72 Hours: Mexico City

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Living in Texas, I’m shocked I haven’t traveled to Mexico more seeing as how the country is only about a 2 hour flight away. I blame it on the fact that I’m really not a beach vacation person (my skin burns SO easily) and the majority of Mexico trips seem to always involve lounging under the sun by the water. So I when I looked into Mexico City for a sister trip destination, I was hooked on the fact that there are so many amazing coffee/taco/food choices, beautiful architecture and museums, interesting cultural sites, and most importantly no beach in sight. Mexico City was my first trip of 2024!

Where We Stayed

I always stay in hotels on international trips for safety and comfort reasons and this vacation was no different. We chose the Sheraton Mexico City Maria Isabel Hotel for its convenient location along the Paseo de la Reforma (a large and grand avenue modeled after Paris’ Champs Elysees), its high ratings, affordability ($400 for 3 nights in a 2 bed room), and safety (the US embassy is literally right next door and there is a ton of security nearby). The hotel is located about 20 minutes from the airport and walking distance to lots of food and cafes and the Chapultepec Park. I loved everything about our stay at the Sheraton on this trip and can’t recommend it enough!

Explore Bosque de Chapultepec

Chapultepec Park is a huge green space in the middle of Mexico City that is 3 times the size of New York’s Central Park. There are public bathrooms inside, plenty of vendors selling snacks and water and toys (we saw so many kids wearing fuzzy monkeys on their heads!), and tons of walking trails. But the main attraction of the park is Chapultepec Castle. The Castle is currently the National Museum of History, but in the past its also been the location of a military academy and the presidential residence of several Mexican presidents including dictator, Porfirio Diaz. Entry tickets are about 100 pesos ($5) and since food and drinks aren’t allowed in the Castle, it’ll cost another 10 pesos for a locker rental. Half of the exhibits are in Spanish only (thanks to Google Translate we were able to understand the basics here), but the main exhibits including the period rooms are in both Spanish and English. My favorite part was when we walked upstairs into the floral garden and observatory and got to see a gorgeous view of Mexico City as well experience so many colors. The Castle is located up a hill so the climb up can be tiring, but its totally worth it!

Floating Gardens of Xochimilco

Xochimilco was high on my list of things to do in Mexico City ever since I saw the colorful boats on Instagram. The Floating Gardens of Xochimilco is located in the Southern part of the city and is basically a series of canals where boats can float down and enjoy the surrounding scenery. The name Floating Gardens comes from the fact that there are gardens located along the canals that are built on land floating alongside the canals. These gardens are all family owned with the family usually living behind the gardens. There are also plenty of vendors selling anything from flower crowns to elote to sliver jewelry to alcoholic drinks on the canals and its pretty fun to spot these floating shops and have a snack on the water. And I can’t forget the mariachi bands! There are boats filled with mariachi musicians floating on the canal and for some pesos they will board your boat and perform a few songs of your choice to complete this Mexican experience. The canal can get crowded in certain areas and I was so impressed by the skill and strength of the rowers (yes each huge boat is manually rowed) navigating through the tiny congested canals. After your boat cruise finishes back at the original starting point, there is a small market along the dock that sells kitschy souvenirs and photo opps. I’m sure its possible to Uber to the Xochimilco area yourself and haggle for a colorful boat, but my sister and I chose to join this small group (there were about 10 of us) Airbnb experience that included roundtrip transportation, boat rental, and a tour guide. It made the experience much easier on us (the tour even picked us up and dropped us off at our hotel) and we were able to learn about the history and secrets of Mexico City as well. Although I feel like the overall experience was drastically overrated, it was still such a fun morning!

Take a Tour of Coyocan

Everyone knows who the amazingly talented and mysterious painter Frida Kahlo is and no doubt is she one of, if not the, most famous Mexican citizen. Frida Kahlo put her neighborhood, Coyocan, on the map and its now one of the most exclusive places to live in the city (I’m talking million dollar homes). The second half of our day tour took us through the streets of Coyocan to eat a delicious stuffed churro, to eat tostadas and shop in Mercado Coyocan, and learn about Frida Kahlo’s life at the Frida Kahlo Museum also know as Casa Azul (for its striking blue exteriors). This was one of my favorite parts of our entire trip because the neighborhood was bustling with so many people and sights and history! My sister and I had shrimp, chicken mole, and pork belly tostadas inside the Mercado Coyocan (the tostada stand is the most crowded but just wait and seats will appear) and bought some unique souvenirs after perusing all the shops. The market is huge and there was so much to see! Located about a 10 minute walk from the mercado is the beautifully blue Frida Kahlo Museum. Make sure to prebook timed tickets (or join a tour that takes care of tickets like we did) because this is one of the most popular attractions in Mexico City and sells out all the time. The Museum is self guided and includes exhibits on Frida’s life, her colorful dresses, her artwork, and her living quarters with her husband Diego Rivera. It was so interesting seeing Frida’s art studio and imagining her painting or drawing inside and equally as fascinating to view her bedroom and imagine her suffering from her many physical injuries and ailments. The Museum isn’t too big and takes about 1-2 hours to explore, but it provides a great in depth look at Frida Kahlo’s life and legacy.

Biblioteca Vasconcelos

Its no secret that I love books and anything book related! So when I saw pictures of this architecturally beautiful library in Mexico City I knew I had to stop by and explore. Biblioteca Vasconcelos is free to the public to visit and is spread out over 400,000 square feet. We were amazed by the “hanging” bookshelves that line the library and how big the entire structure was. The easiest way to get to the library is to take a (cheap) Uber, although there are bus stops and train stops nearby. Since we came all the way to the library, we also decided to walk 5 min to a nearby taco shop called Tacos El Paraiso to try their chicharron and mole verde tacos. This local taco shop is standing room only, but offers some of the most delicious tacos ever.

Walk Through the Mercados

Mexico City is filled with markets everywhere you look. From flowers to ready to eat meals to fresh vegetables and fruits to artwork, there are markets selling everything you can think of. My sister and I love browsing markets so visiting a few in Mexico City was definitely on our to do list. We chose the Mercado La Ciudadela and the Mercado de San Juan due to their close distance to the places were were planning to eat, but sadly both markets were not the bustling centers of shopping we thought they would be. In fact, I was pretty disappointed when wandering through both markets because there were barely any locals inside (the markets felt like tourist gimmicks) and the quality of the food and products sold looked subpar to the amazing food and crafts I’ve seen on the streets of the city. La Ciudadela was suppose to sell local crafts, but instead the stalls were filled with basic souvenirs that could be found everywhere including the airport. San Juan was suppose to have all kinds of local Mexican foods, but instead offered exotic meats such as lion meat, which both of us felt unethical eating. Its safe to say both markets aren’t worth stopping by (unless you are just curious to see what a Mexican market looks like) during your Mexico vacation, however, the Mercado Coyocan that I mentioned earlier, is completely worth it and in my opinion, the superior market. There are so many markets in Mexico City so I would encourage doing additional research to discover the best one for you.

Free Mexico City Walking Tour

I participated in my first free walking tour though Guru in Budapest (a 3 hour Jewish quarter tour) and was so impressed I knew I wanted to do it again in a different city. I booked this historic Mexico City tour on our last full day, which was a Monday, in the city because everything in Mexico City is closed on Mondays (yes all museums) and luckily this walking tour takes place on the streets of Mexico and not inside. Our tour guide took us to from the Metropolitan Cathedral to Zocalo Plaza (where we learned about Mexican independence) to Aztec ruins (where we learned about the creation of Mexico City by the Azetcs) to Santo Domingo Plaza and finally to the Palacio de Bellas Artes (where we learned about Dia de los Muertos). Our guide even introduced us to a delicious fermented drink called Tepache, which is made from pineapple rinds and sweetened with brown sugar and powdered cinnamon. The walking tour was a great opportunity to learn more about the country we were visiting and I loved seeing the historic sights with a more knowledgeable lens. While the tours are offered as free, its best practice to tip the tour guide at the end, especially if they did an amazing job!

Try the Mexican Pastries

Both my sister and I are huge foodies, but I’m the one with the huge sweet tooth. I knew I wanted to try the famous churros recommended by Eva Longoria in her show, Searching for Mexico, and I knew wanted to spend my mornings indulging in Mexican bread and pastries. Our very first stop (besides our hotel) in Mexico City was Panaderia Rosetta, a bakery in the Roma Norte neighborhood, which comes very highly rated. There was a short line when we arrived, but it moved quickly and 10 minutes later we were at the counter ordering our pastries. Rosetta is famously known for its guava danish so we obviously ordered that, but we also got an apple croissant, a dulce de leche cruffin, and a blueberry foccacia bread. Everything was delicious and the flavors were spot on. We ended our first day in Mexico City with a bag of crunchy churros and hazelnut and chocolate dipping sauces from Churreria El Moro. These churros were featured by Eva Longoria on her show and are a chain of cafes around the city- there was a location right behind our hotel. The churros may not taste like your average churros from home because they are made using only flour, water, and salt (instead of butter and eggs), but they are mouth wateringly good! On our last morning in Mexico City we visited the highly recommended Pasteleria Ideal near the historic city center. A little blue box means something different here as locals leave the bakery with their purchases tied up in bright blue and white pastry boxes. There are so many different kinds of bread, jellos, cakes, sandwiches, and pastries offered here that your senses will most likely get overloaded! But just take a metal tray (like we did) and wander through each row of baked yumminess to decide what to order. We tried the mushroom empanadas and a variety of sweet bread and we even walked away with 4 boxes of cookies to bring back to Houston.

Eat as Much Tacos and Mexican Food as Possible

There were so many types of food we wanted to eat in Mexico that there simply wasn’t enough time (or stomach space). We picked our restaurants based on variety since we wanted to try as many local foods as possible. It was really hard to narrow down our options (and we’re already planning what places to eat will be on our next trip), but here is what we decided on:

  • Restaurant Testal - A cozy and aesthetically decorated restaurant located in Roma Norte that serves the best octopus tacos and chicken flautas. Its also clean and service is great!

  • La Casa de Toni en zona Rosa - A Mexican chain restaurant owned by the richest man in Mexico, Carlos Slim. There are several locations around the city and some of them will have a wait. All of your favorite classic Mexican dishes will be on the menu. Because we went for breakfast, we ate plates of chilaquiles, a bowl of _______ soup, and arroz con leche.

  • Cafe de Tacuba - My favorite meal of the whole trip! Located in downtown Mexico City, this beautifully decorated and popular restaurant serves a menu of delicious Mexican dishes. We ate the tamales, squash and pork quesadillas, mini fried bean and cheese taquitos, and caramel flan.

  • Taqueria El Califa - Another chain restaurant, but this one specializes in all types of tacos! We had cheese taco shells here, but I also loved the cactus leaves we ate.

The main takeaway was that food in Mexico is GOOD. Actually, its more than good- its AMAZING. So most likely wherever you decide to eat will be delicious, Just be careful of street food and stay far far away from tap water!

Visit a Cute Cafe

If it were up to me I would have gladly spent the whole trip cafe hopping because there were so many cool cafes I wanted to try in Mexico CIty. But since this was a sisters trip, I agreed to just 1 cafe a day… and I spent a good amount of time selecting the 3 cafes below.

  • Cucurucho - A Japanese Mexican coffee shop that is located within 10 minutes walk of the Sheraton. There is no indoor seating, but there are a few chairs set up outside and with the glorious weather Mexico City had all weekend, it was the perfect morning activity to sit outside with our drinks. My iced coffee and my sister’s iced matcha latte (and our canelé) were amazing. I liked my coffee so much I bought a bag of beans to take home so my dad could enjoy this Mexican coffee too.

  • Curva Cafe - Another coffee shop that roasts its own beans and accents its drinks with neutral aesthetics. Curva is located near the historic center of Mexico City and about a 15 minute walk from Pasteleria Ideal. I tried my first expresso tonic here and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was!

  • Almanegra Cafe - Our first cafe of the trip! Located just 5 minutes from the Panaderia Rosetta, Almanegra has a descriptive coffee menu with so many options and a dark and moody aesthetic as well as plenty of outdoor seating. This was my favorite cafe out of the 3 because of its high quality coffee beans and dreamy location.

  • Jing Cheng Con Leche Cafe - I make it a point to try bubble tea in every single city I visit and I was so happy to see that Mexico City had so many boba options. We walked by Jing Cheng on our way to eat more tacos and saw that there were so many people inside and knew we had to try their boba.

Final Thoughts

I’m a city girl through and through and Mexico City is the biggest metropolitan area in North America (5th biggest city in the world) so its no surprise that I loved it! While I was initially worried about safety and the possibility of getting food poisoning, I’m so glad I didn’t let my fears stop me from making this amazing trip and having a great time. Mexico City is a city filled with rich culture, delicious food, and so many unique museums and experiences. I’m starting out 2024 travel on a strong note and can’t wait to see what the year brings!

I’m already making plans for a return trip to work remote in Mexico City for a few days- let me know any other recommendations!