Mexico Travel Guide

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Cuisine

Corn, beans and potatoes are the main staples of Mexican cuisine, with fish and chicken on most menus. International cuisine is available at large hotels and many restaurants. USA and Mexican fast food chains are easy to find. Imported spirits are expensive, and cheap local spirits can be an acquired taste, but rum and tequila are relatively safe bets. Corona and Sol are the most popular beers - light and refreshing, and often drunk with a wedge of lime.

National specialties:
• Mole refers to several very different sauces, based around garlic and chilli. Mole poblano is a chocolate sauce poured over turkey. Mole verde is made from fresh herbs.
• Guacamole is an avocado mole with red peppers, onions and tomatoes.
• Tortillas are corn pancakes often eaten like bread.
• Enchiladas (soft tortillas) and tacos (crispy tortillas) are filled with pork, chicken, vegetables or cheese and chilli.
• Look out for exotic fruits like zapote (brown fruit resembling an avocado), and tuna (juicy prickly pear, fruit of the cactus).

National drinks:
• Tequila is a double or triple-distilled spirit made from the blue variety of agave, which is not a cactus, but a plant related to the lily. Young blanco tequilas can have a rough ‘cowboy' edge to them. Older añejo varieties are woody and sometimes as smooth as a fine brandy.
• Mezcal is similar to tequila, but is distilled only once and can be made from different varieties of agave. It is not generally used in cocktails like tequila, but consumed in shots. Sip slowly to savour the taste.
• Mexico's coffee liqueur, kahlúa, is world-famous.

Legal drinking age: 18.

Tipping: Service charges are rarely added to hotel, restaurant or bar bills and many of the staff depend on tips for their livelihood. 15% is expected and 20% if the service has been very good.

Nightlife

Like any Latin American destination, things in Mexico do not really get going until late, with nightclubs often opening around midnight and closing at daylight. In family resorts, planned entertainment begins earlier; expect to be entertained at dinner with live mariachi music, Spanish flamenco dancers, gypsy violinists and Aztec re-enactments.

Mexico City attracts international rock and pop acts, Latin music stars, and the world's best ballet and orchestra companies. Zona Rosa, in the center, is the traditional home of chic, expensive bars and restaurants. West of there, hip new bars have been popping up in the wealthy residential district of Polanco.

Acapulco is known as 'the city that never sleeps' with bars and discos lining the streets. Cancún conjures up images of US spring-break college students going wild at all-night beach parties.