Ask Lonely Planet: All aboard for best sights and sensations

My partner and I have a six weeks planned travelling round in Mexico and California. We are flying into Puerto Vallarta and have three weeks to get to Cancun. Can you suggest some must do destinations? We are keen to do a mixture of both beach destinations and some Mayan/Aztec ruins. Also we would love suggestions on travel by rental car or bus.
-Louise Manners

Lonely Planet's US travel editor Robert Reid writes:

You have many options. Because you're sandwiching your trip with great beaches, I'd recommend spending as much time inland as you can get. Car rental can be more expensive than you'd expect, but the bus system is great. To reach the main highways from Puerto Vallarta, take a bus four hours south along the Pacific for a couple nights in the charming town Barra de Navidad, with traffic-free cobblestone streets and a very laid-back air. The choco-coloured beach is too steep to swim in, but you can take all-day boat trips to jungle sites. Hotel Delfin (hoteldelfinmx.com) is a lovely hotel with balconies and pool in the centre.

From the resort town Manzanillo, just south, grab a bus to the country's second-largest city Guadalajara, the birthplace of mariachis, sombreros and tequila. It's a place meant for walking. In the historic centre, you can take in colourful murals, fantastic meals, crafts markets in the sprawling Plaza Tapatia, and live music at the Mariachi Plaza. Looming west are a handful of Mexico's famed colonial silver cities, great for laid-back days. Set below hills, Guanajuato is a classic, with art museums (and another devoted to mummies); many gringos bee-line for San Miguel de Allende (seen in films like Robert Rodriguez's Once Upon a Time in Mexico).

From there, bus into Mexico City - which can easily consume three weeks or more to see its pyramids, Aztec canals, Frida Kahlo's old home in boho Coyoacan, sip mescal at a tasting salon in hip Condesa, not to mention the food, which is superb from walk-away tacos to sit-down nouveaux Mexican classy restaurants with soap opera stars at nearby tables. The country's cheapest flights arrive/depart from the capital's Benito Juarez airport. Catch one to reach the Yucatan's underrated Merida, the region's realest city, about four hours from the Caribbean. There's no beaches, and locals don't care - there are great museums, and wonderful weekend open-air parties with taco stands and street dances on the closed-to-traffic cobblestone streets, plus superb Mayan ruins reached on the easily arranged Ruta de Puuc bus. From there it's a quick bus ride into Cancun.

Cars costly in European cities

Can you tell me the best way to go about hiring a car to travel in Europe (probably France, Belgium). Can we pick it up in one place and drop it off elsewhere?
-Jo Whale

Lonely Planet's European travel editor Tom Hall replies:

There are a number of considerations when planning a car-based trip to Europe. The first, and probably most important, is the cost. Rates vary hugely, but you're basically going to be looking at $60 to $150 a day not including fuel. The daily rate will decrease the longer you hire for, but over a three-week period this is a hefty wedge of cash. Because of this, and because you'll be spending plenty of time in cities which have great public transport - and difficult to find car parking - you might find it easier to do several short rental periods in each country you're visiting. There's a security reason for this, too. Hire cars are often targeted by thieves and parking in big cities means leaving them out of sight, increasing your chances of being broken into. You shouldn't leave anything valuable in the vehicle at any time if you can possibly help it. You'll also probably want to avoid driving into big cities after negotiating Paris' Peripherique (ring road) or Milan's often chaotic road system. Drop it off at the airport and use public transport.

The other consideration is logistics. Though within the European Union crossing a border is as easy as driving from one town to another, the insurance requirements for each country are quite different. Open-jaw rentals, where you pick up in one country and return to another - are not unheard of, but they will add more cost to your itinerary and hire firms don't really like the hassle of international vehicle transfers. You will incur far less cost if you drop-off in the same country you pick up in. This is also easier to do if you use an international rather than local car hire firm. Don't be surprised if you can't drive into certain non-EU countries, especially from Italy and Austria into the western Balkan countries - Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and Macedonia. This is due to insurance, and you take heed of any restrictions you're given.

Aside from that you're simply looking for a good deal as you would when making a hire booking anywhere. Shop around, play companies off against each other and haggle. Though travel to and within Europe is picking up, business travel - one of the mainstays of the car hire scene - is weak. You should be able to shave something off the cost by calling direct.

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