Mexico City, Mexico

I made a four-night, three-day trip to Mexico City in August 2018 with my mother & sister, and it was everything I had heard it would be - vibrant, colorful, artsy, cultured and diverse. Mexico's capital is the most populous city in North America, evidenced by the crazy traffic you encounter upon your visit. As a result, there is no shortage of things to do, see or eat - from visiting Frida Kahlo's museum (in her famous childhood home), to the many mercados, to the insurmountable number of bars, restaurants & street food vendors - three days was not nearly enough, but it gave us enough time to get a good feel for the city and eat a LOT of tacos (so many tacos).

We loved it here, I already can't wait to go back, and I did a lot of research & collecting of tips from friends that I'm sharing here. Enjoy!

First, your Mexico City 101:

1. It certainly helps to speak Spanish, but people from Mexico City (CDMX) are some of the nicest people I've ever met. Seriously. Every single person I encountered was incredibly kind & hospitable. I wish I spoke more than a little Spanish, but locals were more than happy to help and engage with us despite the language barrier. Hand gestures & Google Translate certainly help though it's safe to say that the people made Mexico City for us. So thank you, lovely wonderful humans of CDMX!
2. As mentioned earlier, the traffic is bad. Like real bad. Many people recommend taking the metro to avoid the traffic, and keep that in mind while you're moving around the city, since it may take you longer to get places than you expected.
3. Uber is widely used and very safe. I end up feeling grateful for the ubiquity of Uber, because I can arrive in most places around the world, open up the app and know it will work (mostly). Uber here is very safe and very very cheap. We ended up taking Uber everywhere and I would definitely recommend it over regular taxis. 
4. Lunch is the most important meal of the day here. In Mexico City, lunch can be a long event, often beginning at 2-3pm. You'll notice that some of the most famous restaurants close relatively early in Mexico City; that's because lunch is so important! (Breakfast too!)

Where we stayed:

Villa Condesa, a little oasis in the center of Condesa.

I am generally a faithful Airbnb traveler, but I was traveling with my mom who prefers hotels, so we booked a cute boutique hotel on credit card points. Villa Condesa, where we ended up, is an old mansion converted into a 14-room hotel in the heart of Condesa, a really great neighborhood in Mexico City. You can see this Goop guide for the hippest places to stay in CDMX, but we were really happy with our spot, which was comfortable, affordable & cute. If you're looking up Airbnb spots, I'd recommend looking in Condesa, Roma Norte (my fave hood), Hipodromo & Polanco because they're very beautiful areas and also very safe.

Where we got our tips:

Just some of the many, many places I starred to visit in CDMX.

FRIENDS. A lot of people in my life have been to Mexico City lately, so I had a lot of guides emailed to me (special shout-outs to Tory & Neil, Niamh, Maryam and Asad & Munizeh!). My dear friend Leticia is from and lives in Mexico City, so she was super helpful in going over my heavily crafted itineraries and ensuring I didn't leave anything out (apologies for my incessant messages in the week leading up to my trip, Leticia!).

Lots of guides. Mexico City seemed to be *the* travel destination of 2017, so I also checked out guides via NYT 36 Hours, Goop, Condenast, Airbnb and Vogue, as well as a number of travel blogs. (Monocle also created a proper Mexico City guidebook you can buy, here). Because I am a travel nerd (hence this travel blog), I cross-referenced everyone's tips and prioritized the ones that were recommended numerous times.

So, without further ado, and based on the above, here are my tips of what to see, eat & do in Mexico City!

Things to Eat/See/Do in Mexico City:

1. To Market, to market. There are so many markets or mercados in Mexico City, and some of the best food you'll eat in the city are from little stalls in these markets or off the street. I'd highly recommend doing a street food tour while you're in the city - we did ours via Airbnb experiences (which you can see here), which took us to a local taqueria, a spot that claimed to invent the Mexican dish huaraches & through Mercado de Jamaica (the famous flower market, where we ate fresh fruit, chorizo & seafood at an amazing family-run restaurant!). I ate some of the best tacos of my life on this tour. (Another great taqueria we discovered in Polanco was El Rey del Suadero - get the suadero tacos there and thank me later!) My friend Kata also highly recommends a food tour via Club Tengo Hambre, which also looked amazing, so figure out what works best for you in making your decision!
2. Visit the Anthropology Museum. Mexico City has an incredible number of museums, but nearly everyone recommended the Museo Nacional de Anthropologia, which can really give you some deep insights into the diverse culture & vast history of Mexico. If you only have a short time (you could spend HOURS here), make sure you visit the Teotihuacan, Maya & Mexica rooms in the permanent exhibition side of the museum. (Another museum we didn't get to but wanted to: Soumaya Museum for modern art.)
3. Perform a Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera Pilgrimage. Frida & Diego are two of Mexico's most iconic artists, and their tumultuous marriage and personal histories fed into their work and how it's manifested in Mexico City. We dedicated a day to Frida & Diego - beginning by checking out one of Diego's most famous murals at the Museo Mural de Diego Rivera (there is a small entrance fee, and it's really only that one mural, so I'd couple the stop with checking out Palacio Bella Artes nearby). We then took an Uber to Casa Azul, aka Museo Frida Kahlo, where Frida Kahlo was born and where she died. This is the BIGGEST tourist attraction, so if you don't want to wait in line for forever, make sure to buy a timed pass from beforehand (here's a link). If you want to take pictures in the museum, you will also need to pay extra. Finally, we took another Uber over to the neighborhood of San Angel, where we visited Museo Estudio Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo, aka, the studios & homes of the two artists. You won't see much of their art here, and it won't take much time to walk around, but the architecture is really interesting, as is seeing the setup of their studios. After you're done with your Frida & Diego pilgrimage, walk across the street from the Estudio to San Angel Inn, an old monastery that was converted into a beautiful restaurant. Grab a seat in the courtyard for some fun people watching and really yummy margaritas. 
4. There are many lovely & hip places to eat, but getting reservations is another story. Almost everyone you meet recommends Pujol & Quintonnil, since they are on the list of the World's 50 Best Restaurants, but it is insanely hard to get reservations here. I recommend booking these AS SOON as you book your trip. While we didn't get to eat at either of these spots (sad face), we did enjoy the most incredible breakfast at Nico's (one of the Top 50 Restaurants in Latin America known for breakfast & lunch), and tried the famous tuna tostadas at Contramar (I wasn't a big fan of allll the food here, and it was filled with tourists, but the tuna tostada was yum so make sure to order that). Highly, highly recommend making the trek to Nico's & trying some of the more traditional breakfast items on the menu (as well as the pastries, baked fresh daily!). Another one of our favorite spots was Lardo in Condesa, which is a Mediterranean restaurant that is super cute with great food and service. It's an easy place and you can check it out for any meal. **Other places that came highly recommended but I didn't get to check out: Eno (same chef as Pujol!) for breakfast, Lalo (for their chilaquiles & breakfast), Mercado Medellin (go to Meche y Rafael for their famous tacos!), El Moro Churreira (for churros & hot chocolate), Molina el Pujol (same owners as Pujol but more casual), and Chiquitito Cafe (breakfast and coffee). 
5. Bars and speakeasies galore. There are so many great bars to check out in CDMX. We visited Paramo on our first night, which is also a late-night dinner spot - while the food was just ok, the drinks were great and the place was very hip & fun. Licoreria Limantour is a cozy and really legit cocktail bar in Roma and was one of our favorites, and though we didn't get to check out La Clandestina, it also came highly recommended. The speakeasy trend is alive and well in Mexico City, and the most universally recommended spot is Hanky Panky, which is the hardest to find and get into (in my recent experience). These guys work hard to keep this place and its whereabouts a secret - but it really is lovely & quite cool. Go for the experience and adventure of it all (we had to try and find it in the middle of a crazy downpour!), but make reservations beforehand - the address you'll get online is only approximate, so know that there's no storefront, but here's a clue: keep an eye out for the Fonda. Another speakeasy we didn't have time for is Jules Basement in Polanco - here's a recent piece via TimeOut on other hidden spots you can check out!
6. Experience the hilarity & brilliance of Mexican wrestling, aka Lucha Libre. There is so much mythology behind the Lucha Libre universe - from the masks to the hair to archetypes of good versus evil; it's fascinating and incredible fun, and a good way to spend a late afternoon or evening in Mexico City. Friday nights are the most lively time to go (and the night most locals go) - you can buy tickets on your own (which are so cheap), or you can do what we did and book an Airbnb experience - we went in a group with Rodrigo, who took us for tacos and drinks beforehand and explained what was happening during all the matches. 

Things I didn't get to do (but came highly recommended): We didn't get to visit the pyramids at Teotihuacan, an ancient Mesoamerican city northeast of Mexico City. It's a bit of a trek, but people recommend sharing an Uber and going early in the morning - it's about a half day trip. Next time I visit, I will also rent a boat in Xochimilco - it's a fun weekend past time - share a boat, food & drinks with friends. 

That's it for this guide - did I miss anything? Let me know and I'll be sure to add it in. Enjoy Ciudad de Mexico - it's magical!