Author Topic: Tell me about Mexico City  (Read 2263 times)

MrGville

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Tell me about Mexico City
« on: December 04, 2018, 01:01:02 PM »
Thinking about traveling to Mexico City sometime during the first half of 2019.  Have any MMMers traveled there?

-Is a long weekend adequate to see some highlights and experience the city? I'm sure you could spend months there and not run out of things to do, but 3 full days is what I'm currently leaning towards. I'm located in southern USA, so travel time is not a big issue. 

-What did you spend per day? I like to "splurge" when visiting a new place, but nothing crazy. 

-Was it an intimidating City as a tourist (especially one without Spanish skills)? Public transportation? Ever feel unsafe?

-In what area of the City did you stay?  Or more appropriately, where would you stay if you were only there for a few days?

Any help will be much appreciated!! Thanks

bestname

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Re: Tell me about Mexico City
« Reply #1 on: December 04, 2018, 01:40:11 PM »
I LOVE Mexico City. We have stayed on the Reforma and in the Zocalo - I liked Zocalo better, but they were both nice. It would also be nice to stay in Condesa, if you can find an air b&b.

You will not scratch the surface of Mexico City in 3 days, but you can still do a lot. The trick is to plan by neighborhood as traffic is a problem, so you don't want to sit in too much traffic. There are literraly dozens of museums and interesting things to do. I would recommend a morning in Coyocan seeing the Frida Kahlo house, the house where Trotsky was assassinated and eating in the market there. The other must is the archeological museum, which is in the big park along with several other sites.

There is tons of great food and it is all very affordable. We like to eat street food for lunch for 2-3 dollars and then 'splash out' on dinner for 25 or 30 dollars each.

Mexico City has uber and its cheap and works well. There are plenty of taxis as well.

MrGville

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Re: Tell me about Mexico City
« Reply #2 on: December 04, 2018, 02:04:23 PM »
Thanks for the advice! Nice to know we can "splash out" on dinner for only 25-30 dollars.  Also, good tip regarding the traffic.  Don't want to spend 1/4 of our days sitting in the car!  Our favorite part of travel is trying new/local foods.  Excited to visit some of the street food areas and markets. 

Zikoris

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Re: Tell me about Mexico City
« Reply #3 on: December 04, 2018, 11:48:54 PM »
We had a blast in Mexico City last January. I totally recommend. We rented an AirBnB in the Condesa area and found it really nice - lots of beautiful architecture, pretty quiet, close to the metro, and good food nearby.

We were there for about a week, but we did a lot of day trips out during that time to explore other parts of central Mexico - one full day in Puebla and Cholula, a day in Teotihuacan, and a really fun tour on our last day I organized myself, by hiring a local driver and his son (to translate for us) and heading WAY out to Pachuca, an old silver mine, a bunch Pueblos Magicos, and the amazing Prismas Basalticos. If I was there again, I would hire the same guys and head out to some hot springs, but we ran out of time this trip. I think three days is fine if you're going to just stay within the city.

Definitely DO NOT miss going to a Lucha Libre show if you're there. We met up with some travelling redditors for a New Years Day special show, and our front row tickets to that gave us one of our best experiences in travel period, over all the years and countries.

Food-wise, I really preferred the street food to restaurants. It was absolutely delicious, and very cheap.

Cost-wise, looking at Mint it looks like we spent roughly $80/day for everything that wasn't flights or accommodation - food, activities, transportation, entrance fees, etc. We took public transit, which was pretty good compared to a lot of places, but also sometimes utter chaos with lots of signs that direct you to dead ends. If you've taken public transit in foreign countries a few times it shouldn't be a problem - we always eventually ended up in the right place. When we were in the city itself versus on day trips, we mostly explored different areas, wandered into random galleries, churches, and museums, ate interesting things, and just generally explored. We also attended the new years eve public festivities, which was really fun.

I'm not a great person to talk about safety because it just doesn't occur to me to be scared unless there's a direct and immediate threat - like, if there was a person with a weapon coming after me or something. That never happened. My boyfriend said he wasn't ever scared either, and he's jumpier than me, so I guess it's fine?

2Birds1Stone

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Re: Tell me about Mexico City
« Reply #4 on: December 05, 2018, 04:44:38 AM »
Be careful, waking up in the bathtub filled with ice of a cheap motel, with a disposable cell phone duck-taped to your hand, while realizing you're now missing a kidney........

.........just kidding, avoid the tap water.

StetsTerhune

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Re: Tell me about Mexico City
« Reply #5 on: December 08, 2018, 01:15:57 AM »
Mexico City is great. Completely different than you're picturing (at least if you're the sort of person who's telling jokes about missing kidneys and avoiding water).

If this is something you're into, there's a huge amount of value in the high end restaurants. We had a couple of spectacular meals there last year. Spent $200 twice, on meals that I would have happily spent $800 on in the US. Also spent $50 on a meal I would have happily spent $200 in the states.

I think a long weekend is fine for any city in the world. Enough to see the main highlights and get a sense of the place. You wouldn't be able to do more than that in a week or a month anyway.

DreamFIRE

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Re: Tell me about Mexico City
« Reply #6 on: December 08, 2018, 03:07:59 PM »

I have a friend who lives there.  It's a dangerous place.   This was discussed in a recent thread:

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/post-fire/anyone-fire-and-move-to-mexico/

2Birds1Stone

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Re: Tell me about Mexico City
« Reply #7 on: December 08, 2018, 10:28:17 PM »
But you can get an $800 meal for $200 ;)

Marithe

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Re: Tell me about Mexico City
« Reply #8 on: December 10, 2018, 04:03:28 PM »
I agree with most of what the others have posted. Speaking Spanish - any Spanish - is very helpful. And yes, there is crime, but just act as cautiously as you would as a tourist in NYC or Chicago. Must go see the Museo Nacional de Antropologia - and not just for an hour. I've been to it 3 times and spent almost 4 hours there each time. Tip: before you finalize your daily plans, look at the locations on a map. Teotihuacan is way north of Mexico City, and the Frida Kahlo house is in the southern section of the city - so, don't try to do those on the same day. Street food is truly awesome. For people who don't live in Mexico, I strongly recommend asking your doctor for some emergency antibiotics - this is usually in the form of 2 strong pills that you take on the same day to kill whatever you have. If you have great immunity, remember, it's for bugs where you live only. So, to recap sites to see:  a) Museo Antropologia, b) Frida Kahlo house in Coyoacan; c) Teotihuacan; and one more d) The main zocalo with the old, sinking cathedral and the other historical buildings. I would also consider visiting during a local festival. There are many on the Mexican calendar.

MrGville

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Re: Tell me about Mexico City
« Reply #9 on: December 10, 2018, 04:10:23 PM »
Mexico City is great. Completely different than you're picturing (at least if you're the sort of person who's telling jokes about missing kidneys and avoiding water).

If this is something you're into, there's a huge amount of value in the high end restaurants. We had a couple of spectacular meals there last year. Spent $200 twice, on meals that I would have happily spent $800 on in the US. Also spent $50 on a meal I would have happily spent $200 in the states.

I think a long weekend is fine for any city in the world. Enough to see the main highlights and get a sense of the place. You wouldn't be able to do more than that in a week or a month anyway.

Food is the main draw for me, actually.  So I am very interested in both high-end restaurants and street food.