"It's so close to nature!" - part 2
February 18, 2023 2:42 PM   Subscribe

Please name cities anywhere in Latin America that meet the following criteria:

- 10,000 - 200,000 people. More might be ok if it's extremely bike/ped friendly. Less might be ok if they're welcoming to newcomers.
- Can leave the city in any direction on relaxing, bike-friendly roads
- Can reach nature within 5-15 miles in at least a couple directions
- Hot and/or warm climate, dry (not humid) but with water
- Not so far from the equator that dark is an issue for most people most of the year
- Air pollution is not a major problem
posted by aniola to Travel & Transportation (8 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Bike friendly roads in small settings in Latin America is going up be a tall order. Chile has better infrastructure than a lot of Latin America, so you might look at central and northern towns.

Pucon maybe? It’s similar latitude to northern CA (think Mendocino).
posted by vunder at 6:34 PM on February 18, 2023 [2 favorites]




As vunder alluded, most of the cities in Latin America that have decent cycling infrastructure are much larger than what you're looking for. Bogotá and Mexico City are two of the best.

The place that comes closest to meeting all your criteria that I'm aware of would be Cuenca, Ecuador. It's a bit bigger than you asked for but definitely not huge and sprawling. It's a nice city with some beautiful architecture and has pretty countryside around it. They've also made a push in the past few years to improve cycling infrastructure. The altitude may potentially be a drawback.
posted by theory at 8:07 PM on February 18, 2023


Response by poster: In case it helps:

Bike-friendly doesn't have to mean what it means in the US and Europe. It doesn't have to mean fancy infrastructure. It can also mean biking is a common way for people to get around, so the drivers give you room. Or that the drivers are few and far-between when you get out of town, so they slow down and give you plenty of space when they pass.
posted by aniola at 10:31 PM on February 18, 2023


Latin America is just largely not really like that. You get out of a city or town setting and roads are very bad and/or roads have many busses and trucks. I haven’t been everywhere so I could be proven wrong (though I have a lot of experience in the region), but it’s just not quite a thing I have seen. I did ride a little in San Pedro de Atacama but that doesn’t meet your qualifications in other ways.
posted by vunder at 12:17 AM on February 19, 2023 [1 favorite]


During early COVID, I rode my bicycle from Phoenix AZ, to La Paz Bolivia.
Obviously I didn't hit every town on this trip, but I can say discounting wealthy areas in major metropolitan areas (CDMX, Lima, Bogota, Barranquilla), I saw a total of six cyclists. I didn't find anywhere where cycling was a common way for people to get around. As a rule, I didn't find that cars slowed down or gave me space when they passed.

That said, roads around smaller towns are going to have less traffic around them, and while I was hit twice, both times were in the suburbs of large cities.

I think your best bet is going to be somewhere with a large expat community- San Miguel De Allende has been mentioned, Loreto might also be up your alley; somewhere in Costa Rica catering to eco tourists might also work.
posted by aint broke at 7:17 AM on February 19, 2023 [6 favorites]


I feel like I have read that Baja is a bit more bike friendly than most of Mexico. Perhaps theres a small university towm somewhere that is more progressive and bike friendly. Either that or an island that has less cars and more tourists. Colombia is the most bike friendly place in Latin America. Cuba definitely has a lot of empty roads with little traffic...
posted by pynchonesque at 10:45 PM on February 19, 2023


Response by poster: Though I should come back and mention for anyone who might read this and get scared off, that I don't know what they're doing with them, but plenty of people in Latin America own bikes. I know of at least 2 people not in a major metropolitan city who bike (they say it's awful but they say that about the cities too) and a couple more who are currently biking around their country on vacation.
posted by aniola at 10:47 PM on March 5, 2023


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