Mexico

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Basics

Air is polluted and the city is high (2000 meters over sea level). So, if you run or do some exercise, you might want to do it indoors and work out less at the beginning. However, you won't get lung cancer in 3 months so don't worry its not that bad.

If you are going to a beach resort, you have to go all inclusive.

You have to learn the Spanish basics for when you get out a touristy area. On tourist areas, even policemen are trained to understand and speak some English. Mexican hospitality is legendary.

You need to speak Spanish if you're going off the beaten path. If you're an English Speaking American Tourist, there's gonna be hassle.

Transport

Driving can be very expensive because you have to pay for the non-federal owned "freeways" in Mexico and you have to pay for importing a vehicle and other paperwork. American vehicles need special permits because people bring them to sell them cheaper, so to avoid this they are subject to several taxes.

If you really want to drive, just rent a car. If you are traveling for work your company will pay for that.

If you decide to drive, get an international insurance. It's unlikely that an imported vehicle will get robbed mainly because it is not a Mexican car. Most cars get robbed to be used as spare parts, so there is no market to sell it. Most cars that get robbed are left at the street, so leave your car in a parking lot which is very cheap.

Each city has different driving styles and you have to get used to them. Mexico city is difficult to drive if you are used to a very polite city. Traffic is heavy on peak hours.

If you decide not to bring your car, the Metro is super cheap, easy to use, but on peak hours is very crowded. Is fairly safe, but as in any other city you have to be careful with pickpockets.

Avoid street taxis. This is the only REAL threat. Always use a radio-taxi service such as TAXIMEX (55 19 76 90). Or a "taxi de sitio" (orange cabs).

Safety

Mexico is a huge city with megalopolis problems such as robbery. But, if you take care nothing wrong has to happen to you.

Only use ATM on day hours and inside a store or mall and try to carry only the money you are going to use. (100 US equivalent is more than enough) Try to have short currency.

Where to go

Thanksgiving is an awesome time to go to the Cancun area. All the Americans that give you headaches with gramma, football and the turkey are at home.

February is not a big party environment because it's low season. However, you can avoid completely Cancun and spend a great time relaxing in Isla Mujeres and/or Cozumel.

If you have some more money to spend, check some of the new SPAs in Riviera Maya which is also caribe, very close to Cancun but completely another resort concept.
Or, check the Hotel Gala in Playacar (Playa del Carmen) it has all inclusive deals that are awesome to relax, eat and sports included.

For slower less party pace, try Isla Mujers which is across the water from Cancun or better still, if you head down the coast there are a lot of little places where you can either camp on the beach or rent some kind of little palapa hut. It looks like the whole coast is getting built up some, so you may be more likely to need to rent a little casita house with running water and a much heftier tab. The little palapas still exist down near Tulum.

Do NOT stay in Valladolid, it's a pit. Unfortunately it's a long day getting between Merida and Cancun with a stop at Chitzen Itza.

Nuevo Vaillarta is 30 minutes away from Puerto Vaillarta. The weather is flawless and the beaches are perfect. If you are into the club scene, the clubs in Puerto Vaillarta are tons of fun... Zoo, Carlos Obriens, Signor Frogs, Cactus...

Mayan Riviera, Playa Del Carmen is amazing.

Avid Caribbean travelers and scuba diver/snorkeller types swear by Cozumel (more touristy, but somewhat more laid-back than Cancun) and Playa del Carmen (a bit less touristy, close to some ancient ruins and suchlike) when traveling to Mexico.

Mexico City is huge! The sight when you are landing is unbeatable, there's city from kilometers before you land. The main city is exactly in the middle of several hills however overpopulation has spread to those hills and beyond.

Downtown is beautiful Spanish-colonial style. And then architecture changes to nouveau, decó, neoclassic and so on. There is a large avenue called Reforma whis is supposed to be inspired by Paris Champs Elysees and leads to the Chapultepec Castle.

If you get a flat in a small town, could happen to you, happened to me on Baja P Sur, I needed that Spanish, because well, I needed a mechanic, and directions. I suppose pictographs might have worked, but for me, that equals hassle.

I also think that while in general, people are lovely creatures, there is also an immense tendency to take advantage of those who are informationly handicapped.

I've seen Americans taking advantage of Japanese and Germans, Mexicans taking advantage of Americans, Americans taking advantage of Mexicans, it just goes on and on. By having a good conversational grasp of what's going on around you, there is a better opportunity for true exchange of information and less chance of unpleasant surprises.
I would suggest checking out Guanajuato for a more relaxed trip. The town is beautiful, the people are friendly and you can even visit a museum full of mummies.

My experience visiting Mexico City for a month was very positive. There's a lot of great stuff to see, museums, historic sites, etc. We got around by metro and bus, though we did call for a taxi very late at night. The city is polluted, but for a short trip it didn't seem much worse than LA to me. If you're used to Midwest driving (I live in IN), driving in Mexico City would definitely be challenging! When I visited, it was the craziest driving I'd ever seen (but since then I've visited Boston and Rome!)
San Felipe, Mexico.

On the eastern Baja coast, it can get a bit busy during spring break time but February should be nice...we went camp at Pete's camp on the beach, like 9 bucks a night for a cabana which was really four large white posts and some large palm leaves on top but it was nice, for what it was. It's a smallish town but enough for a week for down time.

Suggested Itinerary

Fly into Cancun, rent a vw converto-bug at the airport and stay in Cancun one night just to take in all the tackiness of it. In the morning, drive down towards Tulum and once you pass the Playa Carmen area, start asking around for the little places. You may have luck near Akumal.

Spend a few days wearing a path between beach, bar and hammock. Then move on to Tulum, check out the tuins, back track a little bit and take the road to Uxmal to see the ruins there. It's half a day at Uxmal, and you can also drive around to see other ruins if you're so inclined. From Uxmal head to Merida and stay there one night downtown near the plaza. Totally different vibe. Stay a day there, or head to Chizen Itza. From Chizen Itza head back to Cancun, spend the last night there and catch a plane back in the morning.

Mobile Phones

There are several plans here in Mexico. I think the best deal is to buy a Telcel phone with "plan amigo kit". You can buy one for US$100 and get free US$100 minutes of local phone calls (more or less), each local call costs US$0.5 per minute. You can buy a new card and "refill" the telephone whenever you want to. Local calls are under the "calling telephone pays" scheme, so you don't pay for any local call you receive.

You can receive long distance calls, but you pay the same as a local call. And calling to the US costs US$1 per minute.

If you think you are going to use the phone a lot to call to the US, maybe you should contact Nextel. I believe they have a better roaming service if you buy it in the US. Here in Mexico those cell phones are more expensive and charge for incoming and out coming calls so aren't very popular.