🇲🇽 Mexico or 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
Which one, honestly
Mexico leads on cities, food and value for money. Costa Rica leads on nature.
A normal day costs about $95 in Mexico and $130 in Costa Rica.
Side by side
- 🇲🇽 Mexico🇨🇷 Costa Rica
- Jan, Feb, Mar, Nov, DecBest monthsJan, Feb, Mar, Dec
- $95A normal day$130
- 5h 15m to Mexico CityNonstop from New York5h 15m to San Jose
- ExceptionalBeaches and seaVery good
- ExceptionalCities and cultureNot the draw
- ExceptionalFoodGood
- Very goodNature and hikingExceptional
- Very goodValue for moneyNot the draw
- GoodEasy to get aroundGood
- Comfortable long distance buses and cheap domestic flightsGetting aroundA hire car with clearance, the distances are short but the roads are slow
- The Caribbean coast in September and October, peak hurricane seasonWhen to avoidSeptember and October on the Caribbean side, the wettest weeks of the year
Pick by what you want
🇲🇽 Choose Mexico if
you want one of the great food countries, ruins and two very different coastlines, without European prices.
🇨🇷 Choose Costa Rica if
you want wildlife above everything else, cloud forest and two oceans in one small country, and you accept it costs more than its neighbours.
Full Mexico guide →Full Costa Rica guide →
And what the world thinks
Dead even. The next vote breaks the tie.
Compare something else
Written and checked by hand. Nothing here about visas or entry rules: those change often and depend on your passport, so check an official source.