Updated July 2024.
I’ve lost count on the number of times I’ve been to Mexico City. I think it’s 8. I’ve said it before, it’s a city that I both love and hate. If you walk in the historic center of Mexico City you’ll fall in love. There’s lots to see that’s very impressive and it has a charm that reminds you of many European cities. It’s not just the historic center, there are lots of really nice neighborhoods like Condesa and Roma Norte. I’ll be working on a Guide to Mexico City in the near future featuring some of our favorite highlights/things to do in the city.
But for now I just wanted to touch on a few essential tips that will help you out when arriving in Mexico City.
Note: Mexico City International Airport is officially Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juárez (Benito Juárez International Airport). It’s close to the city center and you can usually get downtown in about 20 minutes by taxi.
At the Airport….
Hotel Airport. The airport has a hotel, the only hotel in the airport: Hilton Mexico City Airport. It’s expensive but excellent if you’ve arrived late or leaving early the next day. I’ve had to stay there a number of times and you’re a few minutes walk from Arrivals and Departures.
SIM card. Need a SIM card when you arrive? I can’t travel without a SIM card. You can buy your SIM card on the 2nd floor of the airport (the floor above arrivals). Walk past long line of restaurants (you’ll see Subway among them). You’ll get to a corridor just after the restaurant. Continue through – you’ll see Telcel on the corner. Get your SIM there. I bought the 2G package that lasts 26 days and it cost me 200 pesos ($11 US or $15 CAD). They installed it for me and I had internet right away. For me getting a SIM card is an essential when travelling and getting one is the first thing I do.
By the way, you’ll see Oxxo stores all over Mexico and they’re great. It’s like 7-Eleven but with more options. You can get your SIM card recharged there (just give them the telephone number), make payments to some banks (I had to pay someone’s BBVA account. Took 2 minutes), I’ve even seen people paying their cable company there.
Taxi downtown. Book your taxi at the small counters when you leave the arrivals gate. You can’t miss it because you’ll see these women behind the counters trying to out-yell each other shouting out “Taxi”. Yellow Cab seems to be the best of the options (the pricing is all the same, Yellow Cab just seems to have the most taxis so you don’t have to wait). A taxi downtown should cost about 300 pesos (about $16 USD, $22 CAD) and take about 20 minutes.
Uber. This last trip was the first time I used Uber in Mexico. Works great and I would recommend it because we spent time in Roma Norte and it was impossible hailing a taxi cab on the weekend. So make sure you have the Uber app on your phone.
Buses to other cities: From Mexico City Airport, you can take buses to other Mexican destinations without having to go downtown. Primera Plus has buses to Queretaro and Celaya from both Terminal 1 and 2. ADO has buses to Puebla and Acapulco, also from Terminal 1 and 2.
Looking for a good value Hotel in Mexico City?
Mexico City hotels can be quite expensive. We’ve found a few inexpensive places on our various trips to Mexico City. On our last visit we stayed at the Hotel Castropol. It is excellent and great value ($47 US on booking.com, that’s $64 CAD). Large clean rooms, decent wifi, great shower, it has a restaurant. But the best is that it’s a 10 minute walk to the Zocalo (the main square). So it’s right in the center of things. Since I was visiting with my mom I didn’t want to pay big bucks for the 2 rooms we needed.
Another recommendation I have is Hotel Rioja. It’s a bit basic but is even closer to the Zocalo (5 minutes) and is located on beautiful Avenue de 5 de Mayo. The starting rate for a single there is 470 pesos (about $25 USD or $35 CAD).
A very nice Aparthotel is Puerta Alameda Suites near Palacio de Bellas Artes. We stayed 3 nights on our last visit: 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a washer/dryer. Fantastic and it came out about $90 US per night.
Looking for something just a little more upmarket? The Hotel Catedral (right next to the Cathedral) is great and rooms start at about $90 US ($120 CAD).
I’ve given you a few hotels in the Historical Center above. On other visits we’ve stayed in different parts of the city and our favorite of the neighbourhoods is Roma Norte which is close to Chapultepec Park (easy walking distance) and not far from the center. It’s a cool area full of great restaurants, bars and parks and is very safe. An Airbnb apartment I can recommend: This one.
Free Stuff in Mexico City
It’s pretty amazing that so many things in Mexico City are free for tourists. The Cathedral (the Metropolitan Cathedral, the largest cathedral in the Americas) is free. Next door, you can enter the Palacio National. Beautiful building with murals by Diego Rivera. Again free. Palacio de Bellas Artes is free on Sundays and you can enjoy murals by some of Mexico’s most famous artists. Nearby, the Museo Mural Diego Rivera is also free on Sundays (many of Mexico City’s museums are free on Sundays).We passed by the Post office Museum (the building is incredible) and that also is free. Finally, they had an Indigenous festival in the Zocalo where tribes from around Mexico came to sell goods, crafts and local food. Entry was free. We spent hours there trying different foods and drink, all of which were very cheap. The thing is that there’s often a festival going on in Mexico City’s Zocalo.
It’s hard to get bored in Mexico City.
The rooftop bar you should visit
If you walk around the Zocalo you’ll have touts aggressively trying to get you into their overpriced bars (the ones with balconies lining the square). Ignore them. The place to go is the Terraza Cathedral rooftop bar. The views are fantastic. It’s part of a hostel so prices are good, unlike many other rooftop bars around. We sat up there for a couple of hours watching the sun setting over the Cathedral.
For views…Go to the 8th floor of the Sears building
Across the street from Palacio de Bellas Artes is the Sears building where you’ll have great views of Bellas Artes. A popular place is the 8th floor where they have an outdoor cafe looking out. It might be a bit too popular though – when we went there was a lineup and we were told it would take half an hour (it was on a weekend). We didn’t want to wait. But you can still get a great view – head to the bedding department (close to the elevators) and there are a couple of windows with the same (and free!) views of Bellas Artes.
The above are some basics for the first time visitor. Have a look at some of our detailed Mexico City posts below:
A Vegan Food Tour in Roma Norte (Mexico City)
Frida Kahlo and the highlights of Coyoacán (Mexico City)
Experiencing Lucha Libre in Mexico City
3 Must-See Markets in Mexico City
7 Great (and easy) Day trips from Mexico City
Thanks for Reading!
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Related: The Best Pueblos Magicos in Mexico?
Ps. If you find our blog helpful, please consider using our links to book your flights, hotels, tours, and car rentals. Have a look at our Travel Resources page.
Frank, your articles about Mexico City were very useful and helped me plan our two day visit. We especially appreciated your recommendation for Hotel Catredal. What a fantastic hotel with wonderful people. There are free snacks, coffee, tea, water available all day. They have a rooftop terrace with nice views of the city, where they even leave water and seed for the birds! Lovely place.
Thank you.
Always love to hear from people who found a post useful. Glad to hear you enjoyed the hotel!
I enjoy reading this blog, thanks for the post.
The next time you’re in Mexico City, you might want to check out the Museo Kaluz, which is on the north side of Alameda Park. It’s a newer museum and won’t be familiar to many visitors but I would say it should be high on the list of anyone visiting the city. It has a rooftop terrace with a cafe and fantastic views of the Alameda and the surrounding streets. While Sears is fun for the joy of inadvertent department store tourism (and the view of Bellas Artes), the terrace at Kaluz is designed for visitors to enjoy the view, so you don’t have to pretend to be a shopper.
The museum itself is worth a few hours of your time. It houses an impressive collection of Mexican art from the private collection of the Del Valle Ruiz family. Even if you’re not an art fan, the building is impressive. It was the first purpose built hotel in the Americas and has been restored to perfection. It was once known as the Hostal de Cortés but was actually built to house visiting religious officials in the 18th century.
I’m just posting this because you stayed nearby and thought you might want to see something new (and very old) that has been slightly under the radar since the pandemic.
Enjoy Mexico!
That’s a great comment Patrick. I’m saving it for my next trip to Mexico (unfortunately I just came back a few days ago).
Thanks for the tip! A great museum, worth a visit.