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Laredo to Lakeside. Recent Proven Directions


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Yes, I’ve searched but after 15 minutes of reading unrelated posts, I’m resorting to asking.  We’re travelling from Laredo tomorrow.  Plan on stopping overnight in either Saltillo or Monterrey.  Would appreciate info on staying on course.  Friends recently travelled and got off track adding 2 hours to their travels.  Thanks in advance.

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5 hours ago, sanditoes said:

gee, thanks.  Have you driven this route yourself??  GPS is not reliable.  

I have actually ...about 20 times over the last 13 years.. My Garmin has never failed me... It doesn't allways take me route I think it should.. But it allways gets me where I want to go... 

When I first started the drive there were a lot less toll roads than there are now.. Theses days it's a pretty simple drive from Laredo (Columbia) 

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Between my Garmin and Waze, both are reliable. The only caveat is if you don't want to go the Aguascaliente and Zacatecas route, make Matehuala your destination coming and going and once near there, change destinations to Laredo or Chapala.

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1 hour ago, tomgates said:

Between my Garmin and Waze, both are reliable. The only caveat is if you don't want to go the Aguascaliente and Zacatecas route, make Matehuala your destination coming and going and once near there, change destinations to Laredo or Chapala.

Good point...  My Garmin did like taking me through Aguascalientes....... I have been both ways . And really don't find that much difference.. Now that the SP  bypass is open and the new road around Guad it makes it a lot eaiser drive and easily doable in one shot... Never again will I stay in that dump Las Palmas....

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Last month we drove north by the Zacatecas route and returned last Sunday by the SLP route and prefer the SLP route somewhat.  The drive from Saltillo to Lake Chapala took about eight hours.  We use both Garmin and Google maps on the smart phone.  Garmin was showing the speed limit at 80 kph, but with the new, smooth road we could easily drive 120.  The SLP bypass was signed 100 kph, but traffic was doing 80.  The Lagos de Moreno bypass still sucks.  The road from SLP to just north of Guadalajara is still an old road that ten years ago was acceptable, but now seems old and slow, so that's why the SLP route is not an overwhelming preference for us.

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On 7/26/2019 at 11:39 PM, sanditoes said:

Yes, I’ve searched but after 15 minutes of reading unrelated posts, I’m resorting to asking.  We’re travelling from Laredo tomorrow.  Plan on stopping overnight in either Saltillo or Monterrey.  Would appreciate info on staying on course.  Friends recently travelled and got off track adding 2 hours to their travels.  Thanks in advance.

Send me by PM your email address and I will send you my turn by turn log that will eliminate all your doubts. This log is up to date as of 3/19/19 and it the product of more than 65 round trips. 

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If you end up relying on Google Maps (in whole or part), I recommend downloading offline content for your route. We lost cell reception during several long stretches. The offline maps kept us going and alleviated some (though not all) stress.

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Yes, I have stayed there a couple of times. If one is on a trip to Laredo, it is kinda a back-track from out where 57 meets 40 to Monterrey... and then back to 57/40 in the morning but...  

IMO Saltillo is a 'difficult' place to overnight as there are no hotel opportunities out on 57 coming into the Saltillo area. One has to get off the freeway for quite a ways before one finds a hotel (except a no-tel and lots of folks won't stay in one of those!). 

P.S.  We 'Posters' keep on Posting about the route but the OP said they were leaving LAST SATURDAY so we are just 'talking amongst ourselves' as Mike Myer's 'Coffee Lady' used to say on SNL.

 

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11 hours ago, RickS said:

Yes, I have stayed there a couple of times. If one is on a trip to Laredo, it is kinda a back-track from out where 57 meets 40 to Monterrey... and them back to 57/40 in the morning but...  

IMO Saltillo is a 'difficult' place to overnight as there are no hotel opportunities out on 57 coming into the Saltillo. One has to get off the freeway for quite a ways before one finds a hotel (except a no-tel and lots of folks won't stay in one of those!). 

P.S.  We 'Posters' keep on Posting about the route but the OP said they were leaving LAST SATURDAY so we are just 'talking amongst ourselves' as Mike Myer's 'Coffee Lady' used to say on SNL.

 

The Hotel San Pedro is a better stop with protected parking in gated lot. It includes breakfast, but has no ice, but they send you over to restaurant for ice. It is in the middle of toll road 7 hours north of Ajijic and 5 hours south of Laredo. The beds are great unlike Las Palmas

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I stayed at the Fairfield Inn again last week and the gates have been removed, but I still feel the front parking lot is safe. 

In June we stayed at the City Express Monterrey Norte.  They have gated parking and a nice restaurant next door and a Carl Jr's also.  The rooms are smaller, but nice.  Breakfast included and it was easy to access and exit driving north.

 

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Thanks to all for the info.  We followed the route provided in the link posted by chapalence and we’re mostly successful, with just one slightly off track.  It oils be very helpful if that document included the highway numbers.  Does anyone know who created it so I can. Make that suggestion directly?

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On 7/28/2019 at 10:36 AM, geeser said:

Send me by PM your email address and I will send you my turn by turn log that will eliminate all your doubts. This log is up to date as of 3/19/19 and it the product of more than 65 round trips. 

Sadly, too late.  Are you the person who created the document that chapalence posted?  If so, it would be helpful to have highway numbers included.

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Highway numbers can be helpful in planning, with a map, but Mexico does a very poor job of maintaining numbered highway signs. So, on the road, you may drive all day and never see one on roads other than autopistas.  However, there will be signs to indicate the direction toward the next major city, and occasionally even a smaller town.  Therefore, it is wise to know the names of places you are going to be passing by, going through, or are actual destinations. When you are about to enter Mexico, you will see a "Welcome to Mexico" sign.  Once in Mexico, you will see many signs for "Mexico".  Know the difference!

 

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On 7/31/2019 at 9:26 AM, sanditoes said:

Sadly, too late.  Are you the person who created the document that chapalence posted?  If so, it would be helpful to have highway numbers included.

No mine is 3-4 pages with many landmarks so you can feel comfortable with your location. Mine is fashioned after the ones produced by Sanborns 40 years ago when there were NO road signs or numbers. Have a good trip.

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