Stopover Series: Mexico City
The first stop in our stopover series is one that not many people think of right away:
Mexico City!
As someone who has been to Mexico many times over the years, it didn’t occur to me to check out Mexico City for once, in addition to the classic resort areas of Mexico. What I found was a wonderful mix of history, culture, and adventure!
Snapshot
On this city-centric trip, David traveled with two friends and stayed in Mexico City, the capital of Mexico for 3 days total
Highlights
Devouring the freshest churros from one of the most famous churro cafes in Mexico
Exploring the pyramids and ruins of the pre-Aztec city Teotihuacan
Cheering on masked wrestlers at a lucha libre performance
Doing shots on the rooftop patio of the Tequila and Mezcal museum
Sampling local Mexican food and listening to live mariachi music
Trying out the high life by flying Business Class on my return flight home
First, the How To:
Mexico City is served primarily by Aeromexico airline, which offers direct flights from Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal.
There are two scenarios in which a Mexico City stopover makes sense.
Firstly, if you are visiting a resort area in Mexico, especially some of the less popular (but wonderful) Pacific resort areas such as Oaxaca or Manzanillo.
Though it’s easy to get direct flights to Cancun or Puerto Vallarta, some other destinations in Mexico may not have daily direct flights from Canada, or any flights at all. Aeromexico is a natural airline to serve those areas with convenient connections.Secondly, if you are visiting South America: not only is Aeromexico generally one of the most affordable airlines to fly into many major South American cities, but a stopover in Mexico City is a great way to break up a long flight route, or make the best of otherwise inconvenient flight times.
PRO TIP: Aeromexico also offers extremely affordable business class fares, often priced at just a couple of hundred dollars higher per direction than economy fares. This is an excellent way to experience the luxury of business class at economy prices, especially if you happen to have a red-eye flight in the itinerary, it’s much more comfortable to sleep in business!
This is just what I did, on my recent trip to Ecuador (that you can read more about here). I found Aeromexico to have very well-priced fares, but the route back from Quito had me landing in Mexico City at 4am and then not departing back to Toronto until 11pm. I decided to take advantage of that inconvenient schedule, and extended my stopover to 3 days. Plus, I upgraded my return flight to business class for just $170 more, since I would have two red-eye flights on my way home.
My two travelling companions stayed with me for just the first day in Mexico City, as they couldn’t stay any longer, but still got a decent taste of the city during their 19-hour connection.
Mexico City
Day One
Arriving in Mexico City before sunrise, our private driver from Discova Tours took us straight to my hotel, the Fiesta Americana Reforma, conveniently located on Paseo De La Reforma, one of the main streets of the modern city centre.
Though it was too early to check in, we dropped our bags off and headed out in search of early morning churros.
A few blocks away was the Churreria El Moro, one of the most famous churro cafes in Mexico, and fortunately open 24 hours a day!
Inside you can see the churro making process (pictured), and be served top quality handmade churros by friendly staff, at an affordable price.
We had delicious churros with chocolate sauce and caramel, and a couple rounds of coffee to energize us.
After churros, it was time to head down to Xochimilco, aka the canals of Mexico City.
In pre-columbian times, this was the site of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, the largest city in North America at the time, with over 200,000 inhabitants. It was on an island in middle of the old Lake Texcoco, which is now mostly filled in, however a number of canals remain in the south end of the city, now known as Xochimilco.
We took public transportation (subway and bus) down to the area, and then walked a few minutes to the embarcadero.
David paddling in Xochimilco
There are many “trajinera” (small boat) operators in the area, happy to guide you around the canals for a fee.
These boats are commonly rented out in the afternoons and evenings for private parties, but in the morning when we visited it was relatively quiet.
As our captain paddled us through the canals, we saw the many private homes and gardens of this relatively affluent area of Mexico City.
Our captain was great fun telling us about the different parties he’d seen on these canals, and gave us each an opportunity to paddle for a bit if we wanted.
After about an hour and a half of exploring the canals, we reached the Isla De La Munecas, aka “Island of the Dead Dolls”.
David’s friend enjoying the Island of the Dead Dolls
As the story goes, one of the homeowners on a private island, Don Julian Santana Berrera, saw the ghost of a girl who had drowned in the canals. In order to make her happy, he began collecting dolls wherever he could find them, and hung them up all over his island. Julian died of a heart attack in 2001, and his grandchildren now own and maintain the property.
We paid them a small fee to access and explore the little island, and take photos with the numerous creepy dolls still hanging from the trees - most of them decades old.
After the creepy island, we sailed back through the canals, and more boats were out now as we got into the afternoon.
Some of the islands featured “sail up” bars that the boats could pull up to to buy drinks for everyone on board.
Once we disembarked, we made our way back to the hotel for a late-afternoon meal, and then my companions got ready to go back to the airport. Our driver arrived to pick them up, and I retired for the night quite tired and looking forward to the early morning ahead.
Day Two
On my second day, I was on a small group tour booked by Discova, to visit the Teotihuacan Pyramids and Shrine of Guadalupe.
First we stopped at the Basilica of Guadalupe (pictured), one of the largest and most significant cathedrals in North America.
Though it has been rebuilt a couple of times, this has been the site of a Catholic Church continuously since the arrival of the Spanish in the early 16th century. The most famous item here is the altarpiece which contains the image of the virgin Mary on the cloak of Juan Diego, a devout peasant from the 16th century who it is said the virgin Mary appeared to several times.
Today this cloak is preserved in a large secure frame behind the altar, and to see if you must go on a moving sidewalk behind the altar, which discourages people from lingering too long.
After the Basilica, we travelled outside the city to Teotihuacan - site of the best preserved pyramids in Mexico.
These impressive ruins dominate the area, which also includes a number of other buildings surrounding it.
The largest of these is the Pyramid of the Sun, located along the Avenue of the Dead, and it can be climbed with only a small degree of difficulty.
The views from the top over the area are spectacular!
The ruins pre-date the Aztec civilization, most of them are around 2000 years old, and the city of Teotihuacan flourished between roughly 100 BC to 700 AD, when it suddenly collapsed.
Throughout the site you can see fantastic examples of Teotihuacan art and culture, with many paintings preserved or restored. It’s definitely worth a few hours or your time to explore this incredible ancient site.
Our tour concluded with a visit to a local manufacturer of both obsidian and tequila. While it may seem like an odd combination at first glance, both products are very popular and commonly produced throughout this region.
A couple of shots of tequila later, we were on our way back to Mexico City in the late afternoon. Salud!
Day Three
The third and final day began with time on my own to visit Chapultepec, a large urban park in the centre of the city, like New York’s Central Park or London’s Hyde Park.
The park grounds contain a variety of sights and activities, such as walking trails, a small zoo, a lake you can paddle across (pictured) as well as a variety of museums.
I took my time walking through the park and eating lunch in a small outdoor cafeteria, popular throughout Mexico. Throughout the city you’ll find many excellent street food stalls selling local favorites like tacos, pambazos, flautas, chicharrones, and lots more.
It’s a cheap, delicious, and very local way to eat!
Next I made my way to the National Anthropological Museum, a massive building containing tons of artefacts and exhibits on Mexican history, particularly focusing on pre-Columbian times.
The biggest attraction - quite literally - is the massive Aztec calendar stone (pictured). It is perhaps the most famous piece of Aztec sculpture in the world, featuring a complex design and intricate glyphic language that shows the work of an ancient sophisticated culture.
After a couple of hours there, I made my way to the old historic centre of Mexico City to meet up with my small tour group for the evening, Urban Adventures’ Mexican Night Out - an evening of Cantinas, Mariachi & Lucha Libre with a local guide.
This exciting tour gives you a taste of some fun the locals might be having!
First stop is a lucha libre show, or ‘freeform wrestling’ that is very popular all over the country.
These shows are performed almost daily in various venues throughout Mexico City alone, the most prominent of which is Arena Mexico, where we attended.
The show lasted a couple of hours. Our guide, a local from Mexico City, really encouraged us to get behind his favourite wrestlers and cheer them on!
A free souvenir luchador mask is included with the tour, though this is mainly a cheap tourist version. You can buy a higher quality and more detailed mask from a number of vendors just outside the arena if you’re so inclined.
Next: it’s on to the Tequila and Mezcal museum, where you can learn about the history of tequila and mezcal production in Mexico, and get offered a couple of shots on their rooftop patio overlooking Plaza Garibaldi (pictured).
This plaza is also known as “Musician Square” and is famous for mariachi bands that perform constantly around it.
We descended down into the square and concluded our tour at the Salon Tenampa, a lively and festive restaurant, where we ate delicious Mexican food and were serenaded by mariachi the whole night!
I would have loved to keep partying all night, but I had to cut my visit just a bit short to head back to the hotel to pick up my luggage. I had also booked a private driver with Discova, who was waiting and ready to take me back to the airport for my overnight flight back to Toronto.
Thus concluded a solid three day stopover adventure as an add-on to my Galapagos trip, and a great opportunity to see another side of Mexico beyond beaches and resorts!