Are you preparing for a trip to Yucatán in Mexico? And are you trying to make a travel budget? We are happy to help you on your way. During our month in the Mexican peninsula in December 2019 – January 2020, we collected all our costs. From refueling, rental cars, drinks, breakfast and sleeping places.
What do hotels cost?
Prices for hotels vary widely. You have the most luxurious resorts and special boutique hotels in Yucatán, but you can also book top sleeping places here for smaller prices. Count on 20 to 60 euros for an overnight stay for two people, depending on your budget and preferences. Our sleeping places usually cost us 30 to 40 euros per night.
One of the most precious places we stayed in Mexico was the small-scale jungle resort of Aldea Coba. We were guests of Aldea Coba free of charge and were completely happy with the beautiful location near the Mayan ruins of Coba. Here you check the current prices,(tip: use our discount code OBPNL20 for a 20% discount).
What does food and drink cost?
The cost of restaurants varies by location. The more popular with tourists, the higher the prices. Count on prices from 60 to 120 pesos for breakfast and lunch and from 100 to 175 pesos for the evening. A beer usually costs you 30 to 40 pesos and coffee 20 to 40 pesos. Coke usually costs 7 pesos in the store and 40 in a restaurant and for water you pay for example 8 pesos for a liter or 19 pesos for liter in the store.
But these prices are much higher in popular tourist resorts. For example, the west coast of Cozumel is popular with large cruise ships. There we managed to eat for 150 to 300 pesos and we paid 30 to 50 pesos for a beer. But not at a beach club! At Beachbar Alberto you can pay 10 USD for a cold beer. In dollars indeed.
The same goes for Tulum. In downtown Tulum there is a lot of competition and the prices are not extreme, but on the beach side it is different. A breakfast costs 150 to 300 pesos and in the evening you pay 150 to 400 pesos for a meal. A beer costs 40 to 80 pesos, but 140 pesos was charged for specialty beer. A coke will set you back 60 pesos and coffee 40 to 60 pesos.
What do all sights cost?
Some of the most beautiful sights in Mexico are completely free. You don’t always have to pay for that beautiful beach or beautiful nature reserve. Many museums are also free to visit. However, most tourist highlights include entrance fees. We made an overview of what costs:
- The deep blue and underground cenotes cost 60, 150 or 80 pesos.
- A waterfall at Palenque cost 30, 25 or 40 pesos.
- For the ruins of Mayan empire Calakmul we paid a total of 188 pesos, of which 50 and 68 pesos for the national parks and 70 for the ruins.
- The ruins of Coba cost us 60 pesos for the parking lot, 80 pesos for the entrance and – we were probably dropped off – 60 pesos for a bicycle.
What does a rental car cost?
Renting a car in Mexico is often a bit different than in other countries. Not all costs are included as standard in the online prices. And those costs can be quite high: about 15 euros per day! We therefore recommend that you only book a car online, if you see that all compulsory insurance, full coverage and taxes are included in the price. We often find the lowest prices at Discover Care Hire.
We ended up paying 600 pesos per day for the rental of a car for 18 days. That is a lot and normally the rent is much lower. But we were in Mexico in December / January around the holidays and in that high season everything in Mexico is more expensive than expensive. Outside the holidays you can already rent a car for 20 euros a day.
You do not refuel yourself, but is done by a pump attendant. They often wash your windows and they expect a small tip for that. Make sure that the meter of the device is at zero when refueling. This scam is so outdated, in fact, that many pump attendants point you explicitly at that zero. You can often pay with a credit card, but it also occurs that only cash is accepted. So do inquire if you don’t have any cash in your pocket.
The petrol price in January 2020 was just under 1 euro per liter. For a full tank we paid 700 pesos, which is around 35 euros.
You can also have costs for the use of toll roads. These roads are highly recommended. They are top quality and have virtually no entry or exit ramps. That is why you drive to your destination in no time. For example, we paid 25 pesos toll for a bridge to Palenque and 165 pesos for the autopista 180 between Valladolid and Merida. We could only pay with cash.
Even more costs for your travel budget?
So we did not use public transport. We only took the ADO bus twice. The bus between Chetumal at the border with Belize and Tulum cost us 220-350 pesos depending on the class of travel. ADO provides bus connections between almost all popular travel destinations for a good price. The buses are fairly comfortable, but you also have cheaper bus tickets with slightly less comfort. You can conveniently buy the bus tickets online in the ADO app (for iPhone and Android). Then you do not have to queue at the bus terminal and you are assured of your ticket and a nice place.
We also found a SIM card very useful, especially when traveling. We paid 100 pesos and 150 pesos for a SIM card and credit. Before that we got 2 GB for 26 days. We also had the laundry done once. In Palenque we paid for 6.5 kilos was only 85 pesos.
