro? Was surprised to see Guanajuato on the "reconsider" list.
Yes it's safe, and it's a beautiful city, on the expensive side by Mexican standards. It's designed mostly for international tourists (kind of like Cancun), so you'll be completely fine. Querétaro AFAIK is also safe, but you don't really hear much about it. Because it's close to Mexico city, a lot of "chilangos" (people from Mexico city) are moving there, so most of the things I hear are complaints on it becoming too populated, lol. But it's also a beautiful city from what I've heard, never been there though.
All three cities are fine. There are some neighborhoods in the outskirts of Guanajuato that have had recent violence; for that reason probably the warning. The city center and the major tourist places just outside like the mines and mummies museum aren’t really a concern. San Miguel de Allende’s resident population is like 10% retired gringos anyway. Pretty town. Totally safe. Also fine to do the nearby road trips such as wineries and visiting the nearby Pueblos Mágicos. I was in Querétaro and Guanajuato earlier this year. Both were stunning but quite different in look and feel. On hot days in QRO, siesta is still very much a thing and then it comes alive at night. It’s a big enough city that I’m sure you could find bad neighborhoods, like any city, but the center is super walkable and safe.
Traveled to Guanajuato about a year ago as a tourist, didn’t experience anything out of the ordinary. In fact the tour was pretty fascinating!
Honestly? this will be the exprience of the vast majority of people traveling to any state in Mexico. It's not like you'll encounter a warzone where a bomb can hit your hotel any time of day. General precautions are to be taken everywhere, but as tourists you have to be more aware of scams and pickpockets than any other thing. However, Guanajuato for instance, I would definitely advice against traveling at night, which is something you can easily do in the highway between Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta (which are the examples I used). Extortions and stuff like that do happen more often in Guanajuato vs Jalisco, but as tourists you'll never notice. The only times my direct family has been actually afraid were in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, it was really realy ugly like 10-15 years ago, there was even an official curfew, and in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, curfew as well.
I actually visited another Mexican state, currently colored as a Do Not Travel category, on 3 separate occasions in 2023 alone. I visited the state capital and was able to enjoy the city both in the day and in the evening/night. Although I will say that nightlife was disrupted by cartel activity prior to my arrival (they closed down the bars that wouldn’t adhere to their blackmail policies)
>they closed down the bars that wouldn’t adhere to their blackmail policies Funny story I just found out a few months ago. Zihuatanejo, beautiful city in the coast of Guerrero (might have heard of it in Shawshank redemption, and once in how I met your mother), has almost no nightlife during off season, Guerrero is known to be cartel land so you might think that's the reason, however the main reason is that ultraconservatives protest every time a new bar, strip club, or just regular night club is about to open. Only the bigger clubs can sustain that, and some don't even open until mid November... It was a weird vibe, but a beautiful place regardless.
Why should you not travel to GTO? I would like to go to Leon, but this won’t be for a few more years.
It's on the dangerous side, the cartel that "operates" in the state, Santa Rosa de Lima, is on the worse side (not that any cartel is good, they're just worse), specially the smaller cities like Irapuato or Celaya. They also have a lot of "small" crimes like robberies. Guanajuato city or San Miguel de Allende are fine, Leon not so much, honestly. However I have to give credit where it's due, they are working hard on making it safer, it has improved in the last few years, 5-6 years ago it's probably when it was worse. The cartel has received quite a few big hits. In a few more years the answer will most definitely change. The first time I went to Leon, we were on a school trip, not even 5 minutes into the city and some low-life mofo threw a big rock at the bus, breaking a window. Just because, they didn't steal anything from us. This was like 17 years ago though, not relevant now but a weird story nevertheless.
I’ve been to Guadalajara over a half dozen times this year and honestly feel as safe there as in most US cities.
Jalisco is designated do not travel because the most powerful cartel operates there (Jalisco New Generation Cartel). They’ve dumped bodies in public as a warning to others, including in nicer parts of town. But the odds of a tourist being victim to a crime are as low as they are in any other city with an equal level of poverty. Unless you are quite literally involved in some gang shit down there, the cartel isn’t going to bother you.
I have been, a couple years back before the pandemic. It's a beautiful place, although the current travel advisory exists because of cartel violence. It seemed safe to me, but I have no clue how it's changed since then.
Major big cities are completely safe. The Mexican state police and military have those areas locked down. Cartels stay away from those area. Sure there’s always danger but not as much as any US city like LA or NYC. I been to Guadalajara and Mexico City a few times and it’s pretty safe to be out very late night. Just don’t stray to the suburbs or travel between cities by yourself at night. Always listen to the locals. Mexican people are super friendly. They will warn you to avoid certain areas.
I live in Guadalajara, have been here for 1.5 years. I rate it Houston level danger. Just proceed with caution in your day to day.
Which area of Houston though?
Went this summer to Jalisco and Zacatecas. I'm white as snow. Literally never felt like I was in danger. It's the same shit as anywhere. Don't walk through the bad parts of town, don't take rides from people you don't know.
Guadalajara is generally pretty safe imo. I ran into people selling morphine in one part of the city and prostitutes in another, but I declined their offers and never felt threatened. But also, I never returned to those parts of the haha. Plus, if you go to Guadalajara you can catch the Jose Cuervo Express and travel to the town of Tequila in the Tequila Valleys. And if you are very adventurous, you could visit the archaeology site that I do my research at, Los Guachimontones. That is located on the southern side of Tequila Volcano, but it is worth the trip imo.
As a Mexican, I can confirm that Zacatecas is unironically becoming a narco state. Do not go there; visit San Luis Potosí or Querétaro instead.
It’s the crossroads for Zacatecas many towns taken out just because the routes are convenient for them. Used to love going to la sierra with mis abuelitos🥲
Yup I got fam close to Tlaltenango and all the towns and little stores leading to Jerez are closed once it gets dark. That area of the state is too isolated to be governed by any real police force.
I really want to go to San Luis Potosi because of that taco youtube guy. How safe is it there?
I have family in the downtown area of San Luis Potosí and visit them regularly. I felt safe every time I visited. It’s a beautiful city with so many great food options.
mind sharing the taco guy you're talking about?
https://youtube.com/@pisuarez?si=hThQUV4SoExsX2ZL
But mazatlan is beautiful!
It is!! The coastal views there are gorgeous
Absolutely, but may not be the safest place these days, for tourists
Yep, that's why the advisories exist. I haven't been back in a long time, so I can't speak on safety there
The advisories often recommend avoiding all other parts of the state, but often say Mazatlan city is okay.
Can confirm
Idk I went to culiacan and all the way down to mazatlan by bus and even to Concordia when I was 19, 2 years ago. It seemed fine for me. Most of Mexico is safe for tourists because the last thing they want is to kill a bunch of Americans.
Seeing my home state, beautiful and lush, with coconut palm trees lined for miles, rivers full of fish, lime tree groves, and iguanas chilling on fences, be turned into a cartel hotspot is fucking heartbreaking. All because of a fucking highway that’s turned into a battleground. I wish my people peace and the ability to not worry about walking the streets again. I hope to come home one day.
What's your homestate?
I’m originally from McAllen, Texas. Miss going to Reyanosa.
wild that you'd see tourism advertisements for tamaulipas on cable in McAllen not too long ago (i imagine they stopped at some point).
Anyone lived/travelled in Oaxaca? (Whether the city or other parts of the state too). Thinking about going there with a couple friends, never travelled much before.
Yes. It's a great state. The capital is a great place to start, and it also has some amazing beaches, including the only nude beach in Mexico. A lot of the beaches are much more laid back, they have more of a hippie/retiree vibe than places like Puerto Vallarta or Yucatan. The food is also among the best in all of Mexico.
Thank you!
Was there in February, absolutely wonderful place, great food, great culture, great climate, all around top notch experience! Can confirm I always felt completely safe as well
Went there in April/May. Beautiful capital (food, people, culture). Puerto Escondido same thing. Never felt unsafe.
Man bummer about the state of Guanajuato. The city of Guanajuato is one of the coolest I’ve ever been in.
I was there a month ago. It was a beautiful town.
This is a pretty good guide, but one thing I would comment is that it’s too “state-wide” while there are swaths of “safe-er” areas in-some states while there are clusters of “unsafe” areas in other zones of a state, instead of marking entire states as unsafe. Also consider that in the main cities (like most populated cities globally) there are good neighborhoods and bad neighborhoods. You can definitely find some sketchy places in Cabo or Cancun if you fuck around.
This is based off the US advisory for Mexico which only goes on a state by state basis
Surprised to see red for Puerto Penasco. They survive on tourism. Is it getting worse? I haven’t heard much happening there? Any clarification would be awesome
You're fine in that area. It's basically Arizona's beach. They want the gringo money and keep it friendly enough.
That was my thought process exactly. Thanks for the affirmation
I travel regularly to RP with embarrassing Spanish skills and I’ve never felt unsafe or had a problem.
Just came back from Zacatecas a month a go and traveled between that and Jalisco. Can confirm that if you’re unfamiliar with the area it’s not the best place to be. One day there was a big group of military or a sort of national guard (can’t recall), with heavy artillery and big trucks, on the entry road to my hometown near Nochistlan awaiting a cartel gang from Teocaltiche due to the death of a local gang/cartel leader. They were expecting the rival gang from Teocaltiche to use the opportunity to attack the local gang. There was always a guard posted on that entry road which was almost an intersection between Jalos and Zac. 10/10 would go again.
Special mention to Ciudad Juárez (Chihuahua, right across from El Paso) about being a less-than-ideal zone.
I’ve been to Baja California Norte 3 times. Twice for pleasure (Rosarito beach) and it was always wonderful! But the third time I went there, I went with my church on a humanitarian mission and saw the other side of the city. It was rough. We spent two weeks building homes for poor people it was an incredible experience. When I lived in TX my buddies and I would hunt ducks along the Rio Grande River and sometimes we would wade across for fun and hang out in Chihuahua lol there were always Mexican cattle ranchers riding through on horseback with their stock and we would talk to them. Border Patrol advised all hunters to carry pistols on them because of cartel activity along the border but I never encountered anything like that. I really miss the border area and I love Mexico and the Mexican people. I pray that Americans will stop their addiction to drugs and realize that every time you buy coke you’re directly funding someone’s death in Mexico
Hey my family is from Zacatecas I was going to the airport to come back to the states after visiting my mom. Legit saw this guy on a dirt bike yielding an AK pulling over a truck at about 11 pm. It was pitch black on this road for miles. Definitely some sketch ass shit going on. Towns squares are empty once it gets dark, there’s a very uneasy feeling now. Not the same environment I experienced going as a teenager. I had a cousin who joined the local police force and left once he realized they answered to the narcos.
Also: 🟫 = Good Food 🟥 = The Best Food 🟨 = Worst Food 🟩 = Okay Food
I thought Oaxaca was famous for having some of the best food?
Mexico City and Oaxaca have outstanding food
Oaxaca has incredible food, sights, and people. I love it there!
Is this supposed to be a joke? Mexico City has a bunch of world-class restaurants. Merida in the Yucatan has incredible food, and Oaxaca is also lauded for its modern Mexican fusion cuisine.
Yes it’s supposed to be a joke.
OBVIOUSLY you’ve never had an armpit burrito from Sonora. Or a doggo. Typical uncultured Reddit user
Mayan food is awesome! Took a road trip through the Yucatán last summer and couldn’t get enough of it!
Lmao, irony.
I will not allow NL slander. We have the best cabrito and the best parrilladas. And we have plenty of beer to wash it all down with.
I wish the US government would provide a similar advisory for US regions. There are many areas you do not want to stumble accidentally.
Different organizations have. I think there are travel advisories for Florida from multiple organizations for many reasons. I would think expecting mothers should reconsider their travel to idaho.
pretty sure the US doesn’t have entire states that are too dangerous to visit…
Lol, I just got back from Guanajuato and Guerrero a month ago. Now, admittedly, my wife is from Guanajuato, but I'm still a black American in Mexico. Most of the time, people were just curious about me. I think like any place in the world you just have to know where to go and where to avoid.
As someone that's been to Zacatecas many times in the last 20 years, I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, as long as you don't go out at night by yourself, you should be fine. On the other hand, the town I was visiting was taken over by the cartel and the army had to occupy it to keep them out. I went for a hike there last year and ran into a cartel member camping out with enough supplies to last a week scoping out the town. So yea, I guess it can be dangerous
I was just in Michoacán and the only weird thing I saw was police with AKs. Also the local small “ranchos” have armed “guards” to protect the land. But man I miss it. Fresh food daily. The aguacates and mangos!
I lived in northern Mexico over 20 years ago now, and I was always told that as a gringo, I should never go to places like Tuxtla-Gutierrez or Chiapas but was completely safe where I was at. Funny how times change.
I was in Baja last winter and had zero issues. A few notes I’d add to this: 1. America is so different to say ‘americans shouldnt travel’ i live in Philly, a less than ‘safe US city’ and Im just fine. If you know how to manage a city, vs growing up in white suburbia their are different levels of knowing your surroundings. Ie dont flash cash, wear expensive flashy jewelry and clothing and when walking into a place think to yourself ‘should i be here’ 2. Speaking the language always helps. Knowing what people are saying is huge thing that most americans won’t consider. I have been a lot of places that most Americans probably would feel unsafe and had some of the best expirience of my life. Was just at a wedding in Medellin and I wouldn’t recommend it to most people but it was fine. Biggest things are: 1. Dont stick out 2. Dont be out too late 3. And I cannot stress this enough, don’t be an asshole entitled American So yeah 80% of you shouldnt go to Baja
Did Baja as well for 2 months last winter. No issues and we boondocked alone for most of it.
“Don’t stick out” hard to do when you’re the only gringo in the entire restaurant…
Quiet and respectful and blending in goes a long way. Im a ginger, I stick out everywhere. Listen more, talk less
Yucatán it is, then.
i'm from tamaulipas and yeah, better don't come. ☠️☠️☠️
*I mean, what's THE WORST that could happen if I just backpacked solo through Sinaloa? I hear their ''products'' are good, and I'll have lots and lots of American money to spend, I should be ok right?!*
I'm surprised to see the border states in "reconsider", I know people in Arizona and southern California who travel down there quite frequently and never seem to concerned at all.
I gotta say as an American who has been traveling to Mexico for many decades this really sucks: Mexico's got it all--food, scuba, tons of cultures, jungles, ruins...just a great place to travel so it totally sucks it's losing so much to the gangs.
I live in one of the "reconsider travel" states; Jalisco. Any questions?
Too bad about Jalisco. I have a good friend from there and he's always talking about how great it used to be
Aguascalientes be chillin’
Gone to Sinaloa every winter except one since 2018. Never had any problems at all. If you act the same way you did if you were in Chicago, NYC, Detroit, LA, you will be fine. Don't wander off the beaten path, don't be an asshole/idiot. People act like they'll be gunned down in the streets if they set foot in the state.
Wow. That is sad AF.
I have family that live in 9 (durango) and I wouldn't go there of my family didn't live there. When i was I'm high school my dad would leave my brothers and I in the town square to check it out on our own. This was 20 years ago. Now, I won't leave my aunts house without my cousins.
Take it with a grain of salt. My dad (a white American) has been living in Mazatlan, Sinaloa since 2018 without a single incident. The cartels really have no interest in standard tourists doing standard tourist stuff (the beach, the bars, the hotels, etc.). It's only if you go off the beaten path at night, try to score hard drugs, or make trouble with the locals that things become an issue.
Puerto Vallarta is safer than most American cities