Mexico City travel guide
Where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Things to do in Mexico City, planned over three days
Best time to visit Mexico City
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Dry season, clear skies, best balloon and Teotihuacan conditions, evening jackets needed and cold nights December to February.
Late February to March is the secret peak, jacarandas bloom across Roma, Condesa and Reforma and crowds are below Semana Santa levels.
Rainy season, clear mornings then heavy afternoon and evening downpours, do outdoor sights in the morning and museums after 3pm.
Best months overall are March to April and late October to November.
Worst window for a first trip, peak rain and start of school with no festival compensation except chile en nogada season.
What's on
- Art Week / Zona Maco early February
Latin America's largest art fair anchors a citywide week of gallery and museum openings.
- Chile en nogada season late August-September
Late summer season for chile en nogada, try the benchmark version at El Cardenal.
- Independence Day 15-16 September
The Grito and parades, festive and crowded around the Zocalo.
- Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix late October or early November
Usually lands in the same late October period as Dia de Muertos, compounding crowds.
- Día de Muertos late October-November 2
Mega Desfile down Reforma, monumental ofrendas on the Zocalo and candlelit cemeteries at Mixquic.
- Corona Capital 20-22 November
Big international indie and alternative festival at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
- Monarch butterfly season November-March
Overwintering monarchs in the oyamel forests west of the city, worth building winter dates around.
Worth the trip for
Best things to do in Mexico City
Museo Nacional de Antropología
Mexico's essential museum, with the Aztec Sun Stone and Mexica, Maya and Teotihuacan halls in one vast building.
Teotihuacan
Walk the Avenue of the Dead and the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon before the heat and day trip buses arrive.
Centro Histórico
The layered heart of the city in one walk, from the Zocalo and Templo Mayor to Bellas Artes and its muralists.
Museo Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo's blue house and studio, best paired with a slow market, square and coffee afternoon in Coyoacan.
Chapultepec Castle
The only royal castle in the Americas, now the National History Museum, with the best formal view over Reforma.
Arena México
Friday night lucha libre as mass theatre, with masked wrestlers, aerial sequences and 10000 people chanting.
Xochimilco
Ride a trajinera on the Aztec canals, choosing the loud party version or the quiet ecological side on purpose.
Handshake Speakeasy
The city's marquee cocktail bar, tiny and precise, behind an unmarked door in Juárez. Book the moment reservations open.
Where to stay in Mexico City
Roma Norte
first trip, all-round base
Densest concentration of listed restaurants and bars, tree lined and walkable, close to Condesa, Centro and Chapultepec.
Condesa
couples and a calmer trip
Leafier and quieter than Roma, with Parque Mexico and Parque Espana, Art Deco streets and Roma restaurants a short walk away.
Polanco
luxury and big-ticket dinners
Upscale and very safe with Pujol, Quintonil and Soumaya, but less street life and more traffic time to Centro and Coyoacan.
Juárez
central compromise on the Reforma corridor
Between Roma and Centro on Reforma, with big luxury hotels, Zona Rosa nightlife nearby and short rides to Centro and Chapultepec.
Coyoacán
second trip or a slow trip
Charming, safe and village feeling, but 40 plus minutes by car from the centre, so base here only if Frida and UNAM are the trip.
Centro Histórico
sights-first travellers with eyes open
Unmatched sights and lower prices on the western edge, but crowds and pickpocketing by day and many streets feel exposed after dark.
Think twice about
- Tepito
Black market barrio just north of Centro, a no go for visitors day or night with no reason to be there.
- Doctores
Go for lucha libre at Arena Mexico, then leave by car ordered from inside and do not wander after the show.
- Iztapalapa
Vast residential district in the east, far from the sights, with higher crime than the central neighbourhoods. Go for the Easter Passion play or a Cablebus ride, not to sleep.
- Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl
Vast residential city east of the airport, in the State of Mexico, an hour from the sights. Listings there are cheap for a reason.
Best restaurants in Mexico City
Quintonil
Jorge Vallejo's garden driven tasting menu, two stars and the marquee splurge dinner to book first.
Pujol
Enrique Olvera's landmark tasting menu ending with mole madre, with a taco omakase at the bar as the alternative.
Contramar
A buzzing seafood institution for tuna tostadas, aguachile and whole grilled fish a la talla at a long lunch.
Entremar
Contramar's Polanco sister serving the same seafood signatures with less competition for tables.
Máximo
A starred but relaxed bistro with French technique, Mexican produce and a market led menu.
Rosetta
Elena Reygadas's mansion restaurant for handmade pastas and Mexican ingredients in Roma's prettiest dining room.
Panadería Rosetta
Rosetta's bakery a block away, where the guava roll is the city's most famous pastry and worth the line once.
Expendio de Maíz
No sign, menu or reservations, just communal tables and a procession of heirloom corn dishes, cash only.
Outdoor things to do in Mexico City
Teotihuacan Hot Air Balloon Flight
A dawn balloon flight over the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon, the single most booked splurge experience from CDMX.
Xochimilco Sunrise Kayak
Paddle the quiet Cuemanco canals before dawn, stop at a chinampa for breakfast and be back before party boats.
Iztaccíhuatl-Popocatépetl National Park
A guided volcano trek through pine forest toward Altzomoni for face to face views of smoking Popocatepetl.
Grutas Tolantongo
Turquoise thermal pools terraced into a canyon cliff, plus a steaming river and grotto under a waterfall.
Piedra Herrada Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary
A winter forest hike to millions of overwintering monarchs, best on a sunny late morning when they take flight.
Pirámide del Tepozteco
Climb the steep shaded path from Tepoztlan to a small Aztec pyramid perched on the cliff above town.
Desierto de los Leones National Park
Dense pine oak forest, a Carmelite convent and trails to Cerro San Miguel, plus mountain bike rental at La Pluma.
Los Dinamos
A forested river canyon inside the city with trails, waterfalls, viewpoints, climbing and trout food stalls.
Best hotels in Mexico City
Brick Hotel
A small luxury Roma classic on Orizaba, quiet and design led with walk everywhere access.
Nima Local House Hotel & Spa
A tiny guesthouse in a French style mansion on Colima, intimate with breakfast included.
La Valise Mexico City
Three big suites in a restored Roma mansion, one with a roll-out terrace bed. A romantic splurge.
Casona Roma Norte
A larger and livelier restored mansion hotel in Roma, with a courtyard and rooftop.
Stanza Hotel
The solid mid range Roma fix on Alvaro Obregon, spacious and no drama at about half boutique money.
Condesa DF
The original Condesa design hotel in a 1928 neoclassical building, famous for its rooftop terrace.
Octavia Casa
Six serene rooms by a fashion designer, a repeat stay pick for a calm Condesa base.
Casa Polanco
A restored 1940s mansion on Parque Lincoln run like a private residence, the splurge boutique of the city.
Is Mexico City expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | MX$1,300 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | MX$2,950 a person |
| Splurge | MX$7,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Teotihuacan: a few days ahead
- Museo Frida Kahlo: weeks ahead
- Arena México: a few days ahead
- Handshake Speakeasy: weeks ahead
- Tlecán: a few days ahead
- Hanky Panky Cocktail Bar: weeks ahead
- Ahuehuete: weeks ahead
- Teotihuacan Hot Air Balloon Flight: weeks ahead
- Frida Kahlo tickets online 2 to 4 weeks ahead, 2 to 3 months for Dia de Muertos and December to March.
- Quintonil and Pujol as soon as dates are fixed, weeks to months ahead.
- Reserve Contramar lunch, Handshake, Hanky Panky, Rosetta and Maximo.
- Most major museums close Mondays, make Monday a markets and parks day.
- Book Teotihuacan balloons early in the trip so weather cancellations can be re-run.
Is Mexico City safe?
- Opportunistic pickpocketing and phone snatching are the real risks.
- Use ATMs inside banks or malls in daylight and keep phones off the street edge when ordering cars.
- After late nights in Doctores or Centro, order the car from inside and wait indoors.
- At 2240m go easy for 24 to 48 hours, hydrate, and pace alcohol because drinks hit harder.
- Drink bottled or filtered water and eat at busy street stalls with high turnover.
Mexico City travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Xochimilco quotes per person or above the posted per boat tariff, agree the total in pesos before boarding.
- Teotihuacan workshop tours that pad the day with gift shops, pay for a no stops operator or go by bus.
- Casa Azul disappoints non Frida fans, it is small with little major artwork and big crowds.
- El Califa de Leon queues can run 45 minutes, very good tacos but not a pilgrimage.
- Museo Soumaya is worth 45 minutes in Polanco, not a cross town trip.
- Plaza Garibaldi late at night, go in a group early and leave by car.
- Airport and Zocalo helpers selling fast track taxis, tickets or tours at a premium.
Getting around Mexico City: public transport and more
- Use Uber and DiDi instead of hailing street taxis.
- Metro is cheap and fine off peak, but pickpocket territory at rush hour.
- Metrobus on Insurgentes and Reforma is the most visitor friendly transit.
- Ecobici suits Roma, Condesa, Polanco and Reforma.
- Cluster days geographically, a 20 minute ride can take 45 to 70 minutes at peak.
- From MEX use authorised taxi booths or app pickup points, and check if your flight uses AIFA.
Who Mexico City suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Great |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Great |
Make Mexico City your trip
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