Central America in 4 weeks, some advice please.

Hi, basically my initial plan is to fly into Mexico city or Cancun and then head south as follows: Belize - Guatemala - El Salvador - Nicaragua ( - Costa Rica - Panama). Then take an internal flight to get to a major airport to return to London. Obviously it would be great to go to Costa Rica and Panama but I'm aware that I am on a short time scale so this may not be easy. Does anyone have any experience of how far south I could get?

Also does anyone have any tips as to traveling within these countries regarding bus trip durations etc?
Any advice on good places to stop off at would also be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
J

Hi,
some tips for Mexican Caribbean, the spot I like most is Tulum, small layback town about 130 km south from Cancun, beautiful white sand beaches, cabanas right on the beach with amazing view....
for transportation from Cancun airport I recomend this guys: www.tucankin.com, the fastes and most comfortable way how to get to Tulum, you can also take a bus, it takes longer, you have to change in Playa del Carmen, for hotels check this www.hotelstulum.com
there are all kind of cabanas on the Tulum Beach from basic ones fo 30 USD to very luxury ones, there aare also hotels in the town that are in general more economic than on the beach.
Once being in Tulum you have to visit the cenotes, beautiful underground caves with lake and underground rivers, the largest undeground river system in the world, to some you can go easily on your own or you can take a tour with a dive shop:
www;cenotes-control.com, or www.hiddenworlds.com, there are also unique Mayan ruins overlooking the sea.
For restaurants: cheap and good ones: Tacos Dias on the main avenue in town, El Mariachi,
Very good one is argentinian steak house El pequeno Buenos Aires, on the same avenue.
Leny

HI
I have just returned from driving all the way though Central America. I loved it so much! i can't wait to return!! I were you I would not miss Costa rica for the life of me! It is one of the most beautiful places in the world!! Panama is also one of my favorites! but not so much for tourists as Costa Rica. I heard there was really good scuba diving near colon and wish i would have gone. I am not a tourist so my info is from a different perspective. There is a small town of rivas in Nicaragua that is very plesent. you can take a ferry to a island in the middle of the largest fresh water lake in the world. Also in Costa Rica there is a town called Monte Verde about 40 miles north of the main highway north of San Jose! It my favorite place in the world. it is in the mountains! all green. many unique tourist atractions. the best is the zip line place called Salvatura! this place is incredable!!!! don't worry about buses there are plenty to get you any where! you have any more speciic questions. I'd be happy to answer them.

Pura Vida,

ice

Hi there
I have been living in El Salvador since 1994, if you want specific details about what to see, where to stay feel free to contact me.
By the way when will you be arriving? On my list of must see places I would include, not in any order:
Suchitoto
Perquin
The flower route Juayua, Ataco, Nuahuizalco and the zipline in Apaneca
El Pital
El Imposible
the beaches on the west coast for surfing
the mountain towns of Alegria and Berlin
The island of Meanguera in the Gulf of Fonseco
There are many other places to see but being the smalest country in Central America most travelers don't spend too much time here.
Anyway drop me a note if you need more information or if you want to get together here in Suchitoto.
Saludos
Rpbroz

[ Edit: Sorry, no promos please. ]

Just focus on one region. Otherwise you will be on the bus for more then a week. According to thebusschedule.com travel time from Tapachula, Mexico to Panama is 3 days and more then 48 hours only Bus .... bouhhhh!

Hi, me and my gf went from Mexico city all the way down to chile and thats taken us 8 month, we spent 5 month in central america (loved the place) and that was doing it at a good speed.

4 weeks is tight but there is a bus company called "ticabus" have a look on google, it covers all of central america and you can get around pretty easy!!

my gf has been doing a blog on travellespoint so feel free to check it out as its full of info and good places to stay www.ericaandian.travellerspoint.com

hope that helps and have a great time

Ian

Hi, thanks for all the great responses (I will definitely be messaging some of you guys over the coming weeks!). Having looked at some flight deals and travel times, I think I've decided to reduce my planned trip somewhat.

I'm now thinking, fly into Belize then head south through Guatemala and along El Salvador. I've not heard much about Honduras so am thinking of just passing through (has anyone been? worth staying longer?) then into Nicaragua coming down the west coast (through Grenada) and finally to San Jose from where I will fly back via Miami.

Any opinions on this revised plan?

Thanks again.

I spent 3 months traveling in Honduras, but I suspect you will like the other countries more so stick with them. My biggest advice to you is to not have too many plans, because you will meet people at the hostels you stay at who will have great advice for you. You could spend a year or more making your way through Central America, there are so many beautiful places to go, things to do if you keep your ears and eyes open. Brushing up on your Spanish helps enormously as well (I don't know how much spanish you know).

Have fun