Mexico city, or CDMX is one of the largest capital cities in the world. The city has a population of nearly 9 million people and the metropolitan area counts over 22 million inhabitans(!!) We were not sure what to expect, but absolutely loved it! Even though we’ve probably only seen 5% of the city, we became big fans. To answer the most popular question: YES, we felt safe at all times! I believe just like in any big city, you just need to use common sense. Do some research on which areas to avoid, don’t take lots of cash, don’t wear expensive jewellery etc. Our Mexican friends advised us not to use public transport like the metro. We didn’t try it ourselves, but I’ve heard it’s fine during the day as long as you really watch your stuff.
Best neighbourhoods in Mexico City
- La Condesa
- Roma Norte
- Coyoacán
- Juárez
- Centro Historico
La Condesa
La Condesa is one of the lively barrios that is full of cute cafes and trendy restaurants. You’ll notice quite some western influence as it’s a popular area among expats. This neighbourhood is far from typical Mexican, but we really enjoyed the vibe here. Our hotel Condesa Cibel was also located in this area.
Book your accommodation through Trivago or Booking.
Roma Norte
Roma Norte is connected to Condesa and also a green neighbourhood with many cool shops and restaurants. Every street has something to offer. There is also quite a lot of nice street art and murals to be found.
Coyoacán
Coyoacán is located a little more south of Mexico City but worth a visit. It’s almost like a small town by itself. We went late afternoon and there was so much happening around the main square! Many different food stalls, people selling stuff, live music, terraces full of people and another market. We had the best time walking around and trying different snacks. Eventually we sat down at one of the terraces for a drink. We were stuffed and exhausted so I guess it was a successful day of exploring.
This area is mainly known for the Frida Kahlo Museum which you can visit here. It can get pretty busy so make sure buy tickets in advance!
Where to eat in Mexico City?
Well as we say in Dutch “De keuze is reuze”, basically meaning the options are endless. The amount of good restaurants and cafes in this city is insane. Which is one of the reasons we loved it so much, the culinary experience was just epic. Although most of the food we had was from food stands at the market, the park and on the street, we did enjoy some nice restaurants and cafes as well.
Roma Norte
- Panadería Rosetta, a very popular bakery and cafe with lots of pastries and sometimes even live music.
- Krikas: super local restaurant, so not really a cute and hip place, but the food is SO GOOD. We are literally still dreaming about the enchiladas we had there.
La Condesa
- BRACCO, fairly small restaurant with some epic dishes! We had a strong start of our trip by having dinner here on our first night. We tried taco’s with rib-eye steak and tacos with the infamous grasshoppers (Chapulines). It wasn’t too bad, but trying it was enough 🙂
- Bakers, a decent place to grab a coffee and a pastry.
- Tierra Garat Durango, another place for coffee but this is a chain, kind of like the Mexican Starbucks. They offer a wide variety of coffees and teas.
Coyoacán
- Café Negro, no day without a good cuppa coffee! (writing this while we’ve been on a coffee detox for a month now)
- Ave Maria, I usually don’t like to sit at big squares since these places are often overpriced and lower quality than the ones you’ll find in side streets. It is however, a good spot to watch everything that’s going on on the plaza or jardín Centenario.
- Helados Y Paletas Gloria, ice cream on a stick in every possible flavour you can think of and more. We had one covered in dark chocolate full of Pecan nuts. So intense, but so worth every calorie.
Juárez
- Go for brunch at Niddo. On our first morning in Mexico City, we had brunch with my Mexican friend Karen, who I know from when I lived in Dublin. We met her at Niddo a great spot with seating in and outside and 2 different locations. There is a variety of options from traditional Mexican dishes to more western stuff. We had the Molletes en Ciabatta, Chilaquiles con salsa rojo and Pancakes to share. Oh and I tried a mimosa with mandarin juice for the first time, so tasty!! Their pastries and cookies looked amazing as well so there is definitely something for everyone.
- Rent a bike or do a bike tour with Poráy. We just rented bikes as we didn’t book a tour in advance, but we heard good stories about the tours as well.
- La casa de Toño is a popular restaurant with very affordable traditional dishes. We didn’t have time to go here, but if you’re in the neighbourhood you might want to give it a try and let us know how it was.
- Part of the long Paseo de la Reforma is passing through Juárez. Paseo de la Reforma is a long and wide road crossing Mexico City, where you’ll find the golden monument “Ángel de la Independencia”, the Angel of Independence. Every Sunday this avenue is blocked for cars and only open for biking or running/walking. We were lucky enough to explore it on a Sunday and it was packed with people on (rented) bikes.
Rooftop bars
- Supra Roma Rooftop (we haven’t been)
- Toledo Rooftop
- 191 Rooftop bar (we haven’t been)
Centro Historico & Distrito Federal
This area is a little less “hipster” as it’s the historical center with some of the most popular sights. With our bikes we passed by the Museo de Bellas Artes, Casa de los Azulejos, Palacio de Cultura Citibanamex – Palacio de Iturbide and the Plaza de la Constitución more commonly known as the Zócalo. This is one of the largest public squares in the world and has been a popular place among locals for gatherings since the Aztec times.
More food to try in Mexico City
The food across Mexico differs a lot so whenever you see something you haven’t seen before, you better try it cause you won’t know if you’re gonna see it again. Halfway our trip we were so happy that we behaved like maniacs when we were there, cause the variety of street-food was way less in the other places we visited. Although you should basically try everything, these are some nice snacks we tried:
- Seafood burrito, swimming in cheeese. Do I need to say more? We found this at a taco stand in Condesa but forgot the exact location, sorry :).
- Refrescos, we tried these in Jardin de Chapultepec on a Sunday. You pick a a drink from the stand, and they mix it up with lots of spices and some salsa’s. It’s different, but actually really nice. I believe we had it with something called Sangria (not the same as Spanish Sangría).
- Chips. Really, chips? Yes, special edition loaded chips with chili, lemon, and some mixed salsas. So much better than your regular pack of chips.
- Esquites, basically a cup with warm corn, with mayonaise, cheese, chili and lemon. An easy and safe snack.
- Tacos, lots of different tacos.
If you don’t want to search for the best places there are also various food tours available, for instance, via Cookly.
Getting to Mexico
We flew from Amsterdam Schiphol via Paris Charles de Gaulle to Mexico City with KLM. As we ended our trip in Holbox we flew back from Cancún so this was the most convenient option for us.
Nowadays there are lots of direct flights to Mexico city and Cancún from different destinations across the world. Check at KAYAK which flight option is most convenient for you.
In case you prefer a package including flight and hotel, TUI is a good option as well!
We did not rent a car as we traveled from Mexico City to Mérida, but there are quite a lot of travellers who do rent a car.
Conclusion: if you’re a real foodie, you must visit Mexico City. If you’re not a real foodie, you should still add this city to your bucket list.
Travelbecks 