Mexico: How do you get there?

Getting there by air:
From the United States and Europe there is no shortage of flights to Mexico, with over a dozen major carriers servicing the country. In addition, the two international Mexican airlines, AeroMexico and Mexicana, have flights from a number of American cities. Although there are non-stops offered by many of the companies, the majority of flights headed to Mexico pass through southern hubs in Miami, Houston, Dallas, or Los Angeles.

Airlines servicing Mexico from the United States include Aeromexico, American Airlines, Continental, Delta, Mexicana, Northwest, United, and USAir. From Europe, visitors can fly Aeromexico, British Airways, Continental, American Airlines, KLM, Air France, Delta, United, Lufthansa, and Iberia.

Getting there by car:
From the U.S., there are several major highways that lead into Mexico through border checkpoints.

Getting there by water:
Main ports: Acapulco, Cabo San Lucas(www.apibcs.com), Cozumel(www.apiqroo.com.mx), Manzanillo, Mazatlán, Puerto Vallarta(www.apivta.com), Tampico(www.puertodetampico.com.mx)and Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa.

Regular passenger ships run from the USA and South America. A huge number of companies operate cruise services to Mexico. There are also riverboat services from Flores and Tikal (Guatemala) to Palenque, Chiapas in Mexico; enquire locally for details.

Getting there by rail:
Amtrak provides railway connections to various points along the Mexican border from cities in the USA or Canada (tel: +1 800 872 7245, in the USA; www.amtrak.com). In Mexico, federal subsidies to the intercity passenger services were removed in 2000 and almost all long-distance passenger services were discontinued.

To get into Mexico by train, the only option is on luxurious private services like the Sierra Madre Express (tel: +1 520 747 0346 or 800 666 0346, in the USA) operating between Tuscon, Arizona and Mexico's Copper Canyon. Tickets available through specialist agents. Mexlist (www.mexlist.com) maintains a list of similar luxury services, most of which have pullman sleepers, restaurant cars, lounge observation and club cars.

Be sure to have all the necessary legal documents to minimize travel issues and set-backs.

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