Money for Tolls

[Kami]

We are finalizing our drive for this coming Friday and are curious...The tollways in Mexico. Do they accept paper money or change?
We are going to try to bypass Monterrey and Mexico City and head down the coast line (unless someone can tell me it's MUCH faster to go through these cities).

[Libby]

All the tolls I've seen have a live person collecting money. No machines. So, you can use paper money or change, but I'd recommend having exact change ready. Some of the less trafficked toll booths may not have much change on them.

[Kami]

Originally Posted by Libby

All the tolls I've seen have a live person collecting money. No machines. So, you can use paper money or change, but I'd recommend having exact change ready. Some of the less trafficked toll booths may not have much change on them.

Thanks Libby.

[surfnmom]

Stick to the coast line. Especialy in light of the recent issues in D.F.
Many different roads going many different ways and you could end up driving around in circles for hours.

We did the coast line and stopped at the following:
Came from San Antonio Texas
crossed at Nuevo Laredo
spent night in Monterrey...just on the southern side
lunch stop the next day in Linares
spent night in Ciudad Victoria
lunch in Ciudad Valles
spent night in Tampico
lunch in Poza Rica
spent a few days with friends in Veracruz
lunch in Coatzacoalcos
spent night in Cuidad del Carmen
**Discussed going over to Chetumal and coming up. Decided the roads were better to keep going north.
lunch in Campeche
spent night just outside of Merida
lunch somewhere along the way to Cancun and decided we were going all the way to Playa del Carmen since we were that close.

Long trip? yes!
Cool stuff to see along the way? yes!
Did we see it? some.
Why? We were in a Honda CRV and a Honda minivan with 5 adults, 2 kids...ages 1yr & 4yr, 2 large breed SPCA mutts, and everthing that we were bringing. My husband, his parents and brother drove the cars from Richmond, Virginia down to Texas. The kids and I flew down to meet them. We were going to cross the boarder and then kids, me and my mother in law were to fly on from Monterry to Cancun and catch the bus down to PDC.

Well, even though we put my father in law on the titles of the cars. The car insurance that we got said that I had to be in one car and my husband had to be in the other. So, a little shifting of boxes and supplies. A visit to the grocery store for snacks so the kids would survive and much love to the dogs who squished below the kids feet and we were on our way! We survived b/c the kids were able to watch movies on the DVD player in the van. And to think I told my hubby that we didn't need that extra when we bought the car. Thank God he did it anyway!

Good luck!

[Kami]

Originally Posted by surfnmom

Stick to the coast line. Especialy in light of the recent issues in D.F.
Many different roads going many different ways and you could end up driving around in circles for hours.

We did the coast line and stopped at the following:
Came from San Antonio Texas
crossed at Nuevo Laredo
spent night in Monterrey...just on the southern side
lunch stop the next day in Linares
spent night in Ciudad Victoria
lunch in Ciudad Valles
spent night in Tampico
lunch in Poza Rica
spent a few days with friends in Veracruz
lunch in Coatzacoalcos
spent night in Cuidad del Carmen
**Discussed going over to Chetumal and coming up. Decided the roads were better to keep going north.
lunch in Campeche
spent night just outside of Merida
lunch somewhere along the way to Cancun and decided we were going all the way to Playa del Carmen since we were that close.

Long trip? yes!
Cool stuff to see along the way? yes!
Did we see it? some.
Why? We were in a Honda CRV and a Honda minivan with 5 adults, 2 kids...ages 1yr & 4yr, 2 large breed SPCA mutts, and everthing that we were bringing. My husband, his parents and brother drove the cars from Richmond, Virginia down to Texas. The kids and I flew down to meet them. We were going to cross the boarder and then kids, me and my mother in law were to fly on from Monterry to Cancun and catch the bus down to PDC.

Well, even though we put my father in law on the titles of the cars. The car insurance that we got said that I had to be in one car and my husband had to be in the other. So, a little shifting of boxes and supplies. A visit to the grocery store for snacks so the kids would survive and much love to the dogs who squished below the kids feet and we were on our way! We survived b/c the kids were able to watch movies on the DVD player in the van. And to think I told my hubby that we didn't need that extra when we bought the car. Thank God he did it anyway!

Good luck!

Thanks much for such detail! I cannot imagine traveling all that way with two children, two pets and three other adults! You are a much better person than I am!

[susango]

Originally Posted by surfnmom

Stick to the coast line. Especialy in light of the recent issues in D.F.
Many different roads going many different ways and you could end up driving around in circles for hours.

We did the coast line and stopped at the following:
Came from San Antonio Texas
crossed at Nuevo Laredo
spent night in Monterrey...just on the southern side
lunch stop the next day in Linares
spent night in Ciudad Victoria
lunch in Ciudad Valles
spent night in Tampico
lunch in Poza Rica
spent a few days with friends in Veracruz
lunch in Coatzacoalcos
spent night in Cuidad del Carmen
**Discussed going over to Chetumal and coming up. Decided the roads were better to keep going north.
lunch in Campeche
spent night just outside of Merida
lunch somewhere along the way to Cancun and decided we were going all the way to Playa del Carmen since we were that close.

Long trip? yes!
Cool stuff to see along the way? yes!
Did we see it? some.
Why? We were in a Honda CRV and a Honda minivan with 5 adults, 2 kids...ages 1yr & 4yr, 2 large breed SPCA mutts, and everthing that we were bringing. My husband, his parents and brother drove the cars from Richmond, Virginia down to Texas. The kids and I flew down to meet them. We were going to cross the boarder and then kids, me and my mother in law were to fly on from Monterry to Cancun and catch the bus down to PDC.

Well, even though we put my father in law on the titles of the cars. The car insurance that we got said that I had to be in one car and my husband had to be in the other. So, a little shifting of boxes and supplies. A visit to the grocery store for snacks so the kids would survive and much love to the dogs who squished below the kids feet and we were on our way! We survived b/c the kids were able to watch movies on the DVD player in the van. And to think I told my hubby that we didn't need that extra when we bought the car. Thank God he did it anyway!

Good luck!

I think I counted 7 nights. Did you drive about 8 hours a day? If you hadn't spent a couple of days with friends, do you think it would've taken 5 days from the border? I bet it was nice to have a break with friends. I bet it was tough with that many adults, pets, and kids. I also think it would be nice to have others with you to help and for support and just safety in numbers. That was nice of your in-laws and brother to help. Did they go back or did any of them move? When did you make the drive? Did you have a trailer or have any issues at the border? Did you have your FM-3 or FM-T?

We're planning to make the drive at the end of the year or the beginning of 2009. I know it is going to be looong. I don't even like to drive to my sisters in Oklahoma and it takes about 3 hours and 15 minutes. I tempted to drive to PDC in shifts to get there quicker. I'm looking forward to hear Kami and Dave's report!

Thanks for sharing.

Susan

[Ginger]

We also went along the coast and it was a beautiful drive.

Have fun!