Mexico City ideas? (leaving tomorrow)

by philg

MIT is having a holiday on Monday and Tuesday and the Boston weather forecast is unappealing…. good excuses for hopping a plane to Mexico City.  I’ve never been there before and would appreciate comments on where to stay and what to see.  My main interests are Pre-Columbian history and artifacts, soaking up the lifestyle, and modern architecture.  I’ll be alone.


[In case you’re curious, I’m not taking my own airplane down to Mexico.  At 150 mph it would take roughly 16 hours to cover the 2000 nautical mile distance.  I have taken the plane into Baja, Mexico and wrote up the experience in http://philip.greenspun.com/flying/baja]

16 thoughts on “Mexico City ideas? (leaving tomorrow)”

  1. Philip- be sure to visit Teotihuacan, outside the city (north I think?). It’s a magical place, the world’s third-largest pyramid is there.

  2. Philip, for museums, I would direct you to see the “Mueseo de Anthropolgia” It is located in Chapultepec Park. It has a wonderful history of Mexican art and culture covering all periods (A Must see) Hire a private car to take you around to see the sights, better than taking a green cab(Dangerous) For hotels, try the Presidente Intercontinental. A luxury hotel, located in the Polanco District, close to all the attractions. Other suggestions include the Sheraton Maria Isabella on Paseo de la Reforma. Other interesting things to see, Coyoacan; a historical colonial area in the southern part of Mexico DF. (Frida Kahlo’s home and Trotsky’s home also) Pyramids are also a good bet ( Just north of the city) Hazards are traffic( Very dense) and take the offical cabs at the airport to the hotel and thereafter just hire a car at the hotel (Cost me 40 USD for 2 hours( Well worth it)

  3. Philip some more info on Mexico City. Palacio Bellas Artes is the fine arts center. they will have a schedule at the hotels. Check out the markets. There is a big one in Coyoacan which offers lots of crafts to buy. Churches include the Metropolitan Cathedral in the Zocalo which is quite impressive. Have some Sol or Dos X cerveza(Much better than corona) and natually tequilla.

  4. I’m no expert, but…I second the above reccomendations.

    Museo de Anthropologia- an absolutely awesome array of artifacts. An absolute must-see. One gripe- Berkeley was teeming with anthro grad students who would have happily written captions for all the artifacts. So is Mexico City. However, the connection hasn’t been made so awesome artifacts are often unlabeled or labeled only briefly. Perhaps a good book with pictures would be a worthwhile companion.

    Where to stay- I stayed in Polanco, and I again second the recommendation to stay there. We were a block from the Hotel Nikko, and certainly I felt we were in a great location. BTW, Polanco=posh which is probably a bit whitewashed but is plenty deep enough for a first trip.

    Teotihuacan is a bit outside the city, but a very impressive trip. They have a nice little museum onsite with nice re-creations of the city to jog your imagination. It doesn’t hold a candle to the Museo de Anthropologia, of course.

    I had a great experience driving around the Reforma (a district and the huge street that every conqueror since Maximillian and Isabella (I believe) rode down to announce their arrival in the city. During the day it’s a parking lot but at night it’s wide open and I even waltzed around the Federal Building plaza (site of the bell-ringing of Fox’s inauguration most recently) with nary a soul in site (during the day it has the congestion of the Sistine Chapel in August).

    That’s what I did, and all I did (plus a wedding), in 3 days. So I’m not being very selective. I would allow the Presidente or Nikko to arrange a driver for you to the sights and around the city. I read Fire and Blood: A Brief History of Mexico by Fehrenbach while I was there- a bit dry but I really came away with a good sense of the overall history of the nation (which means the history of Mexico City). I have some snapshots of my trip (not art by any means) at:

    http://64.203.0.88/kevsite/DF01/index.html

    Have fun,
    Kevin

  5. Quick note: I meant the MUSEUM at Teotihuacan doesn’t compare to the Museo de Anthropologia. The ruins themselves are awesome and I think you’d be cheating yourself if you went and didn’t see both the MdA and the ruins. Oh, and the Federal Building area is kind of fun because there’s a cathedral (~1500?) around with an old pyramid behind it they’ve dug up- the cathedral was built from the stones taken from the pyramid. Thus the abandoned city of Tenochitlan was found under the plaza.

    I’m doing this from memory so forgive any historical snafu’s, please.

  6. For a fun dinner in a funky neighborhood, try Cafe Tecuba. great classic food, reasonable, and good local color. As one other poster mentioned, take a car from your hotel in/out of there instead of the green cabs. I’ve ridden in the green cabs before without issues, but you need to be fluent, know the neighborhoods, and be sure you know where you’re going…ie, don’t take green cabs on your first visit down there. It’s an awesome city. Also, since you have 4 days and you’re into architecture, you might take a car up to
    Queretaro, i think about 150 miles(??) north of Mexico City. It’s a city of several hundred thousand people and the architecture is still largely the old spanish mission style in the center of town. very beautiful. If you go, stay at the hotel meson de santa rosa, right in one of the two major town squares. Awesome little hotel.

  7. (Went there for the summer holidays)
    I would suggest the following sites:
    must see:
    -Museo de Anthropologia (the labeling of artifacts in English improved quite a lot recently) good preparation for
    -Teotihuacan
    nice to see:
    -Museo de Templo Major
    -Bellas Artes

    For getting around in the city I would strongly suggest using the metro! Is one of the best in the world (ok, maybe St.Petersburg’s is more impressive :-)), very cheap and often faster than using a taxi cab.

    If going by taxi, always go for the licensed ones (special number plates and licenses of the taxi union under the windscreen). Sometimes it is a good idea to let the driver know, that you’ve checked his number plate 🙂

  8. Stay at the big old hotel on the Zocolo. try to get a room with a balcony at the top of the hotel, facing the Zocolo, Eat Cabrito.

  9. Just came back from Ciudad de Mexico last Saturday and here’s my advice: Avoid the city, it’s never-ending traffic jams, the smog and dirt, and hop on a bus like for example Estrella Roja to Puebla (beautiful 2 hr. drive through the Sierra Madre) where the climate is much better, people are friendlier, it’s safer and cleaner (both the air and the floor). Go to places like Cholula (hire a guide to show you around the pyramid) or Atlixco (make sure to go to the market in downtown on Mondays and Thursdays)

    /Tomas

  11. I would go to the Rufino Tamayo museum in Chapultepec. It is a building designed by De leon, and capture along with the mexican artist the feeling of mexico’s identity, abstact wanting to join the modern world, and yet grounded in Mexican tradtion (not the quais tradition of Rivera, but the deep one represented by Tamayos amazing colors and subtle refernce to his Oaxacan past) I would also walk around the Zocalo and visit the Prepa 1, which was restored some years ago and includes less well known but interesting murals of Orozco and Rivera. The national Palace has another famous Rivera mural. If you stand facing the Cathedral you will see 2000 years of violently disrupted history with the aztec ruins, the cathedral and the national palace. Close also is the first hospital on the new continet that on the outside has a 1960’s facade and on the inside a courtyard in the old spanssh colonial style. After the Zocalo head to Sanborns (the one downtown) and see the watermelons painted by tamayo and also enjoy a straberry shake. Great stuff. Stay at the Camino Real near chapultepec (costly but it has murals and art and a gian calder sculpture. It is designed by Lejorreta and is a hallmark of mexican architecture (and serves about 12 fresh squezzed tropical juices in the morning) For food check out a place Called “El Charco de la Rana” the frogs pond. Eat tacos, or head to the San Angel Inn in the San Angel colony (where rivera used to live) and enjoy Mexican Gourmet Cuisine (try huitlacothle the mushroom that grows on Corn)Go to a bullfight in the largest Plaza in the world, wwlak through Polanco (the trendy neighberhood) and have a coffee at the argentine cafe “Cafe Snob” Go to Coyoac

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