is it safe to rent a car and drive from mexico city and head east to the coast?

Hi! if you decide to drive, take the highways which are toll roads name "CUOTA" if you see Puebla Cuota vs Puebla Libre, take the Cuota route, libre means free, but they are backroads one lane each way, not well mantained.

If you are driving from Mexico city's airport out, is difficult but not as much, a couple of major loooong streets will take you out but they are always crowded.

Drive during the day, it's always safer, and watch out for people on the road, even on highways you can see people walking on the side, and some drivers pass other without previous warning...

The road from Puebla to Veracruz will pass through the mountains, is pretty but be careful, lots of curves and many times there's fog doens't matter the time of day.

There is a bus terminal right in the airport in Mexico City that has 6 buses a day that go to Cordoba, Veracruz (about 65 miles from the beach). I would recommend taking the bus to Cordoba and renting a car there as well.The buses are very luxurious with movies and reclining seats . Cost is $356 pesos per person (one way).

Most Mexicans think the mountains of Veracruz are prettier than the beach. The towns of Cordoba, Fortin de los Flores, and Jalapa are quite beautiful.

Buses start at noon and go to 10pm.

12:00 15:00 17:30 19:00 20:30 22:00

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As an alternative to taking a bus to Cordoba, there are much more frequent buses to Puebla which gets you out of Mexico city and in the right direction. T

There are two bus stations in Puebla. One called 4Pte is a small downtown bus station near the hotels. It is much more convenient if you are going to spend a night in the city and see the place (it is beautiful).

Capu is only about a mile from the main highway which continues on to Veracruz and the beach.

4Pte is short for 4Poniente (4 West) which is the name of a street. CAPU is short for Central de Autobuses Puebla which is obviously the main bus terminal.

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Post Script: I don't think you should confuse driving around Cancun with driving around Mexico City. There are a million gringos in Cancun and the whole city was built in the last 30 years. Mexico City is the world's first "post apocalyptic city" in the word's of a Mexican essayist.

Yes it is safe, just don't try to show that it is a rented car and that you are a tourist. You just need to be careful while driving in Mexico City. Not because it is dangerous, (but keep the doors locked and the windows not to much open) but for the heavy traffic. If you are heading east out of the city you should do it in the day before the rush hour starts. I recommend you the city of Puebla and also the pyramid in Cholula de Rivadavia to the west of Puebla. The coastal state of Veracruz is very beautiful and its capital Xalapa is something if you like culture and anthropology. Everything in Mexico is worth visiting and everywhere you find someone pleased to have you as a guest.

D.F. means Distrito Federal (Federal District) and is the capital. It has about 9 million people.

Mexico City To Veracruz

You don't cross any large mountains, you take the passes between them. There are no extremely steep areas.

The first response suggested busing. It's a good option, Mexico has an excellent bus system. ADOgl would be your best bet. A bus to Veracruz takes just over 5:30.

By the way, the gulf coast is nowhere as nice as the Pacific and Caribbean coast. There are good things, but the beaches are mediocre.

Yes is safe if you are able to drive in big cities like LA or NY.

Federal District (like Washington DC) is the name of Mexico City.

Buy a Nokia N95, download Mexico Maps and plan your routes, ask on hotels and get fun, I love to drive in Mexico City (my record is 190km/h) before radars.

Take care and rent a car that can be used everyday because in Mexico City because global warming some cars can't drive some days even weekends, there's a special sticker (hologram) with 0 or 00 that means you can drive everyday.

Have fun and don't mix alcohol and wheel!!

You will need a GPS to get out of mexico city, it's big and it's complicated if you miss a turn, there's a lot of traffic, also there's the risk of being stolen, keep out the reach of the eyes, jewelry, watches, electronics, money...anything valvuable. Just be sure to pay for the insurance, otherwise than that there's no problem. You can check "traza tu ruta" to check the toll cost from Mexico to Veracruz, and if you want to visit me I'm in Puebla city hehehe.

As was said, Mexico City is big and traffic is crazy.

Is it safe? Well I think from a crime standpoint yes, its fairly safe with the usual precautions but I think its better to take a good bus and not deal with the traffic issues then get stressed driving in the DF

All good answers.............I agree getting outta Mexico City is a night mare - seriously. Id only take the major highways and thats rather expensive with all the tolls.

And I definatly agree to get out of Mexico City via the bus and rent at your final destination. Buses are large air conditioned Greyhound type and are totally fine. Cheap as well.

I've driven from the Yucatan to Veracruz and then up to Mexico City. I didn't have any problems with that trip. It's just not as flat as the Yucatan. From Veracruz to DF, it's about four hours driving time and 427 pesos in tolls.