Todos Santos - Tips for Taking a Day Trip from Cabo to Todos Santos

The infinitely quaint Todos Santos ...

... is about a two-hour drive from Cabo San Lucas and makes a great destination for a day trip. As long as you have a rental car (which I recommend you reserve before traveling to Mexico), you're ready to hit the road. In this article, I'll tell you how to get from one place to the other and share important tips for your trip: including what to see, where to eat, and what to do.

On this Todos Santos day trip, you'll be traveling from the southern most tip of the Baja Peninsula north up the Pacific coast to Todos Santos

Before taking Highway 1 North to Todos Santos (see the map I've provided below), make sure to fill your tank up at the Pemex station in Cabo. If you've just picked up your rental car, be aware that many of the rental car agencies in Mexico do not provide you with a full tank of gas as they do in the U.S. (You will be expected to return the car with the same amount of gas in the tank that you had when you rented it.) Since you'll be gone for morning until dusk, the first thing you should do is top off the tank.

Next, stock up on bottled water. Once you're flying down the open highway, there are not many places to stop for refreshments. Since you'll be traveling through a unique "tropical" desert, which can be quite hot during certain times of the year, it makes sense to bring along bottled water.

Along the way, you'll see sprawling ranches with handmade fences dotted with the occasional new development. Twenty years ago, when my husband I took our first day trip to Todos Santos, we made up this song called, "The Ballad of the Lonesome Cow" because we spotted so many half-starved cows standing or lying by the roadside, often with buzzards circling overhead. On our most recent trip, we didn't see a single cow.

Bring along your camera because the landscape you'll see along Highway 1 is beautiful. This unique habitat, where the tropics meet desert scrub is dotted with towering cacti that slope down to the Pacific Ocean on one side and verdant foliage that climbs upward toward the Sierra de las Lagunas mountains on the other. On the way to Todos Santos from Cabo San Lucas, you'll pass through the towns of Pozo de Cota, La Tinaja, San Rafael and El Pescadero (see map).

Once you've arrived in Todos Santos, the first landmark you'll see (and one that will be familiar to any Eagles fan) is the Hotel California. This recently refurbished hotel was purchased by an American woman and is a great place to stay. Normally, our first stop in Todos Santos is to wet our parched lips and feed our growling stomachs. Our favorite restaurant is Tequila Sunrise which is located across the street from the Hotel California. You can sit outside on the sidewalk and view the tourists strolling down the main drag while sipping a super-sized margarita (be careful: they're strong) and eating authentic mexican cuisine. Although it's a bit pricey, it's well worth it, particularly since you get to memorialize your visit by writing your name or any thing you want on the walls inside and outside the restaurant. The waiters will even given you a big fat marker to accomplish the task.

Probably the best thing to do in Todos Santos is to shop at all the little boutiques and bookstores that line the streets. Don't forget the merchants who sell beautiful blankets, handblown glass and other trinkets from their little tiendas or in the square, one block away from the Hotel California. Below is a picture of a mother in Todos Santos who takes care of her children, while tending her little store.

Be sure to head back to Cabo San Lucas before dusk. Remember that it's about a two-hour drive and that there are no lights along the highway. You don't want to be driving down Highway 1 at night when animals (such as lonesome cows) could be ambling across the road.

Make your hotel arrangements based on your budget, number in your party and availability:

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Todos Santos - Cabo Mexico

Cabo San Lucas