Mexico

Reasons to go include:

1. Mexico City

Condesa neighbourhood and neighbouring Hipódromo and Roma Norte. My happiest memories are tacos at Tacos Hola El Güero, vegan tacos at Por siempre vegana 2, mushroom-based vegan food at Los Loosers, freshly squeezed juices at Loncheria limo limon. Condesa is the best place to stay in Mexico City.
Centro Histórico where buildings and infrastructure are sinking fast. Visit Templo Mayor and, as it starts to get dark, head to Alameda Central park which comes alive with music and locals.
Coyoacán. Many buildings on Avenida Francisco Rosa are open to the public (for free) even though it doesn’t look like it from the outside. Visit Fonoteca Nacional, Casa de Cultura Jesús Reyes Heroles and others. My happiest memories are vegetarian food at Vege Taco, Restaurante Paraiso Vegetariano and La Pitahaya Vegana (much more expensive, but give it a try once), hot chocolate at Tierra Garat, drinks at Mezcalero Coyoacan, working from Cafebrería El Péndulo with a piece of cake and a tea, reading a book on the lawn of the Cineteca Nacional de Mexico (the best place to see interesting movies).
Xochimilco is an experience. It is incredibly touristy, but mostly popular with Mexican tourists. Bring a picnic and jump into a collectivo boat at Embarcadero Nuevo Nativitas Xochimilco.
Look for events on Local and TimeOut.

Day trips:

★ Teotihuacán - at some point this was at least the sixth largest city in the world. To get there, grab a bus to “Los piramides” from Terminal Norte in Mexico City, takes about an hour.
★ Nevado de Toluca - beautiful hiking area.

2. San Cristobal de las Casas and around

San Cristóbal de las Casas - a highland city with a high proportion of indigenous people. My happiest memories are hot chocolate at Xocolattes Y Cafe, pre-hispanic food at Kokono and breakfasts at Kukulpan. Do not miss Iglesia de San Juan in Chamula and Romerillo Cemetery - these are unique places, there is nothing like them anywhere else in Mexico.
Zona Arqueológica de Yaxchilán - only accessible by boat, once you get there it feels other-worldly.
Zona Arqueológica Palenque - expensive and crowded, but totally worth it. Even after visiting many other archeological sites, in Palenque I found things I’ve not seen anywhere else.
On my wishlist: Zona Arqueológica Toniná.

3. Merida and around

Zona Arqueológica de Uxmal - absolutely fascinating, loads to explore and much less crowded than other more popular places.
Zona Arqueológica Chichén-Itzá - El Caracol observatory was my favourite bit.
Las Coloradas - salt flats full of red-coloured algae, plankton and brine shrimp that give the water its bright pink colour. Flamingos frequent this place. The best time to visit is on a windy day around 14:00.
Hacienda Yaxcopoil is a great place to learn about haciendas, the crops they grew and the machinery they used.
Hacienda San Pedro Ochil is now a restaurant where you can enjoy good food in a spectacular setting.
Grutas Calcehtok - exploring caves with a guide.
Xcacel Área Natural Protegida Estatal - amazing beaches.
Reserva de la Biósfera Sian Ka’an.
Puerto Morelos - nice beaches.
El Cuyo - nice beaches in a relaxed village vibe.
On my wishlist: Granja De Cocodrilos Itzamkanac.

4. Oaxaca city and around

Oaxaca city - beautiful city, great food, home of Mezcal. My happiest memories are cocktails and food at El Techo (on top of El Destilado restaurant), vegan food at Hierba Dulce, tasting different types of mezcal at Mezcalería In Situ. Head to Barrio de Xochimilco for street art and a nice neighbourhood vibe. Great city overall, but I could not shake off the feeling that everything felt “for tourists”. Next time I’m here, I’d like to try the tasting menu at El Destilado.
Zona Arqueológica de Monte Albán - an impressive site.
Playa Zipolite - the best nudist beach in Mexico.
On my wishlist: Hierve el Agua, Parque Nacional Huatulco.

5. Guadalajara and around

Guadalajara - a city that truly comes alive on Sundays during Vía Recreactiva. Colonia Americana is the best place to stay in Guadalajara - good vegan restaurants (La Flaca, Choclo y Maíz), traditional Mexican food (El Fondue Gourmet serves pre-hispanic foods like scorpions and huitlacoche soup), cocktail bars (De La O Cantina, Barra Matilde Mi Amor), local breweries (Loba Restaurante UMHO).
Tequila - a town about 2 hours by bus from Central Vieja bus station in Guadalajara. Visit tequila distilleries and learn about the process.
On my wishlist: hiking up Parícutin volcano; Barranca de Oblatos.

6. Villahermosa and around

Villahermosa - grand street art murals on highrises outside La Cevicheria Tabasco.
El Chichón - the 1982 eruption left a 1km wide crater housing an acidic crater lake and some active fumaroles.

7. Santiago de Querétaro and around

Santiago de Querétaro - a picturesque city. My happiest memories are street art in Museo de Arte Urbano de México, vegan food at Tacogreen and pastries at La Dulce Compañía. I much preferred Santiago de Querétaro to frequently recommended destinations like San Miguel de Allende (though this town has a lot of great art galleries, and street art in Barrio de Guadalupe), Puebla city (street art around Iglesia de Santa Inés is nice) and Pueblos Mágicos that I failed to appreciate.
On my wishlist: Peña de Bernal, Zona Arqueológica El Cerrito.

On my wishlist:

★ Cueva de Cristales in Naica.
Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Michoacán.
Large Millimeter Telescope in Parque Nacional Pico de Orizaba.
Cascada de Tamul, Cave of Swallows, Reserva de la Biosfera Sierra Gorda, Dunas Rojas de San Francisco in Pacula, and Las Pozas Jardín Escultórico Edward James in Xilitla.
San Luis Potosi and Cráter la Joya Honda.
Monterrey.
Morelia.

Notes

Sim cards: Telcel has the best coverage across the country. I bought a “recycled” Telcel sim card from Oxxo. No passport/documents required, insert sim into your phone and it works instantly, top up online as needed.
ATMs normally charge per withdrawal, regardless of how much you take out. Both Santander and Citibanamex work well, they allow withdrawals of up to 9,000 MXN for about 35 MXN fee.
Mexico prints new banknotes every year and every year they look and feel different (type of paper, security features), so you’ll have a lot of different ones with no way to tell if any of them are fake.
In Cancun Uber drivers are at war with taxi drivers, who do physically attack them. If you want to get an Uber in the city or to the airport, find a quiet side street from which no taxis or big roads are visible and call it from there - the Uber driver picking you up will be grateful. If you want to get an Uber from the airport, where the Uber app is blocked, head to the Departures and grab an Uber dropping people off - the Uber driver will be grateful as they cannot pick people up in the airport through the app and hence they normally have to drive back to the city with no passengers.
Cenotes - natural sinkholes resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes groundwater. There are very many of them.
To learn about life on the periphery of Mexico city, I enjoyed reading LIMITS by Feike de Jong.
Food: Try huitlacoche (a fungus that infects corn plants, it’s delicious when cooked in traditional dishes), nopales (edible cacti) and jamaica (you’ll find it everywhere in agua fresca, but try to find it in tacos or other dishes where you actually get to eat the flowers themselves). Try a negroni with mezcal, and you’ll never go back to gin. Cajeta is the local name for dulce de leche.
Many cans of beans contain chorizo. If you’ve ordered a vegan option and your beans taste of chorizo - you are not imagining it.
Mexicans prefer their drinks sugary. If you ask for a jamaica agua fresca or a hot chocolate without sugar, you’ll get a puzzled look. Try asking for a bitter chocolate (which they usually have, and it contains no sugar) dissolved in milk, they will make it and look surprised when you actually drink it.
Warm drinks for breakfast are coffee and camomile tea. If you prefer another type of tea for breakfast, bring your own tea bags.