We drove here from Houston Texas 20 years ago. The first day we drove to Tampico the next to Veracruz we got there around 1 or 2 pm and stayed the night in a friends apt., we checked out the city and then the next day went for breakfast to Catemaco then on to Palenque from Palenque we drove on to Cancun up through Campeche and then Merida. I am sure the roads have improved in 20 years and you could easily drive through in 2 days but it is nice to stop and check out the sights
Hey spin. It seems to me that Palenque - Campeche - Merida - Cancun would be every bit of two days, if you stop in those cities at all. Am I correct? I did that route from Tuxtla, instead of Merida a couple of years ago. What a hike that was. I bypassed Campeche and was too tired to go the rest of the way to Merida. So we stopped in Calkini and stayed in this roadside place for $250 that we still call "the feo hotel." Everything looked good until we got settled. The sheets were nasty so we slept on beach towels and those silky coverup wrap things. Clean tee shirts covered the pillows. The only TV station was ESPN in Spanish. The water heater was great. Of course there was no toilet seat. The air conditioner had 2 speeds - ice cold and off. So we kept turning it off an on all night long. We had a laptop and some dvd's, 2 six packs of beer and a bottle of wine and cigarettes. All were gone by morning. As The Four Seasons used to sing - "Oh what a night!"
GCPSgirl - No, it was late Oct. My ex g/f's dad had just passed away and we went through La Novena, 9 nights of mourning, with services each night and a fiesta afterwards. On the 9th night you stay up all night and then go to the cemetary. It was my first and only such experience. After the cemetary we hit the road and were gone for 2 weeks. All over Chiapas and visited many cool places along the way. Very memorable.
Yes you are right if your stopping and sightseeing but if you drive straight thru you can get to Cancun easily from Palenque In one day.Now if you really ar sightseeing you need at least a day in each area or even 3
We crossed the border at Matamoros at like 12:30 on a Tuesday afternoon. We took a nap in a parking lot just outside Veracruz from like 4:00 - 7:00 AM Wednesday morning, and found a hotel room just outside Villahermosa at like 7:00 Wednesday night because we knew our transmission was about to go out and needed to get it fixed ASAP. We (BARELY) got our car to the Ford dealership in Villahermosa Thursday morning and waited two and a half weeks for the parts to come from the US. We left early Tuesday morning of the third week from Villahermosa and got to Cancun at 10:00 Tuesday night. So not counting the delay, it took us about 52 hours of driving time from Matamoros to Cancun. We didn't do any sightseeing, and hardly stopped to eat. My route was Matamoros-Tampico-Poza Rica-Veracruz-Villahermosa on Route 180, then missed the turn so instead of going through Cuidad del Carmen on 180, we briefly entered Chiapas on Route 186, but that worked out because 186 or whatever that road was because I think 186 split from our road and I was mapless... just the map in my head and a prayer! Anyways, the road came back to 180 near Champoton, so then we continued on Route 180 from Champoton-Campeche-Merida and rode the Cuota to Cancun.
>You can drive to Cancun from Texas but how long would depend on where >you start from in Texas. I guess my fellow posters did not think of that >question. I learnt that the hard way while living in GDL. A friend was flying in and we decided picking him up from Texas was better than doing the same for Los Angeles. San Antonio or DFW? he says. Doesn't worry me! After he'd paid for the non refundable tickets, I had a look on a map and discovered to my horror that Dallas is 1/3 the way to Canada from the Mexican border. Gaaaaaaa! Ah well, went and stood on the grassy knoll, so that was cool.
