How To Spend 3 Days in Mexico City

Holy cow this city is huge! I knew that coming in, but you could probably spend forever here and still not discover everything the city has to offer. I decided to spend a few days before flying out of CDMX to Chiapas, so below is what I did during that time as someone who had never been before.

Accommodation

I stayed at the Massiosare El Hostel near the Centro Historico. I book all my hostels through Hostelworld and this hostel was great with an outdoor patio, multiple kitchens, and living areas and was ideally located for someone first exploring the city. The hostel is on the top floor with no elevator, so that was fun carrying luggage up five flights of stairs :)

Getting Around

Uber is widely available throughout Mexico City and very affordable. A ride to the airport cost roughly $3USD and I took an hour long ride that cost only $8USD. There is also public transportation and the metro is very quick and convenient as well.

Day 1

The first day I spent walking the streets and exploring the Centro Historico area. It was also rainy this day, so I did not do much, but sites such as the Palacio de Bellas Artes and Catedral Metropolitana are iconic and are bound to come across even when not searching for them.

Highly recommend Los Cocuyos for a taco break. This highly raved taco stand is actually worth the hype. I had the suadero and campechano with grilled cactus on the side and they were amazing. Also, check out Churrería el Moro for dessert of hot chocolate and churros.

Day 2

Early start today for a tour to Teotihuacan. I was not going to do another ruin visit since I had been to a couple of sites already on my trip, but I had not been with a guide and that really does make a difference. My guide had grown up in the area and had extensive knowledge of the site which I would have never known touring the site on my own. I booked the tour through AirBnb linked here.

At night I joined a taco tour which came to be one of my favorite things to do when traveling Mexico. The taco tour was around the Roma neighborhood, which is a trendy, more hipster neighborhood of the city. It felt like parts of SF or other US cities with a lot of parks and restaurant-lined streets. The tour visited a few taco places as well as a couple of bars for mezcal and these tours are a great way to see a city while trying many different places when short on time.

Day 3

Mexico City used to be a lake, and the canals of Xochimilco are the remnants of that lake. I took a trajinera tour with a group through an AirBnb experience and it was a lot of fun. We made guacamole, drank a lot of tequila, mezcal, and beer, and while on the boat tour, there are other boats along the canals selling souvenirs, snacks, and mariachis. It is basically a party on a river and just a fun, touristy thing to do while in Mexico City.

This by no means is an extensive guide and I barely scratched the surface of Mexico City, but I felt satisfied of what I did see and experience during my short time there. Looks like I just need to go back!