Mexico City

Mexico City
 

I am going to go to Mexico City in June or July. Has anyone been there?
I want to plan three days of activities. I would also like to find a friendly cantina to have a drink with the locals.

Jajajajaj a tomar pulque, yo voy para haya muy seguido.

I've been there many times. What type of things to do like to do? Are you more interested in history/museums/architecture, etc, or modern culture, shopping, etc.?

Yes, I've been to Mexico City several times. In what part of Mexico City are you staying?

I wiil arrive on Thursday and leave on Monday. So Fri, Sat & Sun will free. My list of things I want to see/do include:
Zocalo square
the angel
I hope I have time to visit Teotihuacan
I would like to go to mass at one of the cathederals
and I want to meet some local people

I will stay in a hotel close to the main square.

Mexico City is huge. A good fast way to get around is the subway, but plan you vists ahead with a map. Some nice places to visit are Coyoacán which is like a beautiful Mexican village right in Mexico City, and over there you can visit Freida Kalho's residence. On the weekend people sell nice crafts there. If you are staying near the main square (the zocolo), a good street to walk down is Calle Tacuba which crosses Pino Suarez. As you walk down Tacuba you will approach The Palacio de Bellas Artes (not actually on Tacuba). It's near a very tall building which looks a little like the Empire State Building. Bellas Artes is definitely worth having a look at. It is a giant theater and art gallery.

The Archeology Museum near Chapuletpec Park is great, and easy to get
to by subway. There's a nice place to go in the evening by the statue of
the angel. Cross the big avenue (Reforma) away from the Zona Rosa and
enter an neighborhood called Cuauhtémoc ( I believe it's called that anyway) There's a nice movie complex and restaurants. Things cost less than they do in the US. Most likely your hotel will have internet access.
It's a good idea to map out where you want to go on map quest before
taking off for a tour on your own, because the city is pretty big.

La Colonia Condesa is a huge neighborhood that is filled with tree-lined
and parks and art deco houses. It's really civilized and nice to walk or jog or have lunch there along Avenida Amsterdam.

Bring a jacket or sweater. It's over 7000 ft above sea level; so it can be cool especially in the evening.

PS: People from Mexico City are often nice and cordial.
PSS: Mexico City is also plagued with poverty the likes of which we don't usually see north of the border. Vast swaths of the city were destroyed in the '80's because of an earthquake. People still live in the rubble.

How about Teotihuacan does aanyone know if it is easy to find a day trip to go there and how much does it cost?

I can recommend you that you visit the wax museum in Mexico, now if you wanna see the beach, you can go to Acapulco or Veracruz that are the places with beach nearer to Mexico, Mexico there are much culture but anyway there are much more culture in the states of the republic Mexican.

Hope you have fun there! Stay safe ;)

http://www.grayline.com/Grayline/des...id=716&sid=563
Check this out. I'm sure you could also do this on you own. Mexico has
very good modern intercity buses, and they may have routes to Teotihuacan, but Grayline seems hassle-free. For a first time visitor,
a guided tour to places like this and the Basilica of Guadalupe might be the
best option.

Poli's option of Grayline looks pretty good, but I've never been on any guided tours before. If you want to venture it on your own, you can take a taxi to the North Mexico City Bus terminal (La Central del Norte, near Indios Verdes) and buy a ticket to Teotihuacán (or just say to Las Pirámides). Bring a hat & sunshade because it gets pretty hot and there isn't a lot of shade.

Thanks for the link Poli this looks good.

@TJ: I live in Mexico City.

Going to Teotihuacan will cost you some 4-5 dollars, and as David said, the buses go from the Terminal del Norte. They come and go most of the day, and the archaeological zone closes by 5pm, and the entrance ticket should cost some 5 dlls.
By those days the weather shouldn't be as hot as it is by now and should be back to the usual 24-26ºC (less than 80ºF), but sunscreen, hat, shades, are necessary.
During June-July starts the rain season and temperatures can drop some 3 to 4 degrees Celsius in only a couple of hours, so a light warm sweater you can carry during the day will be useful.

My work doesn't allow me to promise any tourist-guide activities, but send me a PM and I might be able to help you out some time during your trip. :)

Also from Terminal del Norte (which can also be reached by metro or subwau as well as taxi) there are buses that make frequent trips to Cuernavaca which is prime example of a beautifiul small Mexican City and
Puebla which is very big, and has an extraordinary church with very colorful tilework in a district that has a lot of antiquity. Puebla is known for its tile industry. Both places are short trips from Mexico City, so your visit can be a day trip, and you get a nice view of the volcano. Buses run very frequently between Mexico City (often abbreviated D.F. for Distrito Federal) and these destinations starting early and ending late. Like lots of places in the USA, Mexico City wakes up early.

Yes. I forgot that you live in Mexico, therefore you can give him a tourist guide to our friend, I know that might the work never will leave gives a tourist guide for if you and this person can phone between you when he is in Mexico so you can are in the same place to the same hour.