Mexico City travel guide
Flying into Mexico City, I expected it to be a big, busy, polluted city. But boy was I wrong. I mean yes – it is big, and busy, and there is definitely pollution – but it’s so much more than this. We ended up falling in love with Mexico City so much so that we kept on extending our stay (and came back again after spending time in San Miguel de Allende – you can find out more about our trip there here).
When it comes to Mexico City, there are so many things to see and do it can be overwhelming. The last thing you want to do is waste your time at an overpriced tourist trap when there are numerous other amazing activities! In this post we’ll take a look at my top five favourite things to do in Mexico City.
Visit the Museo Nacional de Antropología
If you only go to one museum in Mexico City, make it the Anthropology Museum. This world class museum provides an excellent understanding of Mexico’s vast and complicated history, including explanations of how the ancient civilizations used to live, and in particular how civilised the people were prior to the Europeans conquering America. The museum is home to many famous artefacts including the Aztec sun stone, the obsidian monkey jar, and a full-scale replica of the tomb of King Pakal, found in the Templo de las Inscripciones at Palenque.
We visited the museum on our first full day in Mexico, and it really gave us a solid grounding of Mexico’s history. The museum is huge (you could easily spend 1 – 2 days here), and due to its size and the amount of information it contains I would recommend going on a guided tour. We went on a half-day tour of the museum with Urban Adventures – our guides were fantastic and provided us with great insights into the multiple exhibitions within the museum.
The museum is open Tuesday – Sunday from 9:00am – 7:00pm, and entry is $MX75.
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Take a tour to Teotihuacán
Teotihuacán is one of the most impressive archaeological sites in the world. The pyramid city is located in a wide valley some 50km from Mexico City, and was inhabited between 100 B.C. And 650 A.D. At its height, Teotihuacán was a powerful political, economic, and cultural epicentre with a population of more than 150,000.
The Avenue of the Dead runs down the middle of the site and connects numerous pyramids and temples, including the spectacular Pyramid of the Moon and Pyramid of the Sun. There are also many artefacts at the site, including bones, murals, and pottery.
Again, we went on a tour with Urban Adventures to Teotihuacán, which included private transport to and from the site. We also visited a family-run business where we were shown how various Mexican drinks and sweets are made, including mezcal (similar to Tequila), pulque (an alcoholic drink made from the fermented sap of the agave plant), and cactus sweets. We then finished the day with a tasty dinner in a Mexican family home. It was a super fun day and I would highly recommend checking out this tour.
Sunday morning bike ride through the city
Every Sunday between 8:00am and 2:00pm the Paseo de la Reforma, one of the busiest boulevards in Mexico city is closed to cars and is taken over by cyclists, joggers, and families. There are also exercise classes being run, including yoga and zumba, and a section just for kids who are learning to ride. This is a government-backed initiative to promote a healthy lifestyle and physical activity to the residents of Mexico City.
Near Glorieta de la Palma you will find a tented booth where you can borrow a free bike for up to two hours. You will need to show some ID to borrow a bike and this will be held until you return it (we provided our Australian driver’s licenses), and complete a short form asking for your contact details. The bikes are provided on a first come first serve basis – we arrived at about 12.30pm and managed to grab a bike straight away. The bikes aren’t in the best condition (brakes are a bit stiff and seats not the most comfortable) but they are free – and we had a great time nonetheless! If you would prefer to pay for a higher quality bike there are many other bike rentals nearby.
People watching in the park
Mexico City has some wonderful green spaces where you will find a variety of people, food stalls, and dogs! (Mexican’s love their pets). We spent an afternoon relaxing in Parque Mexico in the beautiful Condesa district, which included watching dance groups practicing their routines, impromptu sport matches, and making friends with various furry animals (we even saw someone with a ferret on a leash!). We then had an early dinner at a delicious seafood restaurant nearby called Bob Marlin that serves tasty tacos, tostadas and more at great prices. Would highly recommend!
Street food & an amazing churros restaurant
I believe that Mexico City has the best street food in all of Mexico. There are an abundant of stalls selling different tasty snacks from across the country. We went on a street food tour through the financial district and were rewarded with delicious tacos, fresh juices, burritos, Mexican pork crackling, cervezas (beer), and rice water coffee! It was one of the best afternoons of our trip.
If you’re looking to get your hands on some authentic churros (but I mean, why wouldn’t you?!) I highly recommend checking out Churrería El Moro, a renowned churrería open 24 hours for churros & hot chocolate. These were hands down the best churros I have ever eaten… So much so that we visited this place 3 times whilst in Mexico City. Churros start from $MX6 each, so at a price that cheap it would be a crime to not visit at least once.
This post highlights some of my favourite things to do in Mexico City but there are so many more things to do as well, including the Frida Kahlo museum, Xochimilco floating markets, and Lucha libre wresting. If you’ve been somewhere we’ve missed please share it in the comments to inspire other travellers!