Mexico City is a wonderfully enormous city with so much to see and do. I truly believe it’s one of the most best places in the world. The parks are astounding, some of the best restaurants in the world are here and the sheer wealth of art galleries and museums is overwhelming.

We’ve been taking trips to the city regularly for five years and we still find new museums and galleries to explore on every trip. From el Templo Mayor to the Frida Kahlo Museum (the Blue House), this city has everything. But what if you’re wondering about taking a day trip and getting away from the hustle and bustle of city life?

A great break from the hectic (yet wonderful) city life, is exploring the south of Mexico City: Xochimilco and Cuicuilco. When we did this trip, in order to make it as relaxing and easy as possible, we decided to use a private tour guide because driving in Mexico City isn’t fun.

_{There may be affiliate links in this post. If you click the links and make a purchase I may make a small sum at no extra cost to you. The trip with Insolitours was a free trip in return for a review. All opinions are my own, of course.} 

We took a guided tour with Marco from Insolitours to visit these two historical sites. We learned so much from him about the history of the city we love to explore.

⭐️ Note that packing for Mexico City is not the same as packing for Cancun. Check out our helpful packing for Mexico with kids guide for hints.

Where to Stay if you Want to Explore the South of Mexico City

Mexico City is of course, not a small town so it’s a good idea when you decide to visit CDMX to come armed with an itinerary. It’s also a good idea to stay in the area you’ll be exploring otherwise you’ll spend far more time than you really want to on public transport or stuck in traffic in a taxi.

If the focus of your trip is exploring south of Mexico City then Coyoacán is a great spot since it’s located in the south of Mexico City.

If, however, you’re planning to see as much of the city as possible, I recommend staying around Chapultepec Park, Roma Norte, La Condesa or Roma Norte. There are many fabulous hotels and apartments to be found in these very safe areas of Mexico City. You could also stay in the Centro Historico (the historic center of Mexico City) should you thrive on large cities.

➡️ Check hotel options in Mexico City now

​A Quick Note on Everything You Must See in Mexico City

Before we get into exploring my two favourite locations in south Mexico City, let’s consider the list of what you can’t miss from your Mexico City itinerary: 

​Don’t Miss in Downtown Mexico City

📌 Bosque de Chapultepec – oldest and biggest urban park in Latin America

​📌 Paseo de la Reforma including the Angel de la Independencia and the Monumento a la Revolucion

📌 Alameda, the ​Palacio de Bellas Artes, Torre LatinoAmericana – for the best views of Mexico City, the Diego Rivera Museum and the Casa de los Azulejos

📌 Zocalo, the Metropolitan cathedral, the Palacio Nacional (National Palace) and the Museo del Templo Mayor and the ancient ruins of Tenochtitlan 

Don’t Miss in Coyoacán

📌 La Casa Azul – Frida Kahlo’s house and museum

📌 Museo Anahaucalli – Diego Rivera’s collection of pre-hispanic artefacts

📌 The great markets and beautiful buildings, particularly around the plazas

If you’re wondering about whether Mexico City is safe or fun for kids, let me assure you that Mexico City is both safe and fun for kids. It’s actually my kids’ favourite city in the entire world.

Exploring South of Mexico City: Xochimilco

This area in south Mexico City is best known for its canal system and the gorgeous colourful long boats you can ride around on. The canal system is actually remnants of the ancient Aztec lake and canal system that much of the city was built on. Here, artificial islands (chinampas) abound, making for a fascinating time as you are rowed around this UNESCO World Heritage Site.

A Quick History of Xochimilco

🌼 Xochimilco means flower fields in Nahuatl and when you visit you’ll soon see why the area was named thus as even today, it’s a flower-producing region. There are gorgeous flower markets you can visit while you’re here should you wish to do so.

🌼 Xochimilco was founded over 1000 years ago and, thanks to the canal system and fertile lands (and a whole lot of political and violent wrangling, of course) fed Tenochtitlan, the precursor to Mexico City despite remaining fairly separate places.

🌼 When the Spanish arrived Xochimilco was one of the areas they did not destroy as it was so obviously going to be useful in providing food for the newly arrived invaders.

🌼 A serious flood in 1609, though, spurred the Spanish onto draining much of the lake basin. Today we are left with just 170km of canals (down from 750km) and 25 km2 of chinampas (from 170km2).

🌼 In the 1930s the focus shifted from agriculture as people were no longer able to make a living this way and the idea of watery-tourism appeared.

🌼 In the early days the trajineras were covered in flowers (logical since it remained a flower growing region) but people would charge more for rides on the more flowery boats, leading to discrepancies, arguments and less fun for everyone. The authorities stepped in and banned the use of fresh flowers, leaving us with the brightly painted happy boats of today.

🌼 Interestingly the number of boats allowed on the canals is controlled by the authorities, and they can be passed down through families but they can not be sold.

Coayacan in southern Mexico City is a great place to stay if you only have a few days to explore. This Three Days in Mexico City Itinerary will give you some great ideas of what’s possible in this area.

Useful Xochimilco Details

📌 There are eight embarcaderos or embarkation points, all with their own personalities. We were taken to Nativitas to begin our boat ride. Our guide said that although it isn’t the closest to the city it is both very traditional and it’s one where they have taken a collective decision to not harass tourists (my words not his). There’s no fighting to get you on a boat, to extract money from you, to sell you snacks or souvenirs or mariachi music. People ask, and if you say no they leave.

📌 Prices are clearly marked that a boat costs 500 pesos per hour NOT per person, per boat. Do be sure to show up with enough money to ensure you don’t miss out on snacks, music or souvenirs.

📌 At Nativitas there are souvenir stalls, there’s a food court area and, way more fun, there are market boats that come alongside you selling corn, drinks, tacos, and all the other Mexican street snacks too. For my kids, it was an absolute highlight, being allowed to buy food from these little boats. If you go from the embarcadero in the centro historico there are more food options but it’s busier from what I understand.

☔️ If you’re wondering about visiting Xochimilco during the rainy season, I’d say, be careful with choosing your day as it wouldn’t be super fun to visit in the rain. However, the rains generally fall for an hour or so in the afternoon during the rainy season (June – September) so you could assume mornings will be dry.

➡️ This official website offers great information about all the embarkation points and much more besides.

📌 Boat rides generally last around an hour unless you specific you want more. You will generally be taken to one of the chinampas (artificial islands) to admire a nursery and check out a small animal rehabilitation centre.

➡️ Note that when I asked about living conditions for the animals they said they’re working to improve them. My kids loved meeting the snakes, barbed dragons and axolotls even if I had concerns about space.

After our very pleasant hour on the canal, we left, all agreeing that we need more time in this area in the future. By the way, we went during the week and it was deliciously calm and quiet on the water. At the weekend, it can be very busy as families from the city arrive for a day of fun. Friday evenings are known for being for the students so the atmosphere is decidedly more party than family fun.

⭐️ Mexico City makes it onto my list of the best family friendly spring break options in Mexico ⭐️

If you’re in CDMX between October and December then you have the added option of being able to experience a Día de los Muertos evening performance on the Xochimilco canals. The show is called La Llorona en Xochimilco and tickets are $500 pesos per person. If you don’t want to queue for tickets and prefer to take a tour, this is also possible.

Exploring South of Mexico City: Cuicuilco

We drove from Xochimilco to the archaeological site of Cuicuilco to fulfil my dreams. I’m not kidding. I’d been asking my family to visit Cuicuilco with me for five years. There hadn’t been actual resistance because we do all love a good ruin, it’s more like there’s been slight apathy because, well, we live in Yucatán, and we do visit archaeological sites including Chichen Itza ALL the time.

Reasons to visit  Cuicuilco

✅ It’s free so really, why wouldn’t you go?

✅ It’s a ruin in Mexico City that’s far older than anything Aztec you’ll see.

✅ The site was buried by a volcano eruption 2000 years ago. Fascinating.

✅ The pyramid is one of just two circular pyramids in Mexico. The other is Gauchimontones in Jalisco.

Before reaching the pyramid you have a lovely short walk through a reserve. My kids ran off immediately to explore while Marco and I strolled at a far more leisurely pace. Given that this site really is right in the city, we felt so calm here, so in touch with nature as we could see the mountains all around us and the air felt so clean and fresh.

📌 Thus far only the pyramid itself has been excavated but the thinking is that there is an entire buried city under there. One day maybe it’ll be excavated too but until then, relatively little is known about the people who lived here.

📌 It’s thought that when the volcano erupted around 2000  years ago the inhabitants of Cuicuilco left their homes and moved up to Teotihuacan where their culture was subsumed and lost to history. 

📌 If you want to visit Teotihuacan, remember to consider taking a hot air balloon ride over the Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon because there is little more perfect than sailing over fascinating monuments in this way. 

📌 The views from the top of the pyramid are utterly delicious and the small museum on site is very interesting. I even managed to get the nine-year-old to stop and consider just how old this lost culture using charts on the wall, his knowledge of Maya history and world history. It was a very moving moment quite honestly.

➡️ If you love pyramids and love Mexican history, have you thought about taking a trip to Cholula in the state of Puebla? It’s an easy trip from Mexico City and is not only one of the oldest cities in Mexico but it’s also home to the biggest pyramid in the world!

➡️ And if you haven’t had enough for the day, UNAM  (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) is nearby and its science museum is really very good for the kids. It’s all in Spanish but everything is hands-on and the staff all speak English. If you manage, UNAM is also home to some incredible murals that are well worth checking out.

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