How to Have a Great Time in Mexico City

Mexico City is fabulous. It’s a huge, metropolitan city, with all the food, sights, and culture you could ask for. My senses were fully heightened during my four day visit where I ate great food, visited historic ruins under blue skies, interacted with friendly locals, and wandered various neighborhoods by foot. I so loved it and am eager to return for another visit.

It seems as though most Americans flock to Mexico’s beaches, but if you are looking for a fun-filled city weekend, consider a trip to Mexico’s capital (also known as CDMX). It’s larger than and just as diverse and happening as New York City! Should you find yourself visiting, here are my recommendations for a great time:

Stay somewhere with local character. We spent a few nights in an Airbnb in the Centro Historico district, in the heart of the city and within walking distance to many important sites. I woke up early for the sunrise view both mornings, and fell asleep to the soft street noise and music below. And I must say, the food carts greeting us with breakfast tacos as we left to start our days completed me. Here is my discount code for Airbnb if you want to save money on your next reservation. Also, thanks to a last minute deal on Priceline, I scored an affordable night in a fancy room at the Gran Hotel Ciudad de Mexico, which offers unlimited champagne and allegedly has the oldest public elevator in Mexico City. While visiting, stay somewhere with Mexican flair and try to avoid your standard chain hotels.

Brush up on your Spanish. I only took two years of Spanish in school, so am mostly self-taught… which equates to rusty at best. But I always spend time refreshing myself prior to visiting Spanish-speaking countries (Babble is my preferred program of choice, and Duolingo is a good, free app). In Mexico City, you can get by with English in many restaurants, museums, and attractions, but most of your Uber/taxi, market, and food stall interactions will take place in Spanish. If you don’t speak the language, don’t fret. As a good practice while visiting any foreign country, learn the basic greetings and/or bring a cheat sheet! People will always appreciate the effort made, even if you occasionally switch the order of your nouns and adjectives 🙂

Join a free walking tour. These are excellent options for those visiting new cities, particularly if your time is limited. The Mexico City walking tour took us to places like the Zocalo, Palacio de Bella Artes, Manuel Tolsa Square, Polacio Postal, and Casa de los Azulejos. I learned all sorts of interesting things, like that the Aztec’s built Mexico City over a lake and the city continues to sink rapidly each year as a result. Don’t forget to tip your guide for their time and knowledge!

Eat your heart out! My absolute favorite part of this trip was the cuisine, which was among the best of what I’ve tried around the world. My favorite discovery were tacos de canasta (basket tacos). These soft, steamed tacos are pre-made and sold for as little as 5 pesos, or .28 cents. Additional standouts were the elote street corn, vegan tacos at Viko, and churros! And I can’t forget to mention my travel mishap. I ate something so incredibly spicy, that I took a sip of tap water because my face was on fire – big mistake. I learned that Montezuma’s Revenge is real. Do not, I repeat do NOT drink Mexican tap water!!

Explore the Teotihuacan ruins. This will require several hours of your time as the ruins are about an hour outside of the city, and CDMX traffic is no joke. We found it very easy to visit alone, without a tour group. To do so, leave in the morning and Uber to the North Central bus terminal. Bus tickets to Los Piramides are about $6 return, and entry to the ruins costs about $4. Once a thriving city in Mesoamerica, the Teotihuacan ruins are mysterious and you’ll love roaming around, especially on a beautiful day. I highly recommend climbing to the top of the Pyramid of the Sun for views of the Pyramid of the Moon. The climb is not strenuous but be mindful of your footwear as the steps are quite steep and narrow.

Experience a lucha libre wrestling match. Very random, I know, and not something I’d have any interest in doing at home. But the Mexican wrestling experience, complete with the traditional face masks, is a popular spectacle to behold, and a total blast. Purchase yourself a Michelada and popcorn, and prepare for some super athleticism and hilarious cussing in Spanish. It was such a fantastic way to spend an evening!

• 

Visit the Coyoacan neighborhood. One of the oldest areas of Mexico City, this community was once home to the famous artist, Frida Kahlo. We unfortunately couldn’t tour the house because the entry line was ridiculously long, so buy tickets in advance if this is on your must-see list. Instead, I visited Leon Trotsky’s house, had a nice dinner in the plaza, and explored the local market. I found it to be a wonderful neighborhood, but a bit more family-oriented in the evening, so perhaps skip it later in the day if you’re looking for nightlife.

Lust over the architecture of the Palace of Fine Arts. I didn’t find the art exhibits inside riveting, but it’s a gorgeous building, and a nice way to spend a few hours, particularly if the weather isn’t favorable.

Latin dancing at a local club! I am terrible at dancing with a partner but loved watching the fancy foot work of others, and being the only non-local in the club.

Stroll Chapultepec park. Buy some fresh fruit and walk this massive park on a nice day. There’s a castle you can hike to, but we opted to stop at the base. Bonus: if you can find Viko restaurant within a tunnel outside the park perimeter, you will eat some of the best tacos of your life.

Talk to the locals. We enjoyed engaging in conversation with various people, from our walking tour guide, to our Airbnb host, to the food stall vendors. Going an entire vacation without meeting a local is, in my opinion, a travesty. Seems like a fitting place to insert the sentiment build bridges, not walls…

Don’t limit yourself to a single neighborhood! There are so many cool areas of the city that you should be sure to see. We thoroughly enjoyed the Central Historic district, Coyoacan, Condesa for dinner and nightlife, feeling “posh” in Polanco, and wandering Chinatown and the lengthy Paseo de la Reforma.

All in all, this was a great city that I would absolutely recommend for a long weekend visit. It was safe, easy to navigate, and 100% worth seeing. Enjoy!