Mexico City 🇲🇽

Welcome to Mexico City (also known as CDMX, for Ciudad de México). This is one of my favorite cities in the world!

General Notes

• Over the years, Google Maps and Foursquare have served me well when trying to find places to eat, go out, etc.
• Do not hail a cab on the street. It is safer to get taxis at designated stands (airport, hotels, etc.), or to hail one through an app (Uber, Easy Taxi, Tappsi, etc.)

Places

• Palacio de Bellas Artes (site; map) in the Centro is the most famous performing arts building in Mexico. It also has one or two exhibits at all times, and there was a great photography exhibit when I went. If you can’t see a show, there are tours of the main auditorium, with its famous Tiffany glass curtain. You can also get a great view of the building from across the street at the cafe at the top of Sear’s.
• Paseo de la Reforma (map) is a main street, and it’s an interesting walk from the enormous Chapultepec park to downtown, passing by el Ángel (el Monumento a la Independencia) along the way.
• El Bosque de Chapultepec (map) is a huge park, and getting to the castle at the top (el Castillo de Chapultepec) is a big hike but has impressive views.
• Coyoacán / Frida Kahlo Museum (map) is fantastic! Try to see if you can buy tickets in advance online for Frida Kahlo’s house (La Casa Azul); note that I’ve had a weird time getting my credit cards to work on that website and have needed to use a Mastercard at least once. Coyoacán is the neighborhood the Casa Azul is in, and it’s wonderful to wander around the streets and the main square area.
• Avenida Amsterdam (map) and the Parque México (map) in the Condesa neighborhood are one of the most beautiful areas to walk around. A great way to walk off the tacos you just had at El Califa! Speaking of…

Food

You’re here to eat.

• Los Danzantes 🍽 (site, map) is an excellent, upscale Oaxacan restaurant on the square in Coyoacán. If you’ve been dying to try chapulines (grasshoppers) you can get them here, along with some seriously impressive mole and a great selection of mezcal.
• Tres Galeones 🌮 (site, map) has my favorite seafood tacos, anywhere. It’s right off Avenida Álvaro Obregón, one of my favorite streets, and a beautiful area to explore with tons of great food and drinks.
• El Califa 🌮 (site, map) is one of the most famous taco places in DF, for a reason. It’s more expensive than many other taco places, but it’s pretty ridiculously good. You can’t go wrong. Don’t miss the costras (tacos with a layer of melted, crispy cheese on the outside). I also love to order a side of cactus (nopales cambray) to eat with my tacos. There are also great vegetarian “meat” options (and vegetarian options not mimicking meat)!
• Cardinal Casa de Café ☕ (site, map) is a great cafe in the same neighborhood as Tres Galeones.
• Pastelería Ideal 🎂 (site, map) is in centro and is a ridiculously enormous bakery. The system here is that you put your pastries on trays and bring them to someone to wrap up and write you a receipt. They will keep your pastries while you bring your receipt to a cashier to pay for them. The cashier will mark your receipt as paid, and you can then bring it back as proof of payment to collect your pastries.
• El K-Guamo 🍤 (site, map) is amazing for fish and shrimp cocteles! It’s in the downtown area, and it’s not a sit-down restaurant — you eat at high tables on the sidewalk. The shrimp cocktail was amazing, and so was the filete a la talla, fish in a spicy tomato sauce.
• Churrería El Moro (site, map) is famous for its amazing churros and hot chocolate. No emoji can do these churros justice. There are multiple locations.
• Concha y Nata (site, map) oh man, this place is SO GOOD! Come here for breakfast and get… a concha con nata. These are the best conchas I’ve ever had (I love the vanilla concha), and you can get it with nata which is a kind of whipped heavy cream.
• And if that’s not enough, here’s a taco list for more places to find amazing tacos 🌮🌮🌮. Honorable mentions for tacos include El Farolito, El Borrego Viudo, Taqueria El Jarocho… And while you’re at it, make sure to have some chilaquiles somewhere. It makes me emotional to think about it.

That’s all for now! Check out my other travel recommendations, including for Oaxaca!