Your expert guide: 3 days in Mexico City
Mexico City is a vibrant, wonderful city with enough to do and see to fill many months of exploring. This article, however, focuses on how to spend just 3 days in Mexico City. The itinerary outlined in this article will help someone who hasn’t visited the city before to see the very best that Mexico’s capital city has to offer.
This is the itinerary I use when I take people to Mexico City and everything here is based on my own intimate relationship with my favourite big city in the whole world.
By the time you’ve visited and got to know Mexico City, I can pretty much guarantee that you’re going to be smitten and that you’ll be returning again, and again, which is great, because, as I said, there’s way too much to do in 1, 2 or even 3 trips to the city.
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Mexico City explorer articles
⭐️ 3 day itinerary for Mexico City | ⭐️ 5 day itinerary for Mexico City | ⭐️ Mexico City for the kids | ⭐️ Exploring the Bosque de Chapultepec | ⭐️ Taking a day trip to the canals of Xochimilco
🗺 The most important things to keep in mind when considering a trip to Mexico City is how enormous it is and that planning is your friend. This is not a city where you ‘wing it’. This is a city where you make your plan, you book tickets to the places you most want to see and you reserve tables at highly sought after restaurants should you be into fine dining. If you don’t make a plan, you won’t get the most out of the city.
🛝 If you’re visiting Mexico City with kids, check out this kid specific itinerary.
Is Mexico City safe?
✅ This is a question I get asked regularly and although I’ve never ever felt unsafe in Mexico City, whether there with my kids, alone or groups of friends, I do understand why people ask.
✅ The main tourist areas—Centro Historico, Roma Norte, Polanco, Condesa and Coyoacán—are all safe for visitors. You’ll see a good mix of tourists and local families enjoying life and all Mexico City has to offer.
❌ There are pickpockets in Mexico City, as in any big city. Be smart; don’t take your eyes off your possessions.
❌ Earthquakes are a reality of life in Mexico City but they’re by no means common. If there is an earthquake an alarm will sound. All hotels in Mexico City are required to be able to cope with earthquakes.
🌬 Air quality in Mexico City can be a problem. Some people do suffer with itchy eyes and dry throats due to poor air quality. The end of the year (Sept – Dec) has more clear days as the rains have cleared out much of the pollution. If you’re just visiting for a few days it won’t be a problem.
Where to stay in Mexico City
Obviously, the city is huge and absolutely full of hotels just crying out for you to pick them. These are my four favourites:
🏨 In the Centro Historico – Gran Hotel Ciudad de México: this 4⭐️ hotel is one of the most magnificently beautiful hotels in Mexico City. I highly recommend staying in this perfectly located, gorgeous historic hotel that offers views over zocalo, the cathedral and National Palace.
🏨 Paseo Reforma – Sofitel Reforma: if it’s city views you’re after then you can’t beat this 5 ⭐️ chic hotel located by the Ángel de la Independencia on Paseo Reforma. The large & comfortable rooms are beautifully furnished and the staff are wonderfully attentive but it’s the views over the city, particularly from the indoor pool, restaurant and bar that give this hotel its edge for me.
🏨 In Polanco – Camino Royal, Polanco: located in the heart of one of CDMX’s wealthiest neighbourhoods, this 5⭐️ hotel is extremely well priced for the facilities it offers and its great location by the Anthropology Museum. Enjoy spacious luxury in the hotel’s rooms, garden, outdoor pool and numerous restaurant offerings. The breakfast buffet gets great reviews too.
🏨 Reforma – LaiLa Hotel, Reforma: this budget 4⭐️ hotel is well located if you want to explore the Bosque de Chapultepec while still being close to the centro historico. The rooms are clean and modern and it’s located on a road packed with great restaurant options. I often stay here when I’m in the city.
or if you don’t think any of these hotels will work for you, you can also use my helpful interactive hotel finder maps to figure out where you want to stay in CentroHistorico, Coyoacan, Polanco, Condesa and Roma Norte.
Getting around Mexico City
Public transportation in Mexico City
Note that Mexico City is also called CDMX (the acronym for Ciudad de México) or DF (Distrito Federal).
🚆 The metro is pretty good in Mexico City. There are women and children only carriages, which are great for safety but, of course, men can’t travel in them. Apart from rush hour this is a good and cheap way to get around the city. Buses are cheap but are often extremely crowded and can be a very slow way of getting around Mexico City.
Uber in Mexico City
🚖 Uber & Didi both run in Mexico City and both work just great. In my opinion they are a better option than regular cabs as they don’t require cash or a knowledge of the city. Who enjoys haggling for a ride when they don’t know the distance or real price? Not me. Download Uber or Didi and save yourself the hassle of cabs.
✈️ Use Uber to order a ride from the airport. It’s permitted and super hassle free. Your app will tell you where to wait for your driver.
3 day Mexico City Itinerary
I’ve created an itinerary with 3 absolutely full days worth of things to do and see in CDMX. I couldn’t stop myself. I tried to include time to breathe but I get so excited about this city! Of course you must take breaks wherever you need to and if you don’t enjoy walking so much, simply hop in an Uber wherever necessary.
At the very end I’ve included 2 1/2 day excursions that could be exchanged for any morning or afternoon activity that doesn’t strike your fancy.
Day 1 – Exploring Centro Historico (Mexico City’s historic center)
We’ll begin our first day on the city’s main plaza, the enormous and impressive zocalo (officially named the Plaza de la Constitución). Here you’ll find the striking Metropolitan Cathedral (which is free to enter) and the Palacio Nacional (which houses some fabulous Rivera murals but it at time of writing it was closed to visitors).
Visit the Templo Mayor
This fabulous museum is dedicated to the main temple of the Mexica people, the original inhabitants of this region. Before entering the museum you actually walk through the ancient ruins of the ancient city of Tenochtitlan, and a temple dedicated to Tlaloc (god of rain) and Huitzilopochtli (solar god of war).
Construction of the temple began around 1325 and it was destroyed in 1521 by the Spanish when they overran the city. The temple reached around 70m high by the time it was finished.
Lunch in the Gran Hotel
After you’re finished exploring the museum and zocalo, I recommend taking a break for a drink (be it coffee, water or aperol spritz) and a spot of lunch on the terrace of the Gran Hotel, which is on the other side of the zocalo. The views from here are magnificent as is the interior of the hotel.
➕ Also by the Zocalo are: the Jose Luís Cuevas Museum, & Ex-Teresa Arte Actual, which is a brilliantly weird art gallery in an old church. The fun thing about this is that the building has subsided to the point of being really slanted.
Walk to the Alameda
Walk to the Alameda area via Ave. Francisco I. Madera. Along here you’ll find both shops & interesting (lesser known) museums and galleries that I always love checking out.
Museo de Estanquillo has some fabulous exhibitions and also a lovely roof terrace with a cafe. Palacio de Cultura Banamex is a free exhibition centre that always shows a fascinating side to Mexico’s artistic scene. And on the right hand side is the Instagram famous Casa de los Azulejos, where everyone likes to take a photo.
Museum time
The Alameda is surrounded by excellent museums, the most famous of which is of course the Palacio de Bellas Artes, which I highly recommend visiting. Choose between the following 3 (or manage more if you have the energy) while you’re around the Alameda.
Palacio de Bellas Artes
Even if you don’t go inside, take a moment to appreciate this gorgeous and truly iconic building. Inside you’ll find murals by some of Mexico’s finest muralists, Rivera, Orozco, Siqueiros and more. It’s an utterly spectacular collection in one of my favourite art galleries in all the world. I also have it on good authority that the restaurant here has reopened and is excellent although I haven’t eaten there myself.
Torre Latinoamericana
There is a small museum here but more importantly, from the top of the tower you have one of the best views over the city. You can see all the way to zocalo and the mountains surrounding the city (but this, I’m afraid, is my favourite photo I took from up there)
Museo Mural de Diego Rivera
This is a museum dedicated to the incredible and enormous work by Diego Rivera, “Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park” (Sueño de una tarde dominical en la Alameda Central).
By now you’re probably pretty tired so I’m just going to mention that the other museums and art galleries around the Alameda are also pretty wonderful so if there’s time & energy, check out the following:
Museo Memoria y Tolerancia, Museo de Arte Popular, Museo Kaluz, Museo de Pulque, Museo Franz Mayer, Museo Nacional de Arte.
☕️ Note: Everyone will tell you that you simply must have churros & chocolate at Churrería el Moro. The original restaurant is nearby and if you like churros, sure go for it but it’s not going to make or break your experience. In recent years new branches of the restaurant have opened up across the city.
What to do about your evening meal
🥢 Well, right on the Alameda you have Mexico City’s small but sweet China Town so you could grab a Chinese meal if you fancied it. Otherwise, I recommend heading back to around your hotel and finding something delicious before collapsing into bed.
Day 2 – Coyoacán
Begin your day by taking an uber over to the Coyoacán district of Mexico City, one of my favorite neighborhoods in the whole city.
Museo Frida Kahlo / La Casa Azul
This famous Frida Kahlo museum is housed in Kahlo’s former home. Known as the “Blue House”, it is entirely dedicated to the life and work of Kahlo and is really a special place to visit (sadly, this is one of two photos I have of it the museum. I can’t find any photos from when we visited).
Due to its immense popularity, you absolutely must buy tickets online and in advance. I highly recommend getting there as the doors open to see the museum with as few people in it as possible.
The ticket for Frida’s house includes entrance to Museo Anahuacalli, home to Diego Rivera’s vast collection of prehispanic works (and one of my personal favourite museums in Mexico City) so if you are interested in seeing his amazing collection, take an uber (there is sometimes a bus running between the two museums but I’ve never managed to catch it) there and back. It’s absolutely worth it.
A ticket on the official website costs $320 pesos (approx €15 or $16 USD) but they’re notoriously hard to come by if you haven’t planned a long way in advance. If the official website is sold out then you’re likely to be able to find tickets on the Tiqets or GetYourGuide websites.
💀 Both these museums are famous for their Día de los Muertos ofrendas so if you’re in town Oct – Dec do not miss checking them out.
⭐️ MexicoCassie’s tour recommendations
If you quite fancy joining a tour, why not try one of these cool experiences
➡️ Frida’s house and Xochimilco
Mercado de Coyoacán
Have lunch in this bustling local market – this is my favourite place in the whole world to eat tostadas and I make sure to eat here every time I’m in CDMX. It’s also an interesting market to explore generally.
🌮 For tacos, my absolute favourite taco spot in all of Mexico City is on Calle Río Lerma in Cauhtémoc and it’s called Carriñito Tacos – fusion Mexican-Asian tacos that will drive you wild.
Plaza Hidalgo and Jardín Centenario
From the market, head down Calle Ignacio Allende (with the Jardín Allende on your right and the market on your left) towards Plaza Hidalgo and Jardín Centenario. There are plenty of shops to browse on this walk. These two squares are the beating heart of Coyoacán and a great place to stroll around, enjoying the atmosphere and people-watching. Be sure not to miss the iconic Coyote Fountain.
Mercado Artesanal Mexicano: at the far end of Plaza Hidalgo this is the perfect place to pick up some souvenirs.
Top Tip: Don’t forget to sample ALL the street food. Head to Churreria General de la Republica for fresh-made churros or Café El Jorocho for some of the best coffee in Mexico City. Find a bench and just sit and watch the world go by.
If you keep going down Calle Higuerra, you’ll come to another market here to explore and some good-looking restaurants and cafes. If you keep walking you’ll come to Plaza de la Conchita, a small leafy square with a striking yellow church. Almost immediately next door is Parque Frida Kahlo, home to some great statues of Frida and Diego.
+ Leon Trotsky’s House: If you have energy enough for more, then consider visiting Trotsky’s House, on the edge of Coyoacán.
Day 3 – Bosque de Chapultepec (Chapultepec Park)
Although you might not expect a park to be one of the city’s main attractions, it really is. Chapultepec is one of the largest city parks in the world and is the second largest park in Latin America and it’s actually just over twice the size of Central Park!
🦗 Chapultepec translates from Nahuatl as “at the grasshopper hill”, a name which came to the Aztecs from the Toltecs, the people who lived in the region before the Aztecs. There are even remains of a Toltec altar in the park. Chapultepec was an important location during the Aztec period when it was seen as a sacred place and used as a repository for the remains of rulers. Later it became a retreat for the Aztec rulers. The Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan took its water from the springs in the area, something that continued for years after the Spanish invasion. In the fifteenth century Aztec ruler, Emperor Montezuma Xocoyotzin, built a palace and altar in the area, on the hill in the park.
The park itself is enormous and magnificent, and its also home to 13 museums including the Castillo de Chapultepec (Chapultepec Castle) & the world famous Anthropology Museum – both of which I recommend you visit on your third day in Mexico City.
Begin your day at the Anthropology Museum
I’ve been to this museum three times and yes, it’s astounding. It was also the first museum in all of Mexico (founded in 1825). It is a huge place that can be pretty overwhelming as it is home to collections from across Mexico’s history and geographic locations. Be sure to leave at least half a day to explore this giant of a museum.
→ Buy your tickets in advance (and try to avoid going on a Sunday as it’ll be very busy since it’s free for Mexicans on Sundays)
When you’re done here, head into the park where you can grab a snack at Libraría Porrúra (a cool bookshop with a café) or find some fun street snacks in the park.
Castillo de Chapultepec
Amble through the park (and up, since it’s on the top of a hill) to the Castillo de Chapultepec. If you’re really feeling tired and like you’re over seeing museums by now, let me just assure you that the views alone from up here are worth the visit. But if you can’t face it, fair enough!
→ Book your tickets (this is a GetYourGuide link because although it says there’s an official site to buy tickets it doesn’t appear to work. And yes, tickets do sell out so I recommend buying in advance).
A good alternative to the Castillo if you’re feeling too tired for the hill, is the Carcamo de Dolores, an important hydraulic structure covered in murals by Diego Rivera (ticket is included in the Natural History museum ticket. See photo under Day 3 heading for a view of this)
Check out what else there is to do in the park (including the seven other museums) in my dedicated Bosque de Chapultepec article.
Day trip possibilities
I’ve created a great Mexico City itinerary for you but I know it hasn’t left time for any day trips from the city. There are 2 excellent half-day trips that could be substituted in for any activity above that doesn’t really grab you in the itinerary above.
Pyramids at Teotihuacan
50km north of the city, this area has two truly huge pyramids: Pyramid of the Sun and Pyramid of the Moon. The Pyramide del Sol is the world’s third biggest pyramid.
It’s possible to get yourself to the pyramids but having done it on public transport myself, I highly recommend taking a tour. You’ll save yourselves a lot of stress.
⭐️ MexicoCassie recommended guided tour to Teotichucan – this half day tour includes pick up from your hotel in CDMX, transport on a comfortable bus and a tour around the pyramid site with an expert guide.
🎈 As an added bonus you can even take a magical hot air balloon ride over the pyramids.
Take a boat ride on the canals of Xochimilco
🛶 Xochimilco is a dream destination when you visit Mexico City thanks to its ancient canals, its trajineras, (colourful long boats) and the chinampas (artificial islands) where you can meet some of the local wildlife, including the native axolotls. Everyone will love taking a peaceful ride through the UNESCO World Heritage Site that is the floating gardens of Xochimilco.
We visit the canals with Insolitours who took us to Nativitas, one of the seven piers (embarcaderos). We were told that Nativitas is one of the more traditional and less pushy spots to pick up a tranjinera (Mexican style gondola or punt).
💰 Be sure to take cash so you can buy snacks from the local salespeople who row up and down the canals selling their wares.
📖 Read more about visiting Xochimilco in my full article
⭐️ MexicoCassie recommended Xochimilco tour – a full day tour of Coyoacán, UNAM murals and Xochimilco.
💀 Why not book a tour that includes visiting what some people say is the scariest place in Mexico City, the creepy Isla de las Muñecas (Doll Island). Or one that includes an evening dance & lights performance of La Llorona.
11 Comments
Brett Jones · 03/12/2019 at 1:09 pm
Thanks for the post! Lots of interesting places to add to my next visit ? I stayed in México City for the entire month of June this year, and barely got through a handful of places. The Museo Nacional de Antropologia in Chapultapec Park, The Chapultapec Castle, and the Templo Mayor just off the Zócalo each took multiple visits for me to see, and I’m sure I still missed things! If you like Diego Rivera, the mercado Abelardo L. Rodríguez (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abelardo_L._Rodr%C3%ADguez_Market) is worth a visit, if just to see his work in this unusual setting.
Cassie · 07/12/2019 at 8:11 am
Good tip re market. Thanks . I’ll add that to my next visit.
Keith · 03/12/2019 at 4:04 pm
Another wonderful article. We have been to CDMX six times this year and never tire of it. On our last trip we visited the magnificent Museo Soumaya in Polanco – a world-class masterpiece in so many ways, and the MUAC at the university. We have only been to 20 of the city’s more than 150 museums – and new museums seem to be opening all the time, such as this gem:
https://culturacolectiva.com/arte/foro-valparaiso-nuevo-museo-de-arte-cdmx?fbclid=IwAR2S_h9GhmXwfcz1FvA2yIfF1Qhmcrb-hQnEMZnXxXRwSDkmyadEUDEo95Y
I love your food picks and personal tips!
Just one small correction – San Juan Bautista on Plaza Hidalgo in Coyoacán is just a parish church. The only (Roman) cathedral in CDMX is the massive church on the zocalo. There are some smaller orthodox cathedrals, but they are no great shakes in comparison.
Thanks for your informative and inspiring postings! ?
Cassie · 03/12/2019 at 10:23 am
Thanks, Kieth, hadn’t realised it wasn’t a cathedral. I’ll fix that. Much appreciated. And since I’m at the airport on my way to CDMX right now I’ll check out your suggestion.
Wendy Lee · 13/12/2019 at 6:01 pm
I was scheduled for a trip to Mexico City last March, but was sick and had to cancel. I love your itinerary! I hope to reschedule the trip soon and will definitely see some of the places you recommend.
Cassie · 13/12/2019 at 6:21 pm
So sorry you missed your trip. I hope you get to visit soon. It’s a wonderful city.
Karen · 14/12/2019 at 10:28 am
It’s been 30 years since we visited Mexico for our honeymoon and as time ticks on my memory fades. So I would love to revisit with my new traveller’s eyes and experience it again. It’s been a nice reminder thank you. Kx
Roma Small · 14/12/2019 at 11:10 am
Having only just experienced Central America for the first time, Mexico is most certainly on the list. I’ll add Mexico City to it thanks!
Emma · 14/12/2019 at 4:23 pm
Great tips and ideas. I haven’t been to Mexico yet but I hope to get there. It looks so fun and full of history and I love how colorful everything is. Then there’s the food. I need to book a ticket yesterday!
Marilyn · 15/12/2019 at 11:54 am
I’m yet to visit anywhere in Mexico and you’ve provided some great suggestions and helpful information on where to go to learn more about the culture, the people and the history. Thank you
Ann · 16/12/2019 at 2:42 am
Oh yes, Mexico is definatly on my bucketlist! ?