Mexico
exico rewards picking the right region for the trip you want. Los Cabos, on the Baja Peninsula, has the highest concentration of luxury resorts and the most dramatic desert coastline. Riviera Nayarit and Sayulita bring Pacific jungle and surf town charm. Tulum leads for design-forward boutique hotels, and Isla Holbox is the car-free Yucatán island we keep going back to with our kids. Valle de Guadalupe is wine country 90 minutes from San Diego. Mexico City is one of the world's great food cities, and San Miguel de Allende, four hours north of it, has the best small-hotel stock in the country. Cabo and Baja are best October through May, the Pacific coast November through April, and the Yucatán November through March. Mexico City and San Miguel work year-round.
Mexico is one of the world's great travel destinations and the country we go back to over any other. We have stayed across it with and without our kids, from the Baja desert to the Yucatán, and everything on this site is based on trips we paid for ourselves. No hotel has ever comped a stay or paid for a placement.
Start here. If you are still deciding where in Mexico to go, our guide to the best luxury hotels in Mexico ranks the country's top resorts across every region, all from firsthand stays. Traveling with kids? Our best luxury family resorts in Mexico covers the properties that actually deliver for families. And if you would rather have character than scale, the best boutique hotels in Mexico collects the small properties we would cross the country for.
Where We Cover in Mexico
Los Cabos and Baja California Sur. The southern tip of the Baja Peninsula holds Mexico's most impressive concentration of luxury resorts, and it is the region we know best. We have reviewed One&Only Palmilla, Chileno Bay, Montage Los Cabos, and the Four Seasons at Costa Palmas out on the East Cape. Torn between the big two? Our head to head on Costa Palmas vs One&Only Palmilla settles which is actually worth the money, and our best hotels in Cabo guide covers the full field.
Most visitors stay along the Tourist Corridor between Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo, two towns twenty miles apart that feel nothing alike. Start with our full Cabo travel guide, then read up on the best beaches in Cabo, because most of them are not swimmable and it matters which hotel you book. When you want out of the corridor, our best day trips from Cabo covers the options, and glamping on Isla Espíritu Santo is the wildest overnight in Baja. Timing matters more here than anywhere else in the country, so check our month by month guide to the best time to visit Cabo before you book flights.
Riviera Nayarit and Sayulita. Sayulita is a laid-back surf town on the Pacific coast and one of the best places in Mexico to travel with young kids. It is small enough to walk everywhere and charming enough to keep you longer than you planned. The eating is a big part of why, and our favorite restaurants in Sayulita runs from taco stands to churro carts. North of town the jungle coast turns luxurious at One&Only Mandarina, which arrived rated the best hotel in North America. Our review covers whether it lives up to that. If you are choosing between Mexico's two One&Onlys, our comparison of Palmilla vs Mandarina breaks down which is better for families.
Tulum. Tulum has gone from bohemian backpacker town to one of Mexico's most design-forward hotel scenes, and the best of those hotels still deliver despite everything that has happened to the beach road. Our picks for the best hotels in Tulum cover the beach and the jungle both, and we loved La Zebra enough to write it up on its own. The food has become the best restaurant scene outside Mexico City, all jungle tasting menus and beachfront omakase and wood-fired everything. And yes, it works with children. Our guide to Tulum with kids covers how.
Isla Holbox. This tiny car-free island off the Yucatán coast is one of our favorite places in all of Mexico. Golf carts and sand streets make it especially good for families, because there is no traffic to worry about and kids can roam. The food punches far above the island's size, and our guide to the best restaurants on Holbox covers where to eat. Getting here takes a ferry from Chiquilá, so build in a travel day from Cancún. It is worth it.
Valle de Guadalupe. Mexico's answer to Napa, 90 minutes south of San Diego in Baja California, and the most underrated destination in North America. World-class wineries, exceptional outdoor restaurants, and a handful of beautiful boutique hotels set among the vines. It is also the best value in this guide by a wide margin. Start with our full Valle de Guadalupe travel guide.
Mexico City. One of the great cities of the world, and easier than its size suggests once you know where to base yourself. Roma Norte and Condesa are the neighborhoods worth knowing, both walkable, full of excellent restaurants, and surprisingly easy with kids. Short on time? Our perfect long weekend in Mexico City covers how to do it right in three days. The city also has the deepest boutique hotel bench in the country, largely because the housing stock is extraordinary and the best properties are conversions of 1920s townhouses and Art Deco apartment buildings.
San Miguel de Allende. Four hours north of Mexico City in the central highlands, San Miguel is a UNESCO World Heritage site with the best small-hotel stock in Mexico. Almost every good property is a restored colonial mansion, because the historic center has no room to build anything large. Our guide to where to stay in San Miguel de Allende covers our favorites and what each one is actually good for. Pair it with Mexico City for the strongest hotel itinerary in the country: three or four nights in the city, then three in San Miguel, connected by a short drive or a flight into Querétaro. That combination works in any month of the year, which almost nothing else here does.
Best Time to Visit Mexico
Cabo and Baja are ideal from October through May, which avoids both the summer heat and hurricane season. Our month by month guide to Cabo breaks that down in detail. Pacific coast destinations like Sayulita and Punta Mita are best November through April, with humpback whales offshore from December to March. Tulum, Holbox, and the rest of the Yucatán are loveliest November through March, though Holbox has a second peak in summer for whale sharks. Valle de Guadalupe is good nearly year-round and best from late spring through the September harvest.
Mexico City and San Miguel de Allende are the two destinations here that work in any month. The rainy season from June through September brings heavy afternoon storms that clear fast, and San Miguel gets genuinely cold at night from November through February, so pack a jacket.
On booking windows, small properties sell out and large ones do not. Anything under twenty rooms should be booked four to six months ahead for high season. Christmas, New Year, Semana Santa, and Día de Muertos in Mexico City are the four windows where rates roughly double and availability vanishes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where should I go in Mexico for a first trip? Los Cabos if you want a resort and a short flight from the West Coast, Sayulita if you want a real town alongside the beach, and Isla Holbox if you want somewhere quieter with no cars. For a trip built around food and design rather than a beach, pair Mexico City with San Miguel de Allende. Tulum is the most photogenic and the most expensive.
What is the best time of year to visit Mexico? It depends entirely on the region. Baja and Cabo run October through May, the Pacific coast November through April, and the Yucatán November through March. Mexico City and San Miguel de Allende are pleasant year-round, which makes them the right choice for summer travel when the coasts are hot and wet.
Which part of Mexico is best with kids? Sayulita and Isla Holbox are our two favorites, both because they are small and walkable and because there is almost no traffic. Los Cabos has the best kids' club infrastructure at the big resorts. Our best luxury family resorts in Mexico guide covers the properties that genuinely work with children rather than just claiming to.
How much do good hotels in Mexico cost? Expect roughly $150 to $300 a night in Valle de Guadalupe, Mexico City, and San José del Cabo, $300 to $600 in San Miguel de Allende, Sayulita, and Isla Holbox, and $500 to $1,200 or more in Tulum, Punta Mita, and the top Cabo resorts. Mexico City is the best value in the country relative to the quality of the hotels.
Do you accept free stays or sponsored placements? No. Every property we cover was paid for ourselves, and no hotel has ever paid to appear on this site. Some links here are affiliate links, which means we may earn a commission if you book through them at no extra cost to you. That has never determined which hotels we include or what we say about them.
