Visitor Information

Tourist Boards

The Mexico Tourism Board (tel. 800/446-3942) is an excellent source for general information; you can request brochures and maps on the country and get answers to the most common questions from the exceptionally well-trained, knowledgeable staff.

The board has offices in major North American cities, in addition to the main office in Mexico City (tel. 55/5278-4200).

United States: Chicago (tel. 312/228-0517); Houston (tel. 713/772-2581, ext. 105, or 713/772-3819); Los Angeles (tel. 310/282-9112); Miami (tel. 786/621-2909); and New York (tel. 212/308-2110). The Mexican Embassy is at 1911 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20005 (tel. 202/728-1750 or 202/728-1600).

Canada: 2055 Rue Peel, Suite 1000, Montreal, QC H3A 1V4 (tel. 514/288-2502); Commerce Court West, 199 Bay St., Suite 4440, Toronto, ON M5L 1E9 (tel. 416/925-0704); 710 West Hastings St., Suite 1177, Vancouver, BC V6E 2K3 (tel. 604/684-1859). Embassy office: 1500-45 O'Connor St., Ottawa, ON K1P 1A4 (tel. 613/233-8988; fax 613/235-9123).

More information about Mexico is available on the official site of Mexico's Tourism Promotion Board, www.visitmexico.com.

U.S. Government Information

The U.S. Department of State (tel. 800/407-4747 or 202/501-4444; www.travel.state.gov) offers a Consular Information Sheet on Mexico, with safety, medical, driving, and general travel information gleaned from reports, which are consistently updated, from its offices in Mexico. You can also request the Consular Information Sheet by fax at 202/647-1488.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Hot Line (tel. 800/311-3435 or 404/639-3534; www.cdc.gov) is a source of medical information for travelers to Mexico and elsewhere. For travelers to Mexico and Central America, the number with recorded messages is tel. 877/394-8747. The toll-free fax number for requesting information is 888/407-4747. Information available by fax is also available at www.cdc.gov/travel.

Blogs

You can search for blogs about Mexico at www.travelblog.com or post your own travelogue at www.travelblog.org. For blogs that cover general travel news and highlight various destinations, try Written Road (www.writtenroad.com) or Gawker Media's snarky Gridskipper (www.gridskipper.com). For more literary travel essays, try Salon.com, for its travel section (www.salon.com/wanderlust) and its literary guide (www.salon.com/books/literary_guide), and World Hum (www.worldhum.com), which also has an extensive list of other travel-related journals, blogs, online communities, newspaper coverage, and bookstores.

The Best Yucatan Websites

Weather (www.intellicast.com and www.weather.com)

Telephones

To call Mexico: -- 1. Dial the international access code: 011 from the U.S.; 00 from the U.K., Ireland, or New Zealand; or 0011 from Australia.

2. Dial the country code: 52.

3. Dial the two- or three-digit area code, then the eight- or seven-digit number. For example, if you wanted to call the U.S. consulate in Acapulco, the entire number would be 011-52-744-469-0556. If you wanted to dial the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, the entire number would be 011-52-55-5209-9100.

To make international calls: To make international calls from Mexico, first dial 00, then the country code (U.S. or Canada 1, U.K. 44, Ireland 353, Australia 61, New Zealand 64). Next, dial the area code and number. For example, to call the British Embassy in Washington, you would dial 00-1-202-588-7800.

For directory assistance: Dial tel. 040 if you're looking for a number inside Mexico. Note: Listings usually appear under the owner's name, not the name of the business, and your chances to find an English-speaking operator are slim to none.

For operator assistance: If you need operator assistance in making a call, dial 090 to make an international call, and 020 to call a number in Mexico.

Toll-free numbers: Numbers beginning with 800 within Mexico are toll-free, but calling a U.S. toll-free number from Mexico costs the same as an overseas call. To call an 800 number in the U.S., dial 001-880 and the last seven digits of the toll-free number. To call an 888 number in the U.S., dial 001-881 and the last seven digits of the toll-free number. For a number with an 887 prefix, dial 882; for 866, dial 883.

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Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.

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