Mexico gets under your skin. The culture, the landscapes, the sheer number of places you could spend a week in and still not see everything. You've got Mexico City with its noise and energy, the turquoise water down in Cancun, and then quiet, colonial-pretty towns like San Miguel de Allende where the pace drops right off. Honestly, the one thing that trips people up is where to sleep without blowing the budget. It's not as hard as you'd think, though. A bit of digging and some forward planning, and you can stay somewhere comfortable and well-placed for very little. Here's what's worked for me and other travellers I trust.

  1. Hostels: If you're watching every peso, hostels are usually the answer in Mexico. You'll find everything from a bed in a shared dorm to a private room if you want a bit more quiet, so it flexes to your budget. The real saving, in my experience, comes from the shared kitchen and common areas — you cook a couple of meals, you chat to other travellers, and your daily spend drops fast. A few I'd point people toward: Hostel Home Mexico in Mexico City, Hostal Casa B&B over in Guadalajara, and Hostel Villa Mercedes in Playa del Carmen.
  2. Vacation Rentals: An apartment or a villa can work out cheaper than a hotel, especially if there's a group of you splitting it. You get more room, a bit of privacy, and — the part that matters — a kitchen. Cooking your own breakfast instead of eating out three times a day adds up over a fortnight. Airbnb and Booking.com both list plenty of affordable options across Mexican cities and the tourist spots, so it's worth a scroll before you commit to anything.
  3. Budget Hotels: Plenty of budget hotels dotted around the country give you a proper room for a fraction of what the fancier places charge. Nothing lavish, but you'll typically get the basics sorted — Wi-Fi, air con, your own bathroom, which is really all you need after a long day out. Worth a look are Hotel Kin Mayab in Cancun, Hotel Arawak in Playa del Carmen, and Hotel Belmar in Mexico City.
  4. Homestays: Want something with a bit more heart to it? Stay with a local family. You'll spend less than you would on a hotel, and you actually get to see how people live — the food, the little customs, the language. It's a different kind of trip. Homestays turn up in loads of the smaller towns and villages, and you can sort one through the local tourism boards or a site like Homestay.com.
  5. Campsites: For the outdoorsy sort, camping is about the cheapest way to see Mexico there is. The range surprises people — coastal pitches one week, somewhere up in the mountains the next. And a lot of the sites aren't rough at all; showers, a kitchen, somewhere to sit and relax. Try Camping Playa de Oro in Acapulco, Camping Pueblo Magico in Tulum, or Camping Playa Palapas in Cancun.

Anyway, that's the lay of it. Mexico works on almost any budget, and between hostels, rentals, cheap hotels, homestays and campsites, the price of a bed is a poor excuse to stay home. Maybe you just want somewhere clean and quiet to crash. Maybe you'd rather be right in the thick of local life. Either way, it's easy enough to sort. Start pulling a plan together and go — the place has more than earned its reputation.