Day 1: Exploring Condesa & Roma. Bask in the Charm!
If you are coming to Mexico City, we’d recommend trying to stay in Condesa. Condesa is filled with tree lined trees, cute coffee shops and delicious restaurants. It likely can be a great base for your few days in the city.
The area of Condesa and Roma is simply an area you will explore by walking around. Here are a few tips we recommend but just exploring will be fun. It is not where the museums or history is, it is more food, cafes and tree lines street.
Condesa
Walk to Parque Mexico
Walk to Parque Espana
Have a healthy breakfast at Ojo de Agua
Grab a concha pastry (the best we had) one day from Maque and go sit in Parque Mexico to eat it and people watch in Foro Lindbergh ( usually there are people dancing, singing, doing tricks on their bikes, dogs all around etc… it is magical)
Eat street food! Some of the best ones we had were in Condesa (check them out here)
Have a hot chocolate from Churreria El Moro Parque Mexico
Grab a coffe from the absolute cutesest coffee shop Quentin Cafe
walk towards Fuente de Cibeles
Have a long lunch at Contramar one day.
Roma
Walk around Plaza Rio de Janeiro
Grab a pastry from the beautiful Rosetta Bakery (or a glass of wine in the afternoon)
Eat some street food from Jenni’s Street Quesadillas
Go to Plaza Luis Cabrera
Have a snack at Expendio de Maiz Sin Nombre
Grab a coffee from Dosis Cafe
Have an afternoon glass of wine at Loup Bar
Day 2: Walking around San Angel & Coyoacan
NOTE: This is the day you should do a tour of the Frida Khalo Museum. Tickets for this book up quick, so make a reservation before you arrive in Mexico City. Try to make it for the afternoon (around 3/4PM as it is usually a little less busy then)
In the late morning head over to San Angel. In our opinion, this is one of the prettiest neighbourhoods in Mexico City. Very resiential so not too much to do except walk around and admire the little streets with amazing homes.
Make your way to have lunch in Mercado Del Carmen. A great little market with a fun food court in the back with food and drink vendors. It is never packed and always full of locals.
On weekends, once you are done with lunch, there is a great art market on Plaza del Carmen going all the way up to Plaza San Jacinto which is worth walking around.
Make sure to make a stop at Parroquia San Jacinto and take a moment to sit on the grass and enjoy this little slice of peace in the bustling city.
Now it is time to head to Frida’s house (which you have tickets to already). Make your way walking to Coyocan. We recommend walking along Av Francisco Sosa as it is an absolutely beautiful street. You then will visit the museum, which in our opinion, is one of the best we’ve been to. (Pro Tip: Watch the Frida movie on Netflix before going if you can!)
Once you are done with the Museum take a last little walk to the Coyocan Market and have a snack at Tostadas de Coyocan in the market (very yello stalls you can’t miss them), We loved their tostadas especially the Chicken Tinga, and Chicken with Mole!
You are all done! Go have dinner at one of these places (based on where you are staying :-) )
Day 3: The Chapultepec Park & Polanco
The Chapultepec park is a fun activity to do one day in Mexico City. One thing to note which is very strange is the park is fully closed on Mondays. Ensure you don’t pick this day to visit.
Walk around the grounds
Make your way to the Museo Nacional de Antropología which in our opinion was one of our favourite museums in Mexico City. You can easily spend half a day here.
Once you’ve visited the museum, you can head over to the neighbourhood of “Polanco”. Polanco does not quite feel like Mexico City. It is maybe the most Posh and glamorous neighbourhood we visited. However, worth a visit due to its proximity to the park.
Come have lunch & do some shopping.
Some of the restaurants we tried and liked were:
Butcher and Sons: Very tasty burgers (much appreciated after a month of tacos)
La Casa Del Pastor Masaryk: One of the more relaxed restaurants in Polanco. Get the guac and a few tacos al Pastor.
Also don’t miss having a coffee at the beautiful bookstore: Cafebrería El Péndulo. There are a few in the city but this is the original and truly beautiful. Make sure you go up the stairs and get cozy in their chairs reading a good book.
After lunch make your way back through the park and go visit the Chapultepec Castle. Great views, a nice long walk and once you get there a history museum with tons of exhibits.
if you go shopping instead of want to stay in Polanco, make the Chapultepec Castle an adventure for another morning.
This is definitely a day of walking around a ton, but burning off all that food is not the worst thing :-)
Day 4: Juarez & The Historic District
To get some walking in, kick off your morning in Juarez .
Juarez is filled with tons of cute little cafes but there are two we recommend:
Niddo: This is if you are feeling for brunch and pastries!
Cicatriz: This is if you are feeling for a healthy breakfast and a delicious cafe. (this place is fabulous for an after work drink around 5PM)
walk around Juarez to make your way to the historic district. Stop at these places:
Utilitario Mexicano: Nice store with home goods.
Proyecto Público Prim: One of the coolest buildings in the city. It looks like nothing on the outside but walk in and you’ll be in awe. Tons of little stores to visit here too.
Exploring the historic District is about half a day and you should just follow a common path:
Kick off some shopping at Mercado De Artesanías La Ciudadela. Out of most artesanial markets, this one is quite good with a large selection of things to buy. Especially around pottery and table linens.
Palacio de Bellas Artes:Admire the beautiful building from close up, but then go have a coffee at Cafetería Finca Don Porfirio to have the best view from the top! Enter into the sears building and go to the top floor. You should not miss this.
Walk down avenue 5 de Mayo. This is a pedestrian street with tons of shopping and you’ll end on the Zocalo.
Catedral Metropolitana de la Ciudad de México: Beautiful Cathedral
After all this, there is not too much to see. Walk around a bit more, but be a bit careful as some streets in this district don’t feel as safe as most in Mexico City.
Day 5: Teotihuacán Piramids
We really enjoyed the Piramids, but would say if you only have 3-4 days spend them in Mexico City exploring the neighbourhoods. If you have a bit more time then definitely make it a point to go to these.
You could do an organized tour to see the piramids, but frankly doing it on your own is very very easy and significantly cheaper.
Go to the Terminal Central de Autobuses del Norte
Once you’re inside, turn to your left and head over to “Puerta 8” . Right around there, you will see the office selling the tickets for the bus to Teotihuacan. tickets will cost $52 MXN. (Tip: buy your return ticket one time while you are here) Also, it is cash only!
Buses leave approximately every 10 mins. You will have a time and seat to get to the piramids. You can return on any bus.
the ride will be about an hour and you will have fabulous views the whole way.
When you arrive, the driver will should “Piramids” and that’s where you get off.
For the bus back, simply ask the little parking lot where to go, but it is basically outside one of the doors (2 or 3) and you simply flag the bus and get on with your return ticket.
Enjoy the piramids!!! (Last bus back is at 6pm so just take that into consideration.
Day 6: Xochimilco Boat Day
This is a very fun experience, but ideally do it with a few friends. 6 or more would be the perfect number. If you are only 2-4 people skip it. It simply won’t be as much fun.
Xochimilco is a river boat where you can bring your own drinks and food and have a fun few hours on the river. You can buy “street food” from food vendors on the water if you don’t want to bring your own and you can pay to have a mariachi band seranade you (ummm yes!)
Extras: Fun Tours & Activities to Consider
Wild Terrains:
If you are a lady and thinking of exploring Mexico City solo (or with a bff) we highly recommend going with Wild Terrains. Julie’s first visit to CDMX was with Wild Terrains and truly she can’t stop talking about the experience she had.
It is a 5-day women-fueled journey through Mexico City. You'll sleep in beautifully designed woman-owned hotels, eat amazing meals by female chefs, learn about the local culture and art from the locals, and (most importantly) meet and connect with badass women like you.
Eat like a Local:
Some of the best food tours we’ve ever been on. Food is delicious and your guides are fabulous bad ass women! A true, authentic Mexico City experience.