Mexico City

Mexico

Mexico City

Mexico City or CDMX is vibrant, modern, and incredibly large, as well as well-worth a visit. The megalopolis is filled with fantastic famous restaurants, wonderful museums, beautiful parks and boulevards, and famous nearby ruins. It’s also a great launching point for surrounding cultural cities. It’s so big it is impossible to do everything in one visit, but we’ll hit the highlights and you’ll definitely want to come back.

Length: 4-5 days

Transportation: Uber and Metro

Best Guide Book: Moon Mexico City

Day 1 – Centro Historico

Day 2 – Anthropology Museum and Bosque de Chapultepac

Day 3 – Xochimilco and Coyocan

Day 4 – Pyramids

Day 5 – Street food and Mercado Central

In-Depth Itinerary

Day 1 – Centro Historico

Welcome to Mexico City! We hope you’re ready to immerse yourself in history, art, culture, and So. Much. Food. Start by flying into Mexico City (CDMX). Getting from the airport to your lodging is best done by Uber.

Our strong recommendation is to stay one of two neighborhoods that border each other: La Condesa or Roma Norte. Both of these neighborhoods are full of trees, flowers, neighborhood bars, shops, restaurants, friendly well-trained dogs, and are a bit reminiscent of Paris (only greener) Our absolute favorite place to stay in is The Red Treehouse in La Condesa. Everything about this hotel is fantastic from the daily breakfast to incredibly nice staff, and it truly is in the perfect setting from which to explore. Other options in La Condesa include Casa Decu, Hotel Carlota, Chaya B+B Boutique, Hotel Condesa DF, or Condesa Haus B&B. In Roma Norte two good options are Nima Local House and La Valise Hotel. If you’d prefer to be in the historical center, Hotel Zocalo Central is a good pick, but generally not as ideal of an area to stay in.

The perfect thing to do on your first day is to explore the historic center of Mexico City, starting at the central square, the Zocalo.. Before you head out, if you want to get a coffee to start your day, we recommend Farmacia Internacional. In general, getting around Mexico City is easy by Uber or by Metro, which is really inexpensive and goes most places. Getting to the Centro Historico can take quite a while by Uber depending on the time of the day but is pretty easy by metro – check in an app like google maps and decide. Consider grabbing a free walking tour or hiring a guide to get more out of your tour. We had a nice experience with Freetour.com‘s The Original Walking Tour Historic Downtown. Note that the tours start in front of the Catedral Metropolitana but don’t actually enter it so be sure and stop in before the tour starts. During your tour you will pass very interesting Aztec ruins at the Museo Templo Mayor. Colonial Mexico city was built on top of the previous Aztec city and the Templo Mayor was unearthed during later constructions.

Catedral Metropolitana

There are great Diego Rivera Murals at the Secretariat de Educacion Publica and Palacio Nacional which you will pass on the tour (and were unfortunately closed for restoration in May 2024). Your tour will likely end at or near the Casa de Los Azulejos with amazing decoration and interiors. This is a reasonable place to stop of lunch – the food was OK but the Casa is a very impressive palace. After lunch head across the street to the Palacio de Bellas Artes and go upstairs to see some the gorgeous interior and amazing murals – particularly one by Diego Rivera (closed Mondays). Next stroll through the fountains, trees and flowers of the Alameda Central garden. At the far end is a museum built to house another fantastic Diego Rivera mural.

Diego Rivera mural in the Palacio de Bellas Artes

By now you are probably thirsty and could use a break so stroll back down calle 5 de Mayo to the very atmospheric La Opera bar and step back into the belle epoch era. Or alternatively head to the Sears Department Store and the 8th floor Finca Don Porfirio coffee shop for a coffee / snack and great views.

A couple blocks away is the Mercado de Artesanías la Ciudadela, a traditional market with folk art and handicrafts if you want to do some shopping. When you are ready to head back to the Condessa, the metro is nearby and, depending on the time of day, may be faster than Uber to get back.

The Condessa is a loveley neighborhood to wander and if you still have time and energy wander over to the Parque Mexico and nearby Calle Amsterdam then for dinner its not too far from the park to Maximo bistro for dinner – or choose another restaurant from our Mexico City Restaurant Recommendations

Parque Mexico in Condessa

Day 2 – Anthropology Museum and Bosque de Chapultepac

After breakfast, walk (44 min) or uber (7 min) to the Castillo de Chapultepec, which houses sumptuous interiors and artifacts relating to the history of Mexico after the colonial era. From here walk through the delightful urban forest past the Lago Chapultepec, where you will see many families out paddle boating. Next arrive at the very impressive Anthropology museum. Try and arrange a guided tour from the guides that should be available at the ticket desk. The museum starts with a walk past a very impressive fountain then into one of many buildings around the central courtyard – each of which hs amazing artifacts from a different one of the many pre colonial civilizations. Expect to spend at least two to three hours here. The museum restaurant is quite good for lunch.

Anthropology Museum

From here it’s a relatively short walk to the Museo de Arte Moderna, where you can easily pop in and see probably the most famous and iconic Frida Kahlo painting as well as a rotating selection of other artists. From here walk or Uber back to the Condessa neighborhood.

The Two Fridas

Tonight is a good night to arrange a special dinner. Mexico city is something of a culinary mecca, having just recently been liberally scattered with stars (7 total restaurants – well 6, and one taco stand..). Both Pujol and Quintonil were awarded two stars and routinely are listed among the best restaurants in the world, but Taqueria El Califa de Leon is the first Michelin started taco stand. If going for Pujol or Quintonil reserve long in advance (the experience at Pujol was well worth it). If heading to the taco stand, we understand that suddenly long lines ay have become a problem…

Day 3 – Xochimilco and Coyocan

Mexico city was built on a lake and all around town the central area had canals until the 1920’s. You’d never know it now. However, you can still experience a bit of what it must have been like in the canals of Xochimilco. Renting a boat and causing the canals is a fun outing for a lot of Mexico City residents – and you can do that by walking up to the dock and arranging a boat ride. We suggest something a bit different however. We toured with Ricardo for a canal tour and learned a lot about the history of the area, the construction, and some of the “floating” gardens (Chiampas), and had a great meal on board as well. Uber to Xochimilco Embarcadero and meet Ricardo at the dock, then begin your adventure.

Xochimilco

Upon return grab an Uber over to the Coyoacan neighborhood to see the Frida Kahlo Museum, which is housed in her lifelong home. From here take short walk down Calle Ignacio Allende past a leafy park on your right and the Mercado Centro de Coyoacan on your left (pop in to take a look), then continue another three blocks to Jardin Centario and Jardin Hidalgo. Coyoacan had been a village outside the city of Mexico and has quiet plazas, and cobblestone streets. The adjoining plazas of Jardin Centrario and Jardin Hidalgo are lined with shops and restaurants. While on the plaza stop in to view the Parroquia y Ex- Covert de San Juan Bautista, a huge baroque church rebuilt from a monastery church dating back to the original Spanish conquest. Grab food and / or drinks at Los Danzantes, Corazon de Maguey, or Mi Copa Chava or just grab a beer at Centurio 107.

Frida Kahlo house / museum

Day 4 – Teotihuacan Pyramids

Today arrange a tour out to the awesome Teotihuacan pyramid ruins. This amazing archeological complex was old before the Aztecs arrived and was regraded by them as the city of the gods. It was built between AD 150 and 250, at one point was home to 150,000 people, making it one of the largest cities in the world at the time, and then the entire civilization collapsed in the 8th century. Amazingly despite the enormous size of the complex there is virtually no record of the people and civilization who lived here.

To get to Teotihuacan the easiest way is to arrange a trip via Capital Bus, Turibus, or private tour (search tours by locals. The bus tours include transport (about 1.5 hours each way, admission to the archeological site, and lunch Expect to be gone all day.

On the way out of town or back to town, some of the tours include a stop at the Basilica of Guadalupe (which is worthwhile – more on this below), so check out the various tour options for what is included. Be sure and bring a hat or sun umbrella and plenty of sunscreen as there is maybe one tree for shade in the entire complex and it can get very warm.

On your way out of town you will pass through the sprawling Mexico City suburbs. The town has expanded rapidly and suburb dwellers experience 2 -3 hour commutes each way, To help with this a bit in recent years the city has built gondolas (“cable buses”) – there are two lines that are the longest cable car lines in the world which you will see on your drive.

On arrival to the archeological site you will see the pyramid of the sun – one of the largest pyramids in the world and 210 feet high. You cannot climb it anymore but it is a very impressive site. From here you will wander down the mile long avenue of the dead to the plaza of the moon and pyramid of the moon, surrounded by 12 temple platforms. Along the way you will se en intact puma mural and on the left as you enter the plaza is a third pyramid with feathered serpent carvings. The whole site is really amazing and is a must see on your visit to Mexico City.

Pyramid of the moon

Our tour stopped at Basilica Guadalupe on the way back (some tours will stop there on the way out, some skip it). This is a pilgrimage site with several churches that have been constructed over the years to house the increasing numbers of pilgrims (20 million per year). It is the site where in 1531 the peasant Juan Diego had several visions of the Virgin Mary in the form of the Virgin Guadalupe. Juan had a tough time convincing the local priests until she gave him a cloak with her image (which you can view in the basilica).

Cloak with image of the virgin

From the basilica you’ll head back to where you started your tour. This evening consider dinner at Amaya or select from our Mexico Restaurant Recommendations.

Day 5 – Street food and Mercado Central

Street food is really a thing in Mexico in general and Mexico City is no exception. But how to know where it go, what to try. We highly recommend this tour with Eat Like a Local. Meet your guide at a coffee shop in Condessa and set off in an eating adventure across Mexico City. Along the way you stop at a few street vendors that have been on the same corner for more than 30 years, grab the metro to the enormous, amazing, and overwhelming Mercado Central, visit the equally impressive flower market, and basically eat you way through Mexico City. Come hungry.

Eating in Mercado Central
The Flower Market

Consider dinner at Contremar or or select from our Mexico Restaurant Recommendations

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