Cities in Mexico 🇲🇽 The A-Z Guide (2024)

Mexico is the land of…

• Incredible Food

• Strong Tequila

• Mayan Ruins

• Beautiful Beaches

• Welcoming Cultue

• Cute Latinas

• Lawless Men

Yet for some odd reason, Mexico sometimes gets a bad rap in expat circles.

Be it for the cartel violence plaguing the country. Or the overrun tourist destinations of Tulum, Playa del Carmen, and Cancun. Or because Mexico City is exceptionally overrated and not filled with Colombianas and Venezuelanas.

But here’s the thing…

Most bros just hit Playa del Carmen or Tulum — or maybe Mexico City.

Which are some of the worst spots in Mexico in ye’ opinion of your humble author.

These digital bromads rarely, if ever, venture out into other parts of Mexico.

And in a country of 130+ million people, there’s a ton of other cities and spots to check out.

Which is what we’re going to discuss here.

How to travel around “real” Mexico and what are the best cities and beaches to visit.

Below you’ll find detailed reports on some of the best cities and regions in Mexico, which are often overlooked by travelers.

Let’s break it down, güey 🇲🇽

Mexico by the Numbers…

With 17 cities of over 1 million people in the metro + gorgeous coastline on both the Caribbean and Pacific — there’s a lot to digest here.

You’ve got massive cities like Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey.

Then you’ve got world-class beach destinations like:

• Cabo San Lucas

• Puerto Vallarta

• Playa del Carmen

• Tulum

• Cancun

• Acapulco

• Mazatlan

With everything in between, including stunning mountain towns and mid-sized suburbs.

Cities in Mexico 🇲🇽 The A-Z Guide

Inside this detailed guide, we’ll stick with some of the most popular spots gringos visiting when coming down to Mexico.

Then we’ll venture off to more under-the-radar type spots.

Vámonos…

Mexico City

Population: 22 million metro

Suggest Length of Stay: 1 week to 1 year

One of the biggest cities in the Americas, filled with endless culture, museums, and some of the best neighborhoods in the region.

You’ll be hard-pressed to get bored here.

Most foreigners prefer to stay in Condesa, Roma Norte, or Polanco. Here you’ll find some of the best parks in Latin America, great nightlife, and all the modern amenities you could ever ask for.

Is CDMX my favorite city in Mexico? Not by a long shot.

But I’ve got friends who have lived in CDMX for years and adore the spot. Definitely a “love-hate” city.

Pros:

• Massive city

• Endless things to do

• Great nightlife

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• Incredible airport

• International vibes

• World-class parks

Cons:

• Filled with foreigners

• More expensive than you'd expect

• Bad air quality

• Less friendly locals

• Average womens

P.S: Mexico City is overrun with gringos and the locals are not thrilled about it…

Guadalajara

Population: 5+ million metro

Suggest Length of Stay: 1 week to 1 year

As the second largest city in Mexico, Guadalajara is a large city with lots of urban sprawl, charming locals, great vibes overall, not a ton of foreigners, and great weather.

Personally, I far prefer it to CDMX.

However, others disagree.

The parks are not nearly as nice as in Mexico City. You’ve gotta drive to get into beautiful nature from here. There’s tons of construction going on around every corner in this city.

However…

The best thing about GDL is?

The locals are pretty sharp. This is one of the highest IQ cities in Latin America — where everything just works.

Pros:

• Friendly, smart locals

• Attractive women

• Great nightlife

• Great weather

• Good medical care

• Modern amenities

Cons:

• Nothing spectacular about the city

• Mediocre skyline

• Minimal nature

Monterrey

Population: 5+ million metro

Suggest Length of Stay: 1 week to 3 months

Haven't personally been, so this is speculation based on what broskis have said -- very spread out and Americanized.

The only semi-walkable area is the richest neighborhood in Mexico — San Pedro Garza Garcia.

Everywhere else here will require a car, which kind of sucks.

But from what I’ve heard, the locals are cool and nightlife is fun. There’s also some insane mountain views to be had from Airbnb apartments here.

Pros:

• Modern city

• Sharp, friendly locals

• Solid girls

• Great weather not during summer

• Mountain views

• San Pedro Garza Garcia

Cons:

• Too hot in summer

• You either love or hate "Norteno" culture

• City center is garbage

• Not very international

Playa del Carmen

Population: 300K

Suggest Length of Stay: 1 week to 3 months

Before we dig deeper here, I must say…

I am not a fan of Playa del Carmen, nor do I like Tulum or Cancun.

However, many people love it here and end up living in the region long-term.

The vibe is very international, catered towards tourists, and there’s not much of a "local" culture.

Which means you can get by only speaking English, where in other spots in Mexico — learning Spanish is a MUST.

Now, the beaches are wonderful and stunning — when it’s not seaweed season, which is all too often.

If you’re looking to party almost every night of the week and want a beginner’s LatAm spot, you might like it here.

Pros:

• Cheap - Ideal "beginner" LatAm travel spot

• Easy flights

• No Spanish needed -

• Very international

• Great nightlife

• Beautiful beaches

Cons:

• Crime

• Scammers abound

• Beaches often filled w/ seaweed

• Too many gringos

• Too many gringos

• Too many gringos

Puerto Vallarta

Population: 300K

Suggest Length of Stay: 1 week to 3 months

Pacific coast beach city filled with eclectic nightlife, good beaches outside of town, and world-class amenities, and lots of gringos.

However, for some odd reason, Puerto Vallarta still retains some authentic Mexican vibes.

Overall, Puerto Vallarta is exceptionally livable, quite safe, and stunningly beautiful.

The issues?

Well, the beaches in the city kinda suck. The best beaches are found to the north or south of where you’d want to live.

And, it’s probably a good idea to stay away from the “Romantic Zone” unless you’re of a certain persuasion.

Don’t be like my buddy and book a month in that neighborhood with your girlfriend — only to be propositioned every couple blocks.

Pros:

• Great beaches outside of town

• Stunning mountain views

• Ideal weather most of year

• Solid nightlife

• Still "feels" like Mexico

• Wonderful food

Cons:

• Tourist hotspot

• The "Romantic Zone" -- IYKYK

• Beaches in city aren't great

• Expensive

Digging into “Real” Mexico 🇲🇽

Now that we covered what I consider the five most common spots for bros to visit in Mexico...

Let's dig into "real" Mexico.

Aka some of the underrated, under-the-radar spots...

Pacific Coast Beach Towns

The best part of Mexico is the Pacific Coast beach towns, sers.

In these towns and cities, you'll typically find...

• Authentic Mexico vibes

• Friendly locals

• Cute gurls

• Less gringos than in other spots

• Great beaches

• Good weather outside summertime

• Insanely good seafood

There’s damn near a dozen of these towns and cities on the Pacific coast that are well worth spending a week in. Hell, some of these spots you could spend 3-4 months and enjoy yourself.

Top recommendations...

• Puerto Vallarta

• La Paz

• Puerto Escondido

• Cabo San Lucas

• Mazatlan

• Zihuatanejo

• Acapulco

• Manzanillo

• San Carlos

Just remember when cruising the Pacific coast:

Most of these spots will be far less touristy than the “Mayan Rivera” or Mexico City.

As such, speaking Spanish is vital in this region.

Also, there’s a lot of cartel violence on the Pacific coast due to the ports of entry here. Make sure you check which cities are currently safe before booking a trip.

Lastly…

You won’t find the modern amenities and good medical care in these spots that you will in CDMX or Playa del Carmen — outside of Puerto Vallarta.

El Bajio 🇲🇽

There's one other region of Mexico that continually gets overlooked by your average gringo conquistador...

El Bajio

In this wonderful region in Mexico, you'll find:

• Quaint mountain towns

• Stunning mountain views

• Friendly locals

• Very cute wamenz, ser

• Conservative culture

• Modern cities

• Incredible food

• Minimal gringo

• Damn good vibes

Even though this region is relatively unpopular on the gringo trail, there's tons of mid-sized cities here filled with modern amenities.

Plus, this region has one of the highest per capita income levels in Mexico. This makes the area one of the safer in Mexico — I’m looking at you Aguascalientes.

Here's a list of the largest cities...

In the Bajio...

I'd recommend checking out these spots:

• Leon

• Aguascalientes

• Querétaro

• Guanajuato

These spots all offer immaculate vibes, friendly locals, and more than enough to do for a month or two. The women cute, the nightlife decent, and the food incredible.

Some of the smaller cities in Guanajuato seem to be having some cartel violence issues, but Aguascalientes and Querétaro are still very safe and wonderful places to check out.

Mexico City Guide | Overall

De que se puede se puede...

That about does it. A full breakdown of where to go in Mexico and why.

Now, of course there’s still some other options.

I haven’t personally been to Puebla, but many of the bros highly recommend it as an alternative big city to CDMX, GDL, and Monterrey.

And of course…

I’ve kept a few hidden gems to myself. My top two under-the-radar cities in Mexico will be going out to paid subscribers later this year.

Ya tu sabes,

Jake Nomada

PS: Check out some of the recent “paid” content for the newsletter:

• The LatAm Beginner’s Playbook

• LatAm For Black Men