SShprints

We are 2 early 30s guys going on our first Mexico exploration and have outlined the following tentative itinerary that I'd love people's input from.

Wed. Mar 20: Arrive Mexico City in the AM, explore the Zocolo/Cathedral area
Thur. Mar21: Museum day, Archeologico, Palacio National, etc..
Fri. Mar22: Day trip to Teotihuacan
Sat. Mar 23: San Angel (market) & Coyocan
Sun. Mar24: AM bus to Puebla, all day Puebla sightseeing and sunday market
Mon. Mar25: half day trip to Cholula, more Puebla sightseeing
TUe. Mar26: AM flight home from Puebla Airport

A couple of questions:
1) Is anything important missing on this itinerary?
2) Does anyone know of a good local walking guide in either city?
3) Is there a recommended Teotihuacan tour?
4) Do I need to buy the bus ticket to Puebla ahead of time or can do it there?

Thanks!

Sergey

emd3

What hotel are you staying at? They can get you a Teot. tour. All the tours take to long, IMO, bc they make a long (about an hr!) stop at a tourist trap store so you can get out and buy things on the way to Teot. Then they stop for a long lunch after you see the ruins, and the lunch is never very good but it takes forever and you watch some aztec dancers during lunch and are expeted to tip them, etc. Sound like a tourist trap? The tours are, but it is at least a convenient way to get to and from the ruins.

You CAN take a bus to the ruins on your own, but it of course takes more effort.

You can buy your ticket to Puebla once you are in Mexico City and ready to go to Puebla. What bus station are you leaving from to go to Puebla?

Whre are you staying in Puebl? If it is Hotel Colonial, they will be able to recommend a good city walking tour guide. A guide is a nice thing in Puebla, although I have done a solo walking tour and the city is very compact and easy to get around and do that.

good wlking tour of Coyoacan and San Angel:

http://travel.nationalgeographic.com...alking-tour-1/

emd3

You can also have your Mexico City hotel arrange a taxi for you to Teot., txi will take you, wait 3 hrs for your visit and bring you back, for about $70 USd from the zocalo area. Or you can take a bus from the Autobus Terminl Norte for $3 amd get a guide at the ruins.

SShprints

Interesting. Thank you. Taking a taxi sounds reasonable for only $70 since there are 2 of us. Tour will probably be more.
We are staying at the Sheraton Maria Isabella in MC. This is far from authentic or the type of hotels I like to stay in but I am using my points and we are staying there for free. I want to avoid arranging anything through this hotel as it obviously caters to Americans and tourists and is likely overpriced. I'd still love to have a local guide take us around the Zocolo and all the historic sights..something about a local giving you a real feel of the land always have a more authentic feel to it.
Not sure on where we leave to Puebla from but based on info I read, from the Central Station? There doesn't appear to be a bus that goes from central MC to central Puebla, so the bus takes us to the Puebla Bus Depot? Or we can go back to the MC airport and take a bus from there to central Puebla? Option one sounds easier as I'd like to avoid going back to the airport.
We are staying at Boutique Hotel Casareyna. It looks lovely and authentic. Hopefully they will be able to arrange things for us as well.

emd3

See the info on getting from MX City to Puebla on Estrella Rojo (GET 1ST CLASS BUS) from the CAPO bus station in MX City, here:
http://wikitravel.org/en/Puebla

Take subway to TAPO station as above and get bus there.

Sheraton Maria Isabel will be fine for you. You are a tourist after all. I used to stay at the wonderful Sheraton Centro Hisotrico on Starwood points but then it was bought by another hotel, Hilton I think. Free is always good.

You don;t need a guide for the hisotric sights. Just take subway or cab to zocalo and do it yourself. Cathedral, Templo Mejor, Presidents palace and Rivera Murals, it is al right there in zocalo. Then walk (so you can go by the Sanborns House of Tile bldg and go to Cafe Tacuba for lunch) or cab down to Palacio Beles Artes (or have lunch at El Cardinal in the hotel that used ot be Sheraton I mentioned above), and do a tour of the Palacio Belles Artes there or see Ballet Folklorico at the Palacio (look into perfomances and tickets)(the Tiffany curtain inside the theater at Palacio is is AMAZING), and then walk over to the La Candelaria shopping area near Balderas metro stop for a few hrs of GREAT shopping- best shopping outdoor market in all of MX IMO.

That is a great day in the DF

emd3

OOPS that should be LA CUIDADELA for the outdor shopping close to Balderas metro stop! Not Candelaria

Dont miss that place, it is wonderful, crafts and art and everything form all over mexico, only good quaity and you can bargain there

http://www.laciudadela.com.mx/

emd3

cafe Tacuba images below, their website is in Spanish

http://www.google.com/search?q=cafe+...w=1093&bih=454

El Cardinal, VERY good food:
http://www.restauranteelcardenal.com/eng/

Palacio Belles Artes, one of the most magnificnt bldgs in the DF
http://www.palacio.bellasartes.gob.mx/

http://museopalaciodebellasartes.gob.mx/

http://www.bellasartes.gob.mx/index.php/engli.html

SShprints

thanks, looks awesome. all the info is fantastic!

I also forgot to add Chopultapec park and castle to the list of activities. Assuming those are worth it as well.

Fra_Diavolo

I would only add that when you book your driver from the hotel, make clear that you do not want to stop at the tourist shops, or the Shrine of the Virgin of Guadaloupe. When at Teotihuacan, be sure not to miss the murals at the palace of Tepantitla -- a short walk from the main plaza, or your driver can bring you. Wonderful murals of a watery paradise. Also, have him stop at "the Citadel" and visit the Temple of Quetzalcoatl -- one of the most striking sights I've ever seen.

WillTravel

If you do have time to see the Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe, I would do it, regardless of whether you are Catholic or not. I loved it, and it's extremely important historically.
The Sheraton Maria Isabella will be fine, and it's very convenient. Don't worry about it not being "local" enough - you'll have plenty of opportunity to interact with Mexico. I suspect numerous Latin Americans and Europeans will be staying there too - it's not as if the Sheraton houses only Americans.

Fra_Diavolo

Oops, sorry -- I didn't mean that you should not visit the Shrine of the Virgin of Guadaloupe, which is an important cultural site. I only meant that you should not let your driver shorten your time at Teotihuacan to fit it in.

WillTravel

Fra Diavolo, opinions will differ, but I'm glad I did the Shrine on the same day as Teotihuacan (I've done this as a tour twice). If you have plenty of time, you could do them on separate days, but otherwise, I think there is time to do both generally, although I have much to explore still in both cases.

SShprints

is it on the way? I don't mind stopping off there for a few days but not sure I am interested if its like a 3hr detour

emd3

WillTravel, would you please elabrate more on those days when you combined the Shrine and Teotihuacan on one tour?

What time did you leave your hotel, and how much time did you get at each place? Did they force you to do the tourist trap shopping stop on the way to the ruins, and the perfunctory lunch afterwards? I assume you did the shrine 1st and then went out to Teotihuacan.

And did you get the tour from your hotel?

Thanks in advance I would like to go to the shrine but do not eant to set adie a whole day, and adding it on to Teot. for a full fay sounds attractive if we have only a long 4 day weekend on our next trip.

maryanntex

I've stayed at the Maria Isabel four or five times lately, and have seldom come across anyone speaking English there.

A really fun thing to do in Mexico City is Lucha Libre at Arena Mexico on Friday night. Google it for specifics. I think you can get tickets in advance from Ticketmaster. It's not far from the Maria Isabel.

The tour of Casa Luis Barragan is really interesting. Google it, too.

My favorite museum in Mexico City is the Museo de artes populares (folk art museum). It's close to the Centro.

My favorite restaurant is Contra Mar.

emd3

We also went to LUche Libre on Fri. night at Arena MX. Fun time if you can get into the drama and atmosphere. It was a bit of a walk in the dark from the nearest subway stop, but my son (6'7") and I felt safe.

SShprints

thank you. your tour sounds wonderful but unfortunately we are only in Puebla on Sunday and Monday

emd3

Rebecca, do you work w/Lesley Tellez? I follow the Mija Chronicles, her blog (which btw is great for any of you on this thread who love Puebla and Mexico City and the food). I know she recently moved to NYC. Are you now doing the food tours in Puebla for her co., are you her business partner? Nice to meet you. I love Puebla and the food there!

Eileen

WillTravel

The way I did Teotihuacan twice was to take the standard tours (which I booked with Hostel Cathedral, although I didn't stay there). In each case, we went to Plaza de las tres culturas, the Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe, Teotihuacan, and yes, a bit of artisan shopping and the buffet lunch. However, I don't regret any of those, and doing these tours in separate years, I had 2 different guides, both of whom were excellent. The tours were very lengthy, and I did not feel shortchanged at all. But if you want the whole day to be Teotihuacan, then do that. It would be nice to be there early in the morning, I'm sure, but there are so many things to do, I was happy with these compromises.

WillTravel

I can't be sure, but I know that from tour descriptions I read from hotels, they did not seem to be as long as the tour I got from the hostel, and possibly they were more shopping-focused. So all I can say is - I liked the one from Hostel Cathedral, but can't speak for hotel-offered tours.