Now that COVID-19 vaccines have become available to everyone in the United States, and other countries have been working on vaccinating their citizens, some of the travel restrictions have been loosened. That being said, you still have to follow social distancing and mask wearing. But honestly, for me that wasn’t an issue because I was just so thankful to have the opportunity to travel again.
Last year, I was supposed to go on an EPIC trip to Spain and Portugal with my mom as a graduation gift to myself. It was going to be my first time out of the country! But unfortunately, like for many people, I had to cancel the trip due to the pandemic and was left heart broken and craving a European adventure.
As I started seeing more and more travel restrictions be lifted, and my vacation days at work started building up, I decided to plan my first trip out of the country. After some research and consulting with the people I would be going on this trip with, we decided to go to Mexico! Now, I had always wanted to go to Tulum, and that was an agreed must on this trip within my group, but we also wanted to get a sense of the culture that Mexico City had to offer. Unfortunately, due to our work schedules, we could only be in Mexico City for a full day before heading out to Tulum. Here is what I was able to do in 24 hours in Mexico City!
P.S: the times listed are estimates, as I do not remember the exact timing of everything we did in Mexico City.
8:00AM
We had a long day of activity planned so we made sure to wake up early enough to have a quick breakfast so that we can be on our way to our first stop. We weren’t sure where we could go for breakfast, so we ended up walking around until we found a small restaurant that seemed to have just opened. We weren’t sure how much time it would take to order and get our food as we did not want to be late for our admission time to the Frida Khalo house. But we took a risk anyways. We were expecting big portions like the ones served in the U.S. but instead we were pleasantly surprised that the portions were smaller but left us feeling satisfied.
10:00AM
We took a taxi to the Frida Kahlo house which was about 45 min from where we were staying in the city center, in the neighborhood Coyoacan There are Ubers in Mexico City, we found it pretty safe to use taxis. That being said, always be careful and and use what you are most comfortable with.
For the Frida Kahlo house, they have timed self guided tours. We booked ours for 10AM which was the first available time slot for the day. The Frida Kahlo house was probably the most colorful house in the neighborhood which didn’t surprise me.
Inside, you are not allowed to take pictures unless you pay for a special pass. It wasn’t that expensive (30 pesos or $1.50 USD) so we decided to buy one for our group. You can walk through her whole home, and in each room there are pictures of her life. Some that she drew and some that were photographs taken of herself and her family. In the middle of her home there is a beautiful courtyard filled with so many plants that you feel like you are in the woods somewhere. The home felt so peaceful and I forgot for a second that I was in the city instead of the countryside!
12:00PM
After we were done with the Frida Kahlo’s house, we headed to see the famous angel (I grew up watching a lot of novelas where during the intro there was always a sky view of El Angel or “the Angel”). During the drive, to see this monument, officially known as the Monumento de la Independencia, we hit A LOT of traffic, which really affected our timeline. We ended up getting out of our Uber and walking the rest of the way since we were close enough to walk. The area around where El Angel was located, was very busy but clean. And it seemed to cater towards tourists as I saw a lot of American chain restaurants.
2:00PM
Next we planned on going to a market where we were able to get some souvenirs to bring home. It was huge and we unfortunately did not have enough time to look through the whole market. But there were so many stalls filled with beautiful things and I wished I had enough room on my carry on to buy more things! These markets are where you can haggle the price down a little bit which we were able to do for a couple of things we wanted.
3:00PM
Once we were done with admiring everything that this market had to offer, we quickly rushed home to freshen up, as we wanted to make every minute count of our day. But we hadn’t had lunch yet! The great thing about Mexico City is that there is a taco stand everywhere! And if you know me, I LOVE tacos, so I was in taco paradise here. We found spot that offered some tacos Al Pastor that we could take with us and eat on the way back to our Airbnb. When I tell you my mouth was drooling as I watched them cut the pork onto the tortillas, I am not lying. And it was delicious and cheap, about $1 USD per taco!
4:00PM
We hopped in a cab and headed to our next stop which was to the Xochimilco which are colorful gondolas that float on canals located in on the outskirts of Mexico City, about an hour and a half from where our Airbnb was near El Museo de Las Bellas Artes. But it was well worth the drive because we had the best time!
When you arrive, you will see a ton of colorful boats just waiting for customers to fill them. Pre-pandemic, the boats could be shared with multiple groups. But because of the pandemic they were limiting one group per boat, which we were happy about. There are three packages that they explain to you when you arrive. The first is about a 30 min ride and of course is the cheapest. The second option is about an hour and a half but it does not include a tour of the La Isla de las Munecas (Island of the Dolls) which is an island that has somewhat of a horror backstory. The third option is about a two hour boat ride that includes a tour of the La Isla las Munecas and of course if the most expensive. My group decided to go with the middle option, mostly because we were limited with time and we still wanted to enjoy Mexico City.
On the boat, you are able to order some drinks before you leave the dock. As well as throughout the canals there are vendors on boats of their own selling drinks, elotes and other things that you can eat. Throughout the canals, there are little outdoor shops and bars you can stop at. Think of the gondolas as a sort of taxi on the canals. The driver of the gondola will stop at whatever place you would like. I noticed that there were a lot of plant nurseries and I was so tempted to buy some plants because they looked so beautiful and healthy but I resisted and I am very proud of myself.
There were also so many Mariachi bands who would float up to your boat from their own boats and climb on (without asking) and then try to haggle with you to perform some songs. We were able to haggle some good deal from two mariachi bands that came onto our boat and we enjoyed each song they performed. My advice if you encounter semi aggressive mariachi bands, and you don’t want to pay for songs, just say no and stand firm and eventually they will leave.
Our boat ride lasted a little longer and ended up being 2 hours because we made a stop to one of the plant nurseries. We returned back to the dock at around 6:00PM which was when they closed. We went back to the city center and decided we wanted to get a taste of the nightlife. But first we had to get Churros from a well known spot called Churreria El Moro. When we finally arrived there was a line out the door, so we knew it was going to be good.
As we ate our churros, we walked to the Plaza Garibaldi that was recommended to us by one of our taxi drivers. It was known for mariachi bands. And boy was he right. After walking a couple of blocks, we were greeted by a plaza filled with Mariachi bands, just waiting for someone to pay for their services. We walked around the square which was surrounded by bars, just to get a sense of what was available but mostly to process the overwhelming amount of stimuli. Think Times Square on a smaller scale and instead of huge LED screens, there are mariachi bands EVERYWHERE.
We ended up being invited to come to one of the bars where they provided us with tequila and a mariachi show. It was really fun but by the third performer we were starting to feel the exhaustion start to hit us and we decided to call it a night.
I could not end this post by telling you about the best bakery I discovered the morning we left Mexico City. It is called Pasteleria Ideal and it is right near the El Museo de Las Bellas Artes. First of all, we were in awe and overwhelmed at the same time at the amount of pastries that we had to choose from. It was just a huge room with several large tables, overflowing with every kind of pastry you can think of. They literally give you a tray and you fill the tray with as many pastries as you want. Secondly, everything looked so good I had such a hard time picking what I wanted. I ended up settling for a concha (I really wanted to try a real Mexican one) and a pastry that had Dulce de Leche in the middle.
Mexico City was such an amazing adventure. There was still so much to see in the city and I wished I had more time to explore. But I was able to do a lot in the 24 hours that I had and I enjoyed every minute of it.
Tell me what are some other must see places in Mexico City? Comment Below!
[…] But the opportunity came to go to Mexico with my boyfriend and our friends. We first went to Mexico City before we headed to […]