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Travel guide
Mexico City
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: November to April
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Welcome
Mexico City, in a few days
At 2,240 metres, Mexico's capital stacks a colonial cathedral on the ruins of the Aztec Templo Mayor, counts more than 150 museums and serves tacos al pastor late into the night. Fifty kilometres away, the Pyramid of the Sun rises over the Avenue of the Dead at Teotihuacán.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 2 things
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · The Zócalo and the Metropolitan Cathedral free · about 1 hOne of the largest squares in the world, laid over the ceremonial centre of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital destroyed in 1521.
- Afternoon · Templo Mayor · about 1 h 30Uncovered after electricity workers struck a 3.25-metre stone disc of Coyolxauhqui in 1978, the twin temple of Tlaloc and Huitzilopochtli at Tenochtitlan's heart.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Catedral€80 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Palacio de Bellas Artes · about 1 h 30A white Carrara marble palace built from 1904 to 1934, Art Nouveau outside and Art Deco within, with a Tiffany glass curtain showing two volcanoes.
- Afternoon · Chapultepec Castle · 2 to 3 hA hilltop castle of 1785, in turn a military academy, Emperor Maximilian's residence and a presidential home, now the National Museum of History.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Zócalo Central & Rooftop Mexico City€130 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · National Museum of Anthropology · half a dayPedro Ramírez Vázquez's 1964 building, its courtyard shaded by a concrete umbrella on one pillar, holding the Sun Stone, Pakal's jade mask and Olmec heads.
- Afternoon · Frida Kahlo Museum · about 1 h 30The Casa Azul in Coyoacán, where Frida Kahlo was born in 1907 and died in 1954, its cobalt walls around a patio of cacti.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Gillow€60 a night
D4
Day 4
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Trajineras of Xochimilco · half a dayPainted flat-bottomed boats poled along the canals and Aztec floating gardens 25 km south of the centre, with mariachis and food sellers pulling alongside.
- Afternoon · Teotihuacán · half a dayA city of over 100,000 people around 450 AD, long abandoned when the Aztecs named it, with the 65-metre Pyramid of the Sun.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Diligencias€65 a night
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
Some links are partner links: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Tacos al pastor: pork marinated and carved off a vertical spit, with pineapple and coriander.
- Mole: a sauce of chillies and chocolate, built from twenty ingredients or more.
- Guacamole and antojitos: avocado, quesadillas and the wide Oaxacan tlayuda.
- Tamales: corn dough with a filling, steamed inside a leaf.
- Mezcal and tequila: sipped slowly, not thrown back.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Drink bottled water only, ice included once you leave the hotels.
- Check which areas are advised against before you go, and use Uber or a registered taxi.
- Keep valuables out of sight and carry little cash.
- Haggle in the markets, but not down to nothing: the weaving took days.
Getting by
Words that help
English ↔ Spanish
| English | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Hello | Hola |
| Thank you | Gracias |
| Please | Por favor |
| Yes | Sí |
| No | No |
| Excuse me | Perdone |
| Goodbye | Adiós |
| Do you speak English? | ¿Habla inglés? |
| I don't understand | No entiendo |
| How much is it? | ¿Cuánto cuesta? |
| Where are the toilets? | ¿Dónde están los baños? |
| The bill, please | La cuenta, por favor |
| Help! | ¡Socorro! |
| Cheers! | ¡Salud! |
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyMexican peso (MXN)
BudgetAbout €85 a day, mid-range
Best seasonNovember to April
PlugA/B · 127V
Tap waterBottled only
Tipping10 to 15%, expected
Emergency911
EntryNo visa for stays of up to 180 days with a passport, for EU, UK, US, Canadian and Australian citizens. An officer writes the number of days granted on entry, so check it.
HealthHepatitis A and typhoid are recommended. Malaria is limited to a few lowland areas and there is none on the Yucatán coast. Dengue is present: use repellent.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/mexico-city
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.