• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
The Travels of BBQboy and Spanky

The Travels of BBQboy and Spanky

  • About Us
  • Blog
  • Destinations
    • EUROPE (A to M)
      • ALBANIA
      • AUSTRIA
      • BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
      • BULGARIA
      • CROATIA
      • CZECH REPUBLIC
      • FRANCE
      • GERMANY
      • GREECE
      • HUNGARY
      • ITALY
      • MOLDOVA
      • MONTENEGRO
    • EUROPE (N to Z)
      • NORTH MACEDONIA
      • POLAND
      • PORTUGAL
      • ROMANIA
      • SERBIA
      • SLOVAKIA
      • SLOVENIA
      • SPAIN
      • SWITZERLAND
      • TURKEY
      • UKRAINE
    • CAUCASUS
      • ARMENIA
      • GEORGIA
    • ASIA
      • CAMBODIA
      • HONG KONG
      • INDONESIA
      • JAPAN
      • LAOS
      • MALAYSIA
      • PHILIPPINES
      • THAILAND
      • TAIWAN
      • SINGAPORE
    • NORTH AMERICA
      • MONTREAL, QUEBEC
      • REGIONS OF QUEBEC, CANADA
      • MEXICO
        • Pueblos Magicos of Mexico
      • U.S.A
    • CENTRAL AMERICA & CARIBBEAN
      • COSTA RICA
      • CUBA
      • DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
      • GUATEMALA
      • NICARAGUA
    • SOUTH AMERICA
      • ARGENTINA
      • BRAZIL
      • CHILE
      • COLOMBIA
    • AFRICA
      • SOUTH AFRICA
      • MOROCCO
      • TUNISIA
      • ZAMBIA
      • ZIMBABWE
    • OCEANIA
      • Australia
      • New Zealand
  • Topics
    • Hikes & Adventures
    • Expat Corner
    • The Best and Worst
    • This or That
    • Looking Back…
    • Blogging & Bloggers
    • Deep Thoughts
    • rants & things that suck
    • plane travel
    • Airbnb
    • Travel Accessories
    • religion, morality, patriotism
    • Coronavirus
  • Guides
  • Newsletters
  • Resources
  • Work with Us
  • En español

Some Essential Tips on Mexico City (and lots of photos)

Some Essential Tips on Mexico City (and lots of photos)

 

I’ve lost count on the number of times I’ve been to Mexico City. I think it’s 7. 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. Some I just learned this time around.

 

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 175 pesos (8.50 US or 10.70 CAD). They installed it for me and I had internet right away.

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”. A taxi downtown should cost 250 pesos (about $12 USD, $15 CAD) and take about 20 minutes.

 

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 travels though. This time we stayed at the Hotel Castropol. It is excellent and great value ($43 CAD on booking.com, that’s $34 US). 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 more 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 300 pesos (about $15 USD or $18 CAD).

Looking for something just a little more upmarket? The Hotel Catedral (right next to the Cathedral) is great and rooms start at about $60 US.

 

Buildings around Zocalo In Mexico City
Buildings around the Zocalo

 

Buildings in Historic center of Mexico City
Beautiful building on Ave. 5 de Mayo and the Torre Latinoamericana

 

Palacio de Bellas Artes
Palacio de Bellas Artes


Lots of Free stuff
. 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. It is the seat of government but a part of the huge building includes a museum dedicated to the Aztecs as well as different cultures around the world. When we were there they also had a Day of the Dead exhibit in the central square of the museum. Again free. 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. Mexico is great!

 

Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City
Metropolitan Cathedral

 

Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City
Metropolitan Cathedral interior

 

Palacio Nacional
Palacio Nacional

 

Palacio Nacional, Mexico City
Palacio Nacional

 

Day of the Dead masks at Palacio Nacional
Day of the Dead masks at Palacio Nacional

 

Day of the Dead shrine at the Palacio Nacional
Day of the Dead shrine at the Palacio Nacional

 

festival de las culturas indigenas
festival de las Culturas Indigenas

 

juices for sale in Mexico
juices for sale in Mexico at the Indigenous festival

 

crafts for sale at the Indigenous festival
crafts for sale at the Indigenous festival

 

 

The rooftop bar you should visit

We stumbled upon 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 and it was a highlight of our 1 ½ days in Mexico City.

Terraza Cathedral
Terraza Cathedral

 

The Mexico City skyline from the Terraza Cathedral
The Mexico City skyline from the Terraza Cathedral

 

Plaza de Santo Domingo from Terraza Cathedral
Plaza de Santo Domingo from Terraza Cathedral

 

My mom

 

Views from the Terraza Cathedral
Views from the Terraza Cathedral

 

Security and Covid. One thing you’ll always see in the Historic center of Mexico City is a huge police presence. HUGE. It might have been so big this time around because of the Indigenous festival (besides the goods, crafts and food there were also some protests) but every other time I’ve been to Mexico City I’ve seen the same huge police presence.

There was lots of attention to Covid. Most locals walked around with masks on and whenever you entered a museum or restaurant you would have someone squirting gel on your hands. In Museums they went a step further and would have a body temperature reader.

 

A couple of days in Mexico City is usually enough for me. By then I’m ready to move on to some of the beautiful towns in the vicinity (as we are going on this trip). But it is a fascinating and, in parts, beautiful city that has to be explored. 

 

Thanks for Reading! 

 

Related: The Magical town of Tepoztlan

Related: The Best Pueblos Magicos in Mexico?

Related: A roadtrip through Mexico’s most beautiful towns and cities 

 

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.

If you haven’t subscribed yet and want to get our posts and newsletters sent to your email, just insert your email address below

Great! Thank you for subscribing. If you don't receive a confirmation email, please check your Spam box.

Filed Under: LATEST POSTS, MEXICO, NORTH AMERICA

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Sidebar


Hi! We are Frank & Lissette from Canada. We sold our home in 2014 and have been travelling the world ever since.

About Us

Interested in Spain? See Mapping Spain, our new website that focuses exclusively on Spain

Follow us on Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram

Copyright © 2022 · The Travels of BBQboy and Spanky · All Rights Reserved · Privacy Policy

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok