I feel supremely unqualified to write this post because I spent just under 48hrs in Mexico City, the final destination on my tour of Latin America. It would be fair to say I didn’t really plan on visiting the city. It was on my itinerary solely because it was cheaper to fly to the States from here than Cancun. 

La Cuidad de Mexico (CDMX) has a bit of a bad rep and I don’t recall meeting (m)any travellers who used it as anything other than a stopover. However I do think this is a mistake. The city is a bustling, vibrant melting pot of history, culture and architecture. It has so many attractions, tons of green spaces, cheap public transport and a booming gastronomy scene. I would love to go back and explore it properly. 

My time in CDMX was hampered by the weather (mostly grey and overcast) and my exhaustion (after three-and-a half months of travelling, I was pretty tired of being a tourist and was ready to stay in one place for a while). I was surprised by how humongous and spread out the city is. CDMX is the most populous city in North America and has 16 alcaldias (boroughs) and over 350 colonias (neighbourhoods).

Pro-tip #1:

Research which neighbourhood you want to stay in, depending on the vibe you’re looking for. 

I stayed in El Centro (the historic centre) because after a couple of weeks of ‘beach holidays’ I was craving some culture. I wanted to join a walking tour and learn about the history of the place I was visiting, to appreciate different architectural styles, visit museums and art galleriesetc. El Centro had all this and more. 

In addition to stunning buildings such as ‘Palacio de Bellas Artes’ (Palace of Fine Arts), el centro historico also has ruins such as ‘Templo Mayor’ (Main Aztec Temple of the ancient city of Tenochtitlán, capital of the Aztec Empire), local landmarks such as Churreria ‘El Moro’ (serving delicious churros since 1935) and the delightful Alameda Central Park (apparently the oldest public park in the Americas. I caught a wonderful outdoor concert and a magic show while I wandered around it). 

And of course, the city centre would not be complete without a Chinatown… and tens of hundreds of shops catering to shoppers of all budgets. At the Zocalo (main square) you can also catch ‘concheros’ (Aztec dancers) and traditional practitioners who perform cleanses (‘limpias’) for those in need of physical healing and spiritual restoration.

Unfortunately I developed a migraine halfway through the tour and had to return to my hotel, I was out for the rest of the day…so in actual fact, I spent less than 24hrs exploring the city. 

I liked ‘El Centro’ in the daytime because there is lots to do in this neighbourhood. However it is very touristy and quite busy. Also, on par with most big cities, one does need to be extra careful and safety conscious at night. 

(‘El Condesa’ and ‘Roma’ neighbourhoods are also traveller favourites, described as ‘chill and authentic’ and ‘young and hip’ respectively). 

Pro -tip #2:

Plan your itinerary before you arrive… 

…Especially if you want to visit Frida Khalo’s house! Tickets to the museum need to booked at least a week in advance! (ideally, as much in advance as possible). It is one of the top attractions in the city and tickets sell out very quickly. Unfortunately I didn’t know this, and missed out on the experience. This one hurt. 

(P.S The museum is located in Coyoacan, 50-60 minutes from el centro. Coyoacan is the ‘bohemian heart of the city’ and worth exploring. It has pretty cobbled streets and colonial architecture).

The other good thing about having a vague idea of your itinerary before you arrive is that it’ll help with deciding which neighbourhood works best for you.

Pro-tip #3:

Don’t be like me, give yourself time to explore this city!

You’ll need at least 3 days to explore this city, to take in a good range of what’s on offer in its distinct neighbourhoods. I barely scratched the surface of El Centro. Apart from Palacio de Bellas Artes, I also enjoyed exploring and photographing Palacio Postal (an incredible golden palace that still serves as a post office..and has a highly eclectic architecural heritage – art deco, art nouveau, gothic, rococo, to name a few) and Casa de los Azulejos (admiring the beautiful blue, yellow and white tiles that decorate this ‘House of Tiles’). 

I can definitely see myself returning to Mexico City and already have a long list of places to explore, attractions to see and activities to do…I just need to pin myself down on when!

Have you been to Mexico City and does it get a ‘yay’ or ‘nay’ from you? Tell me below.

Visited July 2022.

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