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What should you see and do in Mexico City?

Mexico City had been high on my places to travel list for a while. I had read about just how much there is to see and do and how great the food is. When I saw direct flights available from a nearby airport, I interpreted that as my sign to plan a trip. Mexico City did not disappoint.

Planning the trip

As I mentioned recently in my 5 Strategies to Travel More article, I try to minimize travel time and maximize my time in location. Seeing new a new direct flight to Mexico City out of an accessible airport in my home state encouraged me to finally get to Mexico for the first time.

While it is possible to visit Mexico City and one other nearby location in a week’s time, I decided to stay in Mexico City for the entire week for a few of reasons. For one, Mexico City is massive. In fact, it is one of the largest cities on earth. Secondly, I wanted to sign up for language immersion classes. Lastly, there are amazing day trips you can take from the city to see ancient ruins and beautiful forests.

I’ve mentioned before that while I generally prefer smaller towns and more remote places, I absolutely loved Mexico City. Mexico City seems to have it all: a rich history, incredible museums, some of the best food I have ever had, mountains, friendly people, and a temperate climate. I realized right away why so many expats choose Mexico City.

If you think you will ever have the chance to visit, or you are just curious what there is to see and do in Mexico City, keep reading. Provided below is a detailed recount of my trip and can serve as a starting point for your trip planning.

7 Day Itinerary

Day 1- Arrival

After a relatively short 4.5 hour flight, I landed in Mexico City, grabbed a cab, and headed to my airbnb. It was New Year’s Day so the city was relatively sleepy, as was I. Having awakened at 3:30 a.m. to depart my small town and drive to the airport, it had already been a long day. I was content to wander around close to my apartment, seek out an early dinner, and return to visit and chat with my host.

For this trip, I chose an airbnb where the owner lived in the apartment. This experience turned out to be one of my favorite aspects of the entire trip. The owner and host, Lucia, was fluent in English, and French, but I had told her that I was studying Spanish. Therefore she spoke almost no English to me and gently scolded her friend who spoke to me in English. Lucia was delightful and I would love to return to her apartment for another visit in the future.

However, if you have this credit card, you can stay across the street from my airbnb for free using points that you can transfer to one of the card’s partner hotels: the Hyatt. I mention this card as I have been very pleased with the customer service, the perks I receive via its points system, and the 0% foreign transaction fees.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve cards have an elevated bonus points offer at the time of this writing (75,000 points or $750 cash back value). These same points have a $937.50 and $1125 value for the Preferred and Reserve cards respectively, if used in their travel portal. My referral link above will provide additional information if you are interested.

While there are so many wonderful neighborhoods in Mexico City, I chose to stay in Polanco. It was indeed a wonderful part of the city with many great restaurant options, parks, and high end shopping. While I didn’t partake in the shopping, I did enjoy walking by the shops on Av. Pdte. Masaryk during my evening stroll.

Day 2- Anthropology Museum and Chapultepec

Before I arrived in Mexico City, I had scouted the local coffee shops in my neighborhood so I already knew where I would have coffee and breakfast on day two, and ultimately where I had coffee and breakfast most days of my seven day trip.

After coffee and breakfast, I walked over to the Anthropology Museum, or the Museo Nacional de Antropología to meet my teacher from the Learn Spanish in Mexico City school. My teacher and I explored the museum for around 3 hours. I recommend scheduling at least 2-3 hours for this museum. The Anthropology Museum is the most visited museum in Mexico City for good reason. It is said to have one of the largest archeological collections in the world. While you can sign up for tours on site, my teacher also served as a guide. As a Spanish language learner, it was really interesting and extra special to learn about the museum and the featured pre-Hispanic civilizations in Spanish.

After the museum visit, we walked to the nearest part of the Bosque de Chapultepec and enjoyed a fair-like environment complete with street vendors selling food and goods as well as entertainment.

My teacher and I then enjoyed a delicious chai latte and a sit down Spanish lesson at the Librería Porrúa followed by a walk around the Bosque and Lago de Chapultepec. As we wrapped up a full day of class, my teacher, Xochitl, or Xo for short, and I enjoyed a late lunch consisting of street food. Trying the street food was very high on my to-do list in Mexico City and I couldn’t have been more pleased with the vendor we stumbled across that afternoon. Xo (pronounced “show”) and I tried a few different dishes and shared them while sitting on the sidewalk amidst the crowd of locals who clearly endeared this particular vendor.

Fulfilled by a day of learning history and Spanish, trying various foods, and enjoying the beautiful natural surroundings, I wandered back to my apartment. After chatting, in Spanish, with my airbnb host, enjoying another coffee and the snack she provided me, I was content to rest and let the language learning soak in before another big day.

Day 3- Centro Historico

Day 3 was the second of four full language immersion days. Xo and I met again in the Bosque de Chapultepec, enjoyed a chai latte, and began the day with a more formal language instruction.

Following the most delicious chai latte I have ever had, we began our walk to the historic district of the city, or centro historico. Along our long walk, I partook in an early lunch consisting of a tamale from a street vendor and ate it as we meandered down the busy streets. En route, we saw the Castillo de Chapultepec, the fuente de la Diana Cazadora, and the Angel Monumento de la Independencia.

Upon arriving in the central historic district, Xo and I visited as many must see sights as possible. The sights included: Palacio Postal, Torre Latinoamericana (Mirador Torre Latino), Palacio de Bellas Artes, The House of Tiles (Casa de las Azujelos), Templo Mayor, Alameda Central, Catedral Metropolitana de la Ciudad de Mexico, and La Plaza de la Constitución.

Just after midday we took a break to enjoy an authentic Oaxacan hot chocolate on the 7th story of the building overlooking the Palacio de Bellas Artes. The cafe (Finca Don Porfirio) came highly recommended by my teacher partly for the aforementioned authentic Oaxacan hot chocolates and partly for the balcony view.

Day 4- Los Dinamos National Park

One of many highlights of my trip to Mexico City, and its surrounding areas, was a day trip and hike to Los Dinamos Parque Nacional. I strategically signed up for this trip not just because I love to hike and I love the mountains but because the guide said he didn’t speak English fluently and would be happy to practice Spanish with anyone learning. That worked out perfectly as I had another built in Spanish lesson.

Besides taking in the beautiful views and the dense green forest, at roughly 11,500 feet of elevation, I learned about the flora and some of the indigenous populations who had left their literal mark by way of carvings in the rocks. We also walked passed an ancient sacrificial site where, in present day, you will commonly find people burning incense and praying.

At the main view point, I was rewarded with amazing views of the mountains, the city skyline, and perhaps most notably for me, Popocatépetl. This active volcano was spewing smoke, as you can see in the above photo. Thankfully for us the wind was sweeping it away in another direction.

In case you are interested, I will also mention that this national park has dedicated downhill mountain biking trails. We passed by some impressive (read terrifying) jumps built by the local mountain biking community. There is also established rock climbing along the beautiful cliffs.

Following our hike, my guide, José, and I enjoy lunch at a cafe in the mountains. There was an open air kitchen with all fresh ingredients displayed. Everything was made from scratch and this was one of the best meals I had during the entire week. José was kind to help me order the best options but he also let me try the two dishes he ordered as well. Each of the four entrees was unique from any other dish I had tried to that point.

Day 5- Teotihuacán

You can visit the ancient ruins of Teotihuacán easily in a day trip. I booked a guided tour via airbnb experience. The guide, Jonathan, is an archeologist who had worked on projects at this site for two and a half years before becoming a certified guide. He is pursuing his PhD while he works guiding small groups to this incredible site.

At one time, Teotihuacán was one of the largest cities in the world. While the origin and demise of the city are disputed, it is known that for a period of time after the fall of its original inhabitants, the Aztecs lived and thrived in the site. Our guide pointed out the intricate Aztec carvings in various locations on the expansive grounds.

Teotihuacán is one of the best preserved ancient pyramid ruins in the world. Our guide discussed theories of its origin, its demise, and its construction. Regarding the construction, if you look at the photo above, you can see how the pyramid mirrors the landscape in the background.

In my opinion, Teotihuacán is not to be missed in your 7 day Mexico City itinerary. I had never visited ancient ruins and everything was so much larger and more impressive in person than I could ever imagined.

Day 6- San Angel, Coyoacán

My sixth day in Mexico City was filled by my 3rd day of class. I signed up for 6 hours of class each day, or 24 hours of instruction for the week. Days 3 and 4 of class were spent with a new teacher. I enjoyed the opportunity to work with two different teachers as every teacher brings a unique approach to instruction. Johnathan, my second teacher, toured me around San Angel and Coyoacán.

In San Angel, we enjoyed a beautiful artisan market. I was easily tempted to purchase handmade crafts for my niece and nephew and homemade ice cream for myself. The lovely part about vacation is that ice cream at 10 a.m. makes sense.

After enjoying a leisurely time in San Angel, we made our way over to Coyoacán which I consider a must see area of Mexico City. Coyoacán is lively and peppered with restaurants and cafes. Amazingly, this was the only day I ate churros and they were every bit as delicious as you would imagine an authentic, made from scratch, Mexican churro would be. After spending time in the plaza, we continued our walk through the large market filled with hand made crafts. I enjoyed seeing the colors and textiles and the products of the many talented artisans.

If it isn’t already evident, I love to eat. And I love trying new foods. If you are like me and you love to eat and try new foods, you will love Mexico City. The food in Coyoacán was especially good in my opinion. We stopped at two taco restaurants and, just before departing Coyoacán, I enjoyed a fresh passionfruit juice, or an agua fresca de maracuyá.

Day 7- Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)

My last full day in Mexico City was spent returning to Coyoacán and visiting the university my teacher had attended: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). The campus was beautiful and full of history. The photos featured here are of the UNAM library. The mosaic was created in the 1950s and, as you can see in the close up photo, is made of individual rocks. My teacher explained that the mosaic was created using colorful rocks instead of paint to ensure the mural would stand the test of time. Paint would fade and deteriorate. These colorful rocks are still incredibly vibrant more than 70 years later.

At a glance: Where to go in Mexico City (at least for starters)

Below is a non-exhaustive list of the places I visited.

Of note, there are many places I intended to go but simply did not have enough time, such as the Frida Kahlo museum. It would have also been amazing to see, as I intended, a performance at the Palacio de Bellas Artes. Finally, I had booked a cooking class but it was cancelled due to illness. These are a few examples of what I would like to do when I return and what you could add to your list.

• Anthropology Museum
• Bosque and Lago de Chapultepec
• Chapultepec Castle
• Paseo de la Reforma
• Fuente de la Diana Cazadora
• San Angel de la Independencia
• Centro Historico
  • Mirador Torre Latino
  • Alameda Central
  • Palacio de Bella Artes
  • Finca de Don Porfirio
  • Catedral Metropolitana de la Ciudad de Mexico
  • The House of Tiles (Casa de la Azujelos)
  • Palacio Postal
• Teotihuacan
• Los Dinamos Parque Nacional
• Coyoacán
• Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)

Conclusion

Mexico City is a massive, beautiful, culturally rich city filled with months worth of things to do and see. Even for the small town lovers, Mexico City will offer you a uniquely wonderful experience.

I would feel remiss not to mention that as soon as I returned from my trip, I started seeing articles about their water crisis. For this reason, I will wait a a while to return. Indigenous populations built this city around what was once a huge lake filled with islands. When Mexico was conquered by the Spanish, the lake was drained and most of the city now exists on the dried lake bed. If you have heard that Mexico City is sinking, it is for that reason.

It was also interesting to learn that when the last major earthquake occurred in 2017, it was buildings constructed on the lakebed areas that were most affected. My teacher, Johnathan, was on campus the day the earthquake struck and he said it was basically unscathed.

When drought conditions improve, I would highly recommend you visit and enjoy one of my newfound favorite cities. In the meantime, please let me know if you have any questions about my trip.

Have you been to Mexico City? Please tell me and others: what are your must-see places?