Follow Along our Travels!

My husband and I create lists of international places we want to see. We usually pick 2 international destinations a year and alternate between who chooses the ones we go to (keeping logistics in mind). Some locations have been on the list for years (Lofoten, Patagonia) and some have crept in over the last year or so (Tokyo, Montreal). Mexico City was in the later bucket. But when my best friend got married in 2024 down in Puerto Vallarta, we decided that it made perfect sense to extend the trip and check out Mexico City. I’m so glad we did!

As you can probably tell from most of my posts, I’m less of a city person and more of a nature, small town person. Because of this, I wasn’t sure I would even like Mexico City. I knew it to be large (8th largest city in the world by population!), sprawling but dense (so many neighborhoods) and I knew it was popular for its food scene. Other than that, I didn’t know what to expect. Would I feel safe? Would I be overwhelmed? Would the language barrier be too much?

I can honestly say that I ended up loving it and would recommend it to any traveler. All of the food was phenomenal and did not disappoint. The neighborhoods we visited were vibrant, walkable and unique. But when people ask me what I liked best though it is the culture that seeps into everything. Mexico City is one of the epicenters of the Americas and the birthplace of so much of the history of this landmass and its people. I loved learning about it through everything we did and every person we spoke with.

As for the things I was worried about …

Would the language barrier be too much? No! Most people that we encountered had somewhere between a great grasp of English or at least passable English. Between Duolingo, our Spanglish and just kind, patient people, we were fine. In some of the museums, they even have plaques in both English and Spanish!

Would I feel overwhelmed by the city size/population? No. Because the city is so sprawling, there was no one area that was overly concentrated with people or places. Have no doubts, it is a large city with a lot of people bustling around but it is no more crowded or overwhelming than New York City.

And did I feel safe? YES! We are people that like to walk around the places we visit, so I was worried that we wouldn’t feel safe doing this. We did! We followed some advice that was given to us by a few tour guides and friends and did not walk at night (Uber for the win!) but during the day we felt fine walking anywhere and everywhere near the City Center and the neighborhoods surrounding it. There is a lot of police presence everywhere which can feel intimidating, but we had no negative interactions with them or any people for that matter. Just like any city we visit, you have to be aware of your surroundings at all times, but I felt no less safe than when I visit other large cities in the US.

Highlights from Mexico City:

• The Walking Street Food Tour! We did several tours while we were here and this was my highlight of all of them (although the pyramids are worth going to as well). Basically our guide took us to 4-5 different spots that we got to taste/try local favorites including the famous street tacos, posole, churros and more. It was a great mix of food and learning since our guide was super knowledgeable and was born and raised in Mexico City. It was also a bonus to have this on night one since we got to ask him a lot of questions about the best ways to navigate the city and the food around the city which helped us organize the rest of our week.
• Pujol – Speaking of food, everywhere we went, the food was incredible (including street vendors) but my highlight was Pujol. Now this restaurant is the top 50 in the world (as highly rated as number 8) has two Michelin stars. It is worth all the accolades! The whole experience is curated and takes you on a food/cultural journey. The cost is high but nothing like our prices in the US for the same experience. One major highlight for me is that they let me go back into the kitchen in between courses to just view how the kitchen worked. I totally geeked out. We loved this meal and would absolutely recommend it! Rosetta was also a highlight!
• Chapultepec Castle – This is located in Chapultepec Park which is HUGE. The park itself has vendors and stalls throughout it selling food, trinkets, etc. There are other museums in this park too (including the anthropology museum which I also liked) but my highlight was the castle. It is a museum as well as the former royal residence. They’ve maintained the house/grounds to show this off. I really enjoyed seeing/reading about the various rooms and what they were used for. I also liked that the self-guided tour takes you through the history of the residence and why it is so important to the city. Plus the views from the top were fantastic! Highly recommend. Also, if you are really into the history, I would book a tour since a lot of the signs in the castle were in Spanish only. Enough were in English to get the basic idea of what you were looking at (plus my Spanish reading skills are passable) but if you want the most out of the history of this place, I would book a tour.
• Vibe Adventures – We had two different tours with this company and we loved both of them. Somehow we ended up on private tours (did not pay for that) but both guides were incredibly knowledgeable about their subject matter, took us to some places that were off-the-usual tourist path, and made sure we knew what we were looking for and doing at each stop. I really liked this company and would trust them to book any of the tours!

Tips about This Itinerary and Things I Would Do Differently:

• Breaks in itinerary/schedule: If you are planning on walking as much as we did, bring sneakers but also make sure you schedule mid-day breaks. This is partly because of the amount of walking this city can allow (I think we hit 20K steps each day) but also because it is HOT in Mexico City. Like really hot — between 2-4pm was kind of brutal. We spent those hours usually at the hotel but anywhere (coffee shop, restaurant, bar) would work.
• Accommodations – We got a killer deal to stay at the Ritz (believe me, not our normal digs on vacation) and it was very nice, but I think the takeaway for me is that this area is a great area to stay for walkability to all neighborhoods and the park! There are a lot of good hotels around here and if you book far enough in advance, you can get good deals. Alternatively, I would have stayed in one of the smaller boutique hotels in the Roma/Contessa area as those were my favorite little neighborhoods.
• Xocoilmilco – While I think this is an interesting area to explore and worth it if you have time, I would do it differently. The boats they take you on are very touristy and would be fun with a big group but when it was just the two of us, it felt that we were just being pandered to by people trying to make a living. So if you are traveling in a group, definitely go and have fun. If you are traveling solo or with just two people, I would make sure you book a tour with a group of people to enjoy this to the max. Having said this, our tour stopped at Coyoacan and I could have spent more time there. I loved this little town.
• Uber at Night – I said this before but it bears repeating, while walking was fine during the day, I recommend Ubers at night. We felt safe in all our Ubers and it is just like using it in the US. Our guides also recommended that it is safer to taxi/Uber at night.
• While we felt safe there, Mexico City has its fair share of unrest including demonstrations and rallies. We happened to be there during International Women’s Day and they had a HUGE march. This was awesome to see and (minorly) take part in, but because of this they had a lot of areas blocked off prior to the march (including Palacio National and its surrounding areas). My understanding from talking to guides is it is fairly normal to have areas blocked off due to potential demonstrations so just factor that in for planning. For example, if we hadn’t know this march was happening we may have tried to go to Palacio National on Thursday instead of on Tuesday.
• Reservations for Restaurants – I’ve said it multiple times now but Mexico City is a foodie destination and dream. Now you could absolutely stick to street food and small restaurants and be perfectly content. However, if you plan on going to one of the many standout restaurants (I think there are 7 restaurants with a Michelin star), you must make a reservation. Each restaurant is different, but they often open up months in advance so do some research and plan ahead! Same goes for cocktail bars! We thoroughly enjoyed Handshake (top 3 cocktail bar in the world) but you have to have a reservation to get in.
• Cultural Event – If we went again, I would probably try to book an evening cultural event. For example, we considered Luche Libre and heard it was a great experience, but we didn’t end up doing it. I’ve heard their folklore ballet is also worth it.