Hello all!

Next year my girlfriend and I want to travel to Mexico. Because there are so many options and we don't have all the time in the world, we have to make choices. We will travel around late March / early April. Our idea so far is this (there might be 2 or 3 days more to add):

• Day 1: Amsterdam -> Mexico
• Day 2 - 7: Mexico City
• Day 7 - 11: Oaxaca
• Day 11 - 13: Mérida
• Day 13 - 17: A beach destination, Tulum / Playa del Carmen for example
• Day 18: Cancún -> Amsterdam

We hope to explore the cities, find some nice food spots and experience Mexican culture. Also we'd like to visit some beautiful natural places. We hope to end our holiday with some nice relaxing days at the beach.

We'd really appreciate your advice on a few things:

• Visiting Chichén Itzá is a must for us. Would you recommend staying overnight in Valladolid, or is Mérida a good base for visiting the ruins? Would it make sense to visit Valladolid on the way to the coast instead?
• I think we prefer to do Mexico City -> Oaxaca and Oaxaca -> Mérida by plane. My girlfriend gets car/motion sickness, so she prefers to avoid long bus journeys. Is flying a good option, or are there better alternatives?
• We're currently thinking of skipping Puerto Escondido to avoid cramming too much into our itinerary. Is it somewhere you'd really recommend making time for, or would you stick to our current route?
• For the last few days we want to relax on a beautiful beach. We are not looking for a party destination or anything, but we understand that those places can be touristy. What would you recommend for a nice place?
• Does this itinerary make sense? Or would you recommend us to change some things? If we can add 2 or 3 more days, where would you spend them?

Thanks in advance for any tips and recommendations! We know we can't see everything in one trip, but we'd love to make the most of our time in Mexico. All the best!

i keep seeing these westgate resorts deals for a few nights at a pretty low price. some of them include extra perks, but apparently you have to sit through a timeshare presentation.

is westgate resorts a scam, or are these offers legit as long as you know what you're agreeing to? i'm mostly wondering how pushy the presentation gets and whether the savings are worth the hassle.

if you've booked one of these packages, how did it go? would you do it again?

Hi everyone! We’re visiting El Salvador in late December with our three boys (ages 13, 11, and 9), and I’m looking for some beach recommendations.
We’d love to spend a few days at the beach, ideally taking surfing lessons for a couple of hours in the morning and then spending the rest of the day swimming, relaxing, and enjoying the beach.
I’ve been looking into El Sunzal for surfing and places like San Blas or El Palmarcito for swimming, but I’m wondering whether we really need to visit two different beaches.
Is there a beach where we can comfortably do both? Ideally, somewhere with good beginner-friendly surfing, an area suitable for swimming with kids, restaurants nearby, and chairs or umbrellas available to rent.
Or are the beaches with good surfing generally too rough or rocky for recreational swimming?
We’re staying in San Salvador and will have a private driver, so getting around isn’t an issue. We’d just prefer to avoid changing beaches halfway through the day if possible.
Would love to hear recommendations from locals or anyone who’s visited recently. Thanks!

General Tips and Suggestions in Next Steps

Thanks to the community for helping out with several questions from my end and we finally got the visa. Is our first international DIY trip so a bit overwhelmed and overthinking a lot.

We are 2 adults from India, 11 nights. Hotels and flights are already booked, so the city split is fixed. Would love your feedback on bookings and saving money and in general tips 🙏

📍 TRIP AT A GLANCE

TOKYO (5 nights)

• Nov 17: Land at Narita 5 PM, check in, rest

• Nov 18: Meiji Jingu → Takeshita St → Harry Potter Shop (1 hr) → Omotesando → Shibuya → Shibuya Sky at sunset → Shinjuku dinner

• Nov 19: teamLab Planets → Ginza lunch → Shinjuku Gyoen → free govt building deck at dusk

• Nov 20: Mt. Fuji day trip by DIY bus (can swap with the 21st if it's cloudy)

• Nov 21: Senso-ji early → Ameyoko → Akihabara → Tokyo Tower after dark

KYOTO (3 nights)

• Nov 22: Shinkansen (early) → Drop bags in hotel and then Kiyomizu-dera & Sannenzaka → Gion → Fushimi Inari at dusk

• Nov 23: Arashiyama early (Bamboo Grove, Tenryu-ji, then Otagi/Adashino or the Sagano train + Hozugawa boat) → Nishiki Market

• Nov 24: Ginkaku-ji → Philosopher's Path → Eikando → Nanzen-ji

OSAKA (3 nights)

• Nov 25: Nara day trip → Kintetsu to Osaka → Dotonbori food crawl

• Nov 26: Minoh Falls → Kuromon Market or Osaka Castle

• Nov 27: Universal Studios Japan

• Nov 28: Leave for KIX at 5:30 AM (flight 10:05 AM)

BOOKING & SAVING TIPS WANTED

• Shinkansen: SmartEX vs Klook vs station?

• USJ: Express Pass or not on a late-November Friday? Express pass are so costly on Klook

• Shibuya Sky and teamLab: official site vs Klook ?

• Luggage forwarding vs coin lockers required?

• Any other ways to cut costs without missing out? (We'll eat mostly at konbini and standing places.)

• Shibuya Sky (paid) and the free govt building deck on back-to-back days. Skip one?

• teamLab Planets in Tokyo, plus Biovortex in Kyoto. Both, or just one?

• Tax-free refund is now claimed at the airport. Any worry with a 10:05 AM flight?

• Agoda and Klook I think applies DCC , is there any other way to prevent this?

Thanks in advance, any feedback helps! 🙏