Do It Yourself Tour
Sure, you could go exploring regions of Mexico on your own.
If that’s what you would like to do, my advice is to stick to the popular touristy towns and cities like you find in the Yucatan Peninsula, San Miguel de Allende, Puerto Vallarta, and Cabo San Lucas. There you will discover many more people who speak English in these locations. You will most likely find other English speaking people from English speaking countries who are also visiting Mexico. You should have no major challenges with communications. Most likely many restaurants will have menus in English.
However, if you want to get away from the highly commercialized touristy places in this huge Latin American country and see the authentic side of Mexico, then you should have a decent grasp on knowing the Spanish language.
In the rest of the country, you may not find a lot of people who speak English which could make it uncomfortable for you to communicate effectively.
Actually, in some regions of the country, they are not even speaking Spanish but one of the 60+ different indigenous languages still spoken throughout Mexico today.
Note: Spanish is the major language spoken throughout the country. But not knowing enough Spanish might make it challenging to order off menus that are only in Spanish, asking for directions, going to museums where all the explanations of each exhibit are in Spanish, and even negotiating the price for a taxi ride. Not knowing enough Spanish can all become frustrating.
And Who Wants “Frustration” When You Are On Vacation?
Yes, you may be able to secure a local guide to give you a small town tour in Mexico but in many instances, their tours might only be in Spanish because they don’t speak English. And even if they do, sometimes it could be a challenge to understand their “broken English.”
Going on a Guided Multi-Day Tour
If you really want to learn about the history, traditions, and many cultures found in Mexico, we recommend you
sign up for a multi-day guided tour with a professional bilingual guide.
The benefits are great when booking a guided tour from a company with a proven track record and ample
knowledge of the many different regions throughout the country of Mexico.
For instance, with our multi-day trips at Mexico Vacation Tours, you would have a bilingual host guide who will
be with you the entire time. He/she is native to Mexico and already has years of experience in guiding.
You should note that we are also very selective as to who will be our host guides on our tours.
In advance, we arrange face to face interviews with each potential guide to learn about their past experiences,
see how well they speak English, quiz them on their knowledge of the area they guide in, and basically to
determine if they are “likable.” See some of our guides here.
In most instances, they already have gone through extensive training to earn the title of being a Mexico
Certified Guide. In fact, every couple years, they have to continue taking classes to maintain their certification.
If we decide that he/she would be a good fit for leading one or more of our exploration tours, then we have
them read, understand, and sign a contract with us that they will adhere to our guiding specifications.
Another Plus to joining us on one of our guided exploration tours is that our vetted local guides may introduce
you to people, places, and interesting experiences that you might never have encountered on your own. Let’s
just say that sometimes they have special “connections” to meeting interesting local people or being invited
into someone’s home or knowing some great spots to go to see incredible views of the countryside. It’s the little
extra things like that which can enhance your tour even more.
A Suggested Tour – Back Roads of Veracruz ￨Rain Forest Region Tour – 8 Days
On this 8 day tour, we’ll be exploring tropical rain forests, rural seaside villages next to the Gulf of Mexico,
warm water lakes, pristine waterfalls, and tropical wildlife. Plus, internet service is not the greatest here so we
will really be off-the-grid for a week.
The Choice is Yours – Tour Mexico With or Without a Guide
Either way, this 13th largest country in the world is chocked-full of history, traditions, geographic beauty, and
friendly people.
See You in Mexico!
