Landing at Del Bajio International Airport

What BJX is like

This airport stands between several towns in the Bajio region rather than inside any one of them. Most arrivals are heading for Guanajuato, for San Miguel de Allende, or into Leon, the industrial centre of the area, and every one of those means a further drive. The region's charm is exactly what makes it awkward on foot: old towns of narrow lanes, steep hills and alleyways where a phone map becomes your best friend. That is worth knowing before you land rather than after.

On arrival

The terminal is small and easy to walk, the queues are usually short, and you will be out of the front doors sooner than you expect. That speed is the reason to have the line up before landing: you have less time to sort out a car here than at a big hub. The options are a pre-booked transfer, a taxi from the airport rank, or a hire car. If you are bound for an old town such as Guanajuato, save the exact pin of your accommodation now, while you are sitting still, because on arrival you will be in a maze of lanes that cars cannot all enter.

How far the airport Wi-Fi gets you

There is free Wi-Fi in the building and it holds up reasonably, since this hall is never as packed as a major hub, though it is still a sign-in connection with a time limit. The real constraint is not the speed indoors but what lies immediately beyond the doors: every route out is a long road across plains and low hills. If you use the Wi-Fi to load a route and then set off without a line of your own, the map stops updating at exactly the point the countryside begins. Download rather than stream, and do it before you leave the hall.

Getting into town

The road is the only way out, and the times differ by destination: Leon is closest, while Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende are longer runs, some of it on open highway where the driving is easy. Plenty of people pre-book a transfer simply so there is nothing to negotiate late at night, and anyone planning to see several towns usually hires a car. Once you reach the old centres the story changes completely, because the lanes are narrow, some streets are staircases, and parking is scarce. Most of your first day's data will go on walking directions in those alleys rather than on the highway.

What people ask about this airport

• Save the pin in advance — The old towns here have lanes no car can enter, and an exact pin tells the driver where it is actually possible to stop.
• Pick the town before the car — Travel times to each town differ a lot, so look at the real distance on a map before deciding what kind of ride to book.
• Download before the doors — The roads out run a long way across open country, and an offline map means you are not gambling on whether the next tile loads.
• Old towns eat walking data — Walking twisting lanes keeps the map open far longer than usual, which costs more data than the long drive that brought you there.