MOTORRAD TOURS: CENTRAL AMERICA
When it comes to riding Central America Motorrad Tours are the experts
Ten years riding in Central America means you are in safe hands.
Why Central America? Central America – Mexico and Guatemala – are among the warmest, most welcoming places you could hope to visit, with some breathtaking scenery to boot. A skyline dominated by volcanoes surrounds fascinating ancient architecture including the Mayan cities of Copan, Tikal and Palenque. The riding offers an engaging mix of mountain passes and rougher roads, shared with the occasional local driver coaxing a tired old American vehicle up one more hill.
When is the best time to head to
Central America? There are definite wet and dry seasons so timing is pretty important. The dry season starts around December, making January the ideal time to head out.
What is the riding like? There is some absolutely stunning riding throughout the mountainous inland areas of Central America. Sealed road surfaces range from perfectly smooth bitumen to rough and unkept, both often coming at you within the same stretch of road. It all provides an enjoyable challenge along the mountain passes. The best riding roads wind up and down the mountains but remain at sensible altitudes, so the temperature is mild and the chances of getting snowed on are nonexistent.
The mountains, or should we say volcanoes, provide much dramatic scenery along the way. There’s a smattering of mopeds and smaller bikes, while cars and trucks tend to be American castoffs, sold in to Mexico when they’ve reached the end of their usable lives in the USA. They get driven around Mexico until they’re completely knackered at which point someone in Guatemala buys them. As such the vehicles on the road tend to limp along, doing strange things like driving at night with their lights turned off, because the bulbs are expensive to replace. Brightly painted old US school buses are de rigueur across the whole of the region.
Our favourite thing about Central America? It’s di cult to put a finger on exactly why, but Central America is one of those places you just feel like you could happily stay forever. It’s a truly beautiful region, full of incredible colonial architecture and fascinating historical ruins. It’s friendly, colourful and the history of the ancient cities still retains an air of mystery that only serves to make them feel more magical.
Things to do and see? The Mayan cities of Tikal, Copan and Palenque are without doubt a must-see in Central America – incredible ancient architecture, once lost to the mahogany jungles, now partially uncovered and fascinating to explore. Machu Picchu pales by comparison. Volcanoes and lakes break through the landscape and are perfect for hiking on a day off the bike.
One of the most fascinating places we stay is modelled on an old monastery at Chichicastenango. We call here to visit the town’s market; the locals turn out in their traditional wild colours and the whole town comes alive – it’s such a friendly and fun experience to be a part of. Another great spot is Rio Dulce, on the entrance to Lake Izabal, an old pirate haunt at the gateway to the lake from the Caribbean.
What about the food? Understandably, the coffee is the real highlight of the region, so much so that we make a point of staying on the Case De Café as we nip into Honduras for a couple of days. Food is very much Mexican style – refried beans, spicy stir-fry and, along the coastal areas, lots of delicious fresh fish.
What are the locals like? The locals are the stars of the Central American show; super friendly and genuinely the nicest people you’ll ever deal with. Southern Mexico is a simple and fairly poor area, but large swathes of Guatemala is subsistence farming. Despite this you’ll find the people who have nothing will happily try to give you half of it. It’s very humbling.
The police seem to follow a similar pattern – they’re charmingly nd crooked. The best way to explain it is that if they stop you for speeding and you’re sure you weren’t they’re generally just trying to get ten dollars out of you because they haven’t been paid. Not exactly legit, but dodgy in an endearing way. How to get there from the UK…
The best flight options from the UK are into Mexico City and then transfer with an internal flight to either Palenque or Villahermosa. What is the accommodation like?
As with all Motorrad Tours trips we avoid chain hotels and instead seek out traditional colonial accommodation. Old buildings, quiet boutique places with no 50-inch TVS. Big old traditional furniture, balconies, courtyards, tiled floors and a heavy Spanish influence on the design. Café culture is strong
in the towns and there are great bars and places for a night out – including Twisted Tanya’s cocktail bar, our favourite bar in Central America.
The cost of the tour? Our ‘Magical Mayans: Central America Uncovered’ trip starts from £6195 for a single rider on a BMW F700 GS hire bike.
This includes: accommodation ⏢ All breakfasts ⏢ Welcome and farewell dinners ⏢ Dinner on selected nights ⏢ Entrance and guided tours of the UNESCO listed ruins of Palenque, Copan, Ruinas, Tikal ⏢ Motorrad Tours tour leader ⏢ Motorcycle rental ⏢ Support/luggage vehicle and driver ⏢ Commemorative polo shirt ⏢ The protection of booking with a fully bonded tour operator.
Why choose Motorrad Tours? We first rode Central America over a decade ago, and fell in love with it. We have extensively explored the region, perfecting our route and our knowledge – we constantly seek out the best places to visit and stay. Motorrad Tours is an O cial Travel Partner of BMW Motorrad. We operate a range of motorcycle tours throughout Europe as well as tours in Africa, the Americas and Asia. You are welcome to ride any make of bike on our tours, but we always ride BMW. We are a fully bonded travel operator so you can be sure you will get what you pay for. Our touring style is about freedom – we provide route guidance notes, maps and GPS routes so you can choose to ride independently or with the tour leader or swap and change. You have the freedom to choose.
‘Any night at Twisted Tanya’s – our favourite haunt in Honduras – is a night to remember’