In Mexico City we had the luck to stay at a friends place. In case you are not that lucky: Backpacker hostels will cost you in between 10-20€ for a dorm-bed and 20-30€ for a double. Most people stay directly in the city center, close to the Zocalo (central square). This is also recommended by most Mexicans, as most sight-seeing spots are not too far from there and it is supposed to be safer.
Prices for food vary depending on what you want to eat (you’ll find all types of cuisine in Mexico City). In our opinion you should go for typical local food, but if you get tired of tacos than you’ll be happy to know that you can find basically everything (also vegetarian/vegan restaurants).
One of our favorite Mexican dishes are Chilaquiles by the way, it normally is a very large dish with slices of tortillas in a green or red chili-sauce that you can combine with almost anything. If you eat in restaurants be prepared to pay 5-10€ for a good amount of tacos. Mexico City, like nearly all larger latin cities is full of markets, where you will be able to eat large meals for less (often fresh & tasty, but chose your stand wisely). A great local restaurant/bar area is Coyoacán.
Must see’s in Mexico City:
- The entire city center including „plaza de la constitución“, la „catedral metropolitana“ and „Palacio de Bellas Artes“.
- If it starts raining (it happens not too seldom) then use that time to visit „Museo Nacional de Antropología“, it was one of the largest and most impressive museums we visited in Latin-America.
- For all Frida-Kahlo lovers: Visit „La casa azul“, her famous blue house. But be aware the entry is pricy (we paid 10€ p.p).
- For a day or half-day trip outside the city go to Teotihuacan. Probably the most impressive sight to see and visit when you are in Mexico City. Teotihuacan is an ancient mesoamerican city located 40 kilometers north of Mexico City. In order to get there you can take a bus from the north terminal (the transport won’t cost you more than 10€). The entry to the ruins costed us round about 4€.
Getting around in Mexico City. The cheapest way is public transportation, Mexico City has also a large metro system (which is not often the case in Latin-American). What to keep in mind when using the public transportation? Unofficially 30 million people live inside the city and many use the metro, therefore it can get very very full. Keep a close eye on your belongings.
If you don’t want that stress then you will be happy to know that Uber works in the city and it is (compared to European prices) cheap, very cheap. We never paid more than 2€ per ride. The only issue is the traffic. A distance of 10 kilometers can sometimes take you 40 minutes to an hour (not kidding).
We try to keep these overviews short and informative, but if you like to know more about Mexico City, don’t hesitate reaching out to us via this webpage or instagram.