I have travelled to a lot of places around the world, and nowhere has surprised me as much as Mexico City!
Before arriving into Mexico City, I was very nervous. I had read and heard lots of negative things about the capital, and as a solo female traveller, I had my guard up! Turns out I had absolutely nothing to be worried about, I felt extremely safe and didn’t have a single negative experience. In terms of safety, I would compare it to any large European city, where the only thing you should worry about is the small chance of being pickpocketed if you aren’t careful with your belongings.
I originally had three nights booked in the city and I quickly extended to 7 once I realised I had nothing to fear! I absolutely fell in love, it is much more modern and beautiful than I expected, and so easy to get around. The public transport is easy, cheap, and safe, and there are even women’s only carriages on the metro!
There is also a never-ending list of things to do and see in Mexico City, I would recommend spending at least 5 nights and this blog will provide my 10 favourite experiences.
1. Take a free walking tour
My favourite thing to do when I get to a new city is to find an iced latte and go on a walking tour to get my bearings! It is also a perfect activity to kick off your trip if you are slightly nervous or you are solo travelling. You get to explore the city with a guide for free, gain confidence in that city, and meet people that you may be able to make plans with whilst you are there.
I took a walking tour of the Historic Centre of Mexico City with Kactus Tours and it was great! They also offer many other free tours of different areas in the city, but I would recommend taking this one if it is your first time in Mexico as it gives you a great overview of the entire country. For example, I learnt why the Mexican flag is an eagle, eating a snake, on top of a cactus!
During the tour I learnt so much about Mexico and Mexico City that I had never read about when researching. We were shown around some of the most iconic buildings, learnt about ruins right in the centre of the city, and saw buildings that were slanted which prove that they are built on top of pyramids that are under the city!
The tour starts from the cathedral, so I would recommend getting there 15 minutes early to walk inside the cathedral and admire the giant Mexican Flag in the middle of the Zocalo (main square).
The walking tour is free, but the normal tip is between £5-£10, given to the guide at the end.
2. Visit the Museum of Anthropology WITH a free guide
The Museum of Anthropology is Mexico’s most visited museum, and with good reason. It contains incredible artifacts such as the sun stone, a huge stone made by the Aztek’s from solidified lava which acted as a calendar!
The museum is gigantic, you could easily spend an entire day exploring the two floors and many exhibitions. One thing to note is that not many of the signs are in English, some brief information about the time period is normally written in English on the walls, but no specific signs explaining what the artefacts are have been translated. Therefore, I really recommend joining a tour of the museum if you don’t speak Spanish.
I started following an English tour whilst I was there and I found it really interesting, but I didn’t stay long as I thought it was a paid tour. Only when I got back to the hostel did I find out that I could have stayed as they are free! There are 4 English tours a day from the main entrance.
The tours are free, but the entrance fee into the museum is about £4.
3. Explore the Coyoacan neighbourhood
If you would like to escape the hustle and bustle of Mexico City for an afternoon, take the metro to Coyoacan. This neighbourhood feels like a beautiful, small town within the city, full of cobbled streets, churches, markets and parks. The Frida Kahlo Museum can also be found here, but make sure to book about a week in advance as, unfortunately, I missed out on tickets.
Even if you aren’t visiting the museum, there is a lot to see. Grab a coffee from one of the numerous cute café’s, eat some of the best tostadas I had in Mexico at Tostadas Coyoacan inside Mercado de Coyoacan, and buy souvenirs from the Artisanal Market. You can go inside the San Juan Bautista Church which was incredibly beautiful, and visit pretty squares such as Plaza de la Conchita.
The Frida Kahlo Museum costs about £12, and I spent £4 on my lunch in the market. Almost everything else to do in the area is free.
4. Relax in Chapultepec Park
Twice the size of Central Park in New York, and one of the oldest parks in the America’s, you cannot miss out on visiting Chapultepec Park. The Park contains the Anthropology Museum, botanical gardens, a castle and even a zoo!
Spend a morning walking around this peaceful paradise, lie on the grass with a book, or take a rowboat out on the lake.
Price – free!
5. Enjoy a coffee with a view at the Sears Cafe
One of the most beautiful buildings in Mexico City is the Palacio de Bellas Artes, one of the extravagant buildings built whilst the controversial president, Porfirio Diaz, was in office (you’ll learn more about him on your walking tour!).
The best view of this striking building comes from the café on the 9th floor of the Sears Department Store opposite. Enter on the ground floor and take the elevator up to the café but avoid weekends if you want to avoid a one-hour queue for a table. I had a delicious chocolate frappe, and the view was incredible. My frappe cost £3.40.
When you leave, take a walk through Alameda Park, a pretty green space close by with many fountains, and apparently the oldest park in the Americas!
6. Visit Chapultepec Castle
Set on a hill overlooking Chapultepec Park lies Chapultepec Castle, one of only two royal palaces in the entire country. The castle is stunning to walk around, but like the Anthropology Museum, almost all of the signs are in Spanish so I wasn’t able to learn much.
However, the highlight of the castle for me were the views overlooking Chapultepec Park and Avenue Chapultepec. From this vantage point you can see the sheer size of the huge park, and also get an amazing view of the skyscraper-lined road ending at the Angel of Independence. These views are probably the best you can find in the whole city and I would pay the entrance fee for the views alone.
Entrance into the castle costs about £4.
7. Wander around the Roma Norte neighbourhood
This area is where a lot of tourists choose to stay, it has a more European feel with upmarket bars and restaurants, and it is also where most of the nightlife is. If you fancy a typical avocado toast brunch spot or a more glamorous dinner with your favourite international foods, this is where you will find the best places.
My favourite restaurant in Roma Norte was PlantAsia, an Asian Restaurant that is still mostly affordable for a backpacker and is all vegetarian which was a nice change from all the meat tacos! My main course here cost £11.
There are also many vintage shops in this area, they have really nice clothes but don’t expect a bargain like you can find in vintage stores in Europe. A typical T-shirt costs about £100 in these shops!
8. Eat churros at Churreria El Moro
With a couple of café’s around Mexico City, this Churreria has been serving customers for nearly 100 years! When you step into these café’s it is like you have stepped back in time, with vintage décor, waitresses in the original 1930’s uniforms, and musicians in the corner.
I’m not going to lie these churros weren’t the absolute best that I had in Mexico, but the hot chocolate was delicious. Bear in mind when you are ordering that the churros are big!
I paid £3.90 for a churro and a hot chocolate.
My final two recommendations are slightly outside the centre of the city but were 2 of my highlights whilst here, so they can’t be missed!
9. Take a day trip to Xochimilco
Xochimilco is a network of canals that were used by the Aztek’s for transporting goods. About an hour out of the centre by metro, these canals are now full of floating markets, mariachi bands and boats ready to take tourists up and down. Enjoy paddling down the canal, surrounded by pretty scenery, listening to music and buying tacos and tequila shots from small boats as you go.
I have a blog post that goes into more detail on how to get there, what you can expect and how much this day trip costs.
https://onheradventures.com/2023/12/04/a-budget-guide-to-the-canals-of-xochimilco-mexico-city/
10. Travel back in time at Teotihuacan
One of the most impressive ruins in Mexico! Teotihuacan was an ancient city, and was one of the biggest cities in the world at the time. Walking around this site is an absolute must do whilst you are in Mexico City, it contains one of the biggest pyramids in the world, beautiful temples and a great museum.
I have an entire guide on how to do this day trip on a budget and without paying for a tour here. The day, including entrance and travel, cost me less than £15.
https://onheradventures.com/2023/11/22/full-guide-how-to-visit-teotihuacan-without-a-tour/
Other things to do in Mexico City…
- Engage in a spiritual cleansing. If you walk around the side of the cathedral, you will see people dressed in feathers and headdresses, burning incense, blowing into conch shells and rubbing people with leaves. This is a cleaning that is believed to get rid of evil forces and is an interesting tradition to be a part of.
- Go to a Lucha Libre Wrestling night, a famous Mexican sport. I didn’t do this whilst I was here but the people from my hostel that went said they had such a fun night.
- Shop for souvenirs at Ciudadela Market.
- Eat at Vegamo, a small restaurant under Massiosare Hostel. The best vegetarian burrito I have ever tried!
- Venture inside the Palacio de Bellas Artes. There are murals painted by Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo’s husband, and the museum is free on Sundays. You can also get seats for the Mexican ballet and see inside the beautiful theatre for about £14 on Wednesdays and Sundays.
Mexico City is absolutely one of my favourite cities I have ever visited in the entire world. I couldn’t believe how safe I felt for the duration of my time there, and some of my highlights from my two months travelling the whole country were in the capital city! I met lots of people that skipped it and I urge you not to do that and use this blog post to create a perfect itinerary!
