Planning the Perfect 7 day Trip to Mexico City
I had the pleasure of spending 7 days in Mexico City (CDMX) in early November, and am extra excited to share this itinerary with you all because I had a B-L-A-S-T.
It’s also totally possible to do this trip on a budget, while still eating all of the best eats and seeing all of the best sights.
Trip Length: 7 days
Day 1
We settled into the Airbnb & walked around the Condesa (neighborhood where our Airbnb was). Condesa is the trendy, hipster-esque neighborhood with A LOT of ex-pats. At one point, we only heard English being spoken at Lardo - our first mediterranean-fusion foodie stop where we split a feast and a bottle of white wine.
Pro tip: MAKE RESERVATIONS FOR ALL DINNERS! Dinner time in CDMX is super busy, so if you want to guarantee a table each night, make a reservation. Most (if not all) restaurants we went to used OpenTable for reservation bookings.
Day 2
We mobilized early and made our way 30 minutes via Uber to Coyoacan. This is where you’ll find some top tourist attractions like the Museo Frida Kahlo and artisan markets. We were starving so we hit Mercado de Coyoacan, which sells everything from home goods to fruits, veggies, meats, and holistic wellness goods. We found a stall that served pozole and sat down for a brunch meal of quesadillas de pollo and pozole de pollo.
After some (ok maybe a lot of) shopping, we were ready for a drink, so we popped into Mezcalero Coyoacan for some Coronas and a 5-Mezcal tasting (complete with chapulines to coat the oranges in).
We were on the search for some coffee and gifts, so we visited the Centro Cultural Elena Garro at the recommendation of a friend. It’s a really pretty bookstore with a cafe and urban park. This was our final stop before making our way to Vivero Coyoacan, where we saw the famous fountain of coyotes that was still decorated from Dia De Los Muertos.
Day 3
Day 3 was the longest but coolest day of the trip - we were picked up at our Airbnb in the AM for a 5 hour drive to Hidalgo, spent 5 hours at the Grutas Tolantongo, and loaded up for a 5 hour drive back to CDMX. If you can stomach 10 hours in the car, this trip is a must-do.
We booked our trip using Airbnb Experiences and paid ~$150 per person for transportation, 2 meals, and tickets into the Grutas. The whole day was absolutely magical - we got to see the influencer hotspot hill-side hot springs (say that 5 times fast), then our guide swam us through a few subterranean caves, and into the electric-blue river to warm up before dinner. This place is SO cool, local, and off-the-beaten-path of typical tourist activities.
Pro Tip: If you decide to book this experience, take pesos, water shoes, and some sort of waterproof pouch for your phones as there isn’t really a place to drop your stuff outside of the van. If you forget water shoes or a waterproof pouch, there will be a quick stop before the Grutas to purchase these items, water, and snacks. You’ll need pesos to do so, as most of these stores don’t take credit cards.
Day 4
Hopefully you’re starting to see a trend of one day on, one day off, with this itinerary. As expected, we were exhausted after our Day 3 activity, so this was a perfect day to visit Xochimilco. This place is a true slice of CDMX history, as it gives you a glimpse of the Mexico City that was once completely submerged in water.
We paid a guide to take us out on one of the signature, multi-colored boats for 3 hours. He floated us through the channels, stopping a few times to let us take in the sights. The first time, we locked ourselves to another boat and purchased fresh quesadillas, elote, micheladas, and tequila. The second time, we docked on a small plot of land that housed a makeshift animal conservatory.
Here, we got to see, with our very own eyes, the ever elusive Axolotl. For those of you not familiar with this neat creature, they look like pokemon and there are only ~1,000 left in the wild. Locals are attempting to rehabilitate the animal by protecting it from its invasive predator, the tilapia.
There are places to eat and shop from local vendors at Xochimilco, so you can easily spend the entire day there.
Day 5
Day 5 happened to fall on a Sunday - meaning we got to visit the “Central Park of CDMX,” Chapultepec, AND ride the ciclovia. In CDMX, select streets are closed to all car traffic on Sunday’s, allowing bike riders and wheel-goers to ride freely until 2pm. We rented EcoBici’s (see my note at the top of the article).
We rode a few miles then let off at Parque Chapultepec, where you can visit the castle, the zoo, several small lakes, or just walk around and explore. There were folks in hammocks reading, napping, or simply taking it slow and enjoying a picnic under the trees.
Day 6
So if you’re an individual with an Instagram, you’ve probably seen photos of the temples at Teotihuacan. They also launch hot air balloons nearby, so if you arrive at just the right time you’ll see a beautiful horizon line of the temples, hot air balloons, and their shadows casting down below. We booked a tour on Viator, but you can pretty much book a tour through any site and they’re fairly similar. I saw ads for Airbnb Experiences excursions to the temples as well.
The trip was from 6am-3pm, and i’d recommend prepping for a really hot day (in November) because there’s no shade (i’d recommend a good hat and walking shoes). Our tour included transport, a guide, and a tequila/mezcal tasting.
A highlight of visiting Teotihuacan, was our ability to schedule lunch at La Gruta (right down the road). We took an Uber there, and were greeted by incredibly friendly staff, who walked us down to the chilly, drafty Gruta where the dining area is. So for all of my non-Spanish speakers, La Gruta translates to The Cave, so you guessed it, we dined in a giant cave. The food was really really really yummy, traditional Mexican fare, and the atmosphere was an added bonus. It was a pretty epic experience - but be sure to bring your jacket because it was drafty af in there.
Day 7
This was our last full day, so we did what any tourists these days do, and started by getting a COVID test so we were 100% sure we’d be cleared to fly back to the US (Update December 2022: COVID tests are no longer required to return to the US from Mexico). I linked the lab that helped us above, but there are several around the city that will do rapid tests for ~$50 USD. Our results were ready in 5 minutes (negative, phew!) and we went on our way.
We then made our way to the Tuesday open-air market in Condesa, which was complete with fresh food stands, clothes, electronics, juices, meats, and food vendors. We bought empanadas, fresh squeezed tangerine juice, and fresh huitlacoche, among other treats.
Our last event in CDMX was a street-food biking tour with Francisco from FoodHoodMX. We couldn’t have asked for a better final event, he was so knowledgeable, kind, and engaging for the entirety of our 4 hour tour. He supplied the bikes, helmets, and lights, and we just had to bring good attitudes and empty stomachs. He took us to try birria, al pastor, esquites, and churros, all from local vendors (except for the churros which were from world famous Churreria El Moro).
Fin
Well, that’s all i’ve got for you today! I’m planning to create a food-only guide to Mexico City some time in the future. For now, I hope this post inspires you to plan a trip to CDMX, or maybe just day dream about it a little bit. The city is so so beautiful, with a rich history to match, and i’m thrilled it could be my first COVID-friendly trip.
