Mexico City - just got back
 

We just returned (my husband and I) from a 5-day getaway to Mexico City. We had a great time and would without any hesitation recommend to go there.
We stayed at Zona Rosa, at the Galeria Plaza Hotel. Decent Hotel - nothing special. Comfortable, good service - it did the trick. Probably wouldn't stay there again, but it's more because of the location rather than the hotel itself.
We found the city relatively safe. I will add though, that we didn't walk around at night a lot (only in Zona Rosa, and it's absolutly fine) - we mostly took the taxis which we had either the hotel or the restaurant call for us. There is a ton of police everywhere, and we didn't think it was overly crowded. New York is definitely worse than Mexico City in terms of crowd control. We took metro everywhere - not a problem at all. It's clean, safe and dirt- cheap. Public transportation, in general, is cheap.
We took 2 bus trips: one to Teotihuacan and another to Puebla - both times on our own.
Unfortunately, we don't speak any Spanish. And as another poster noted earlier, not a lot of people speak English, unless you're at the hotel. Some restaurants have English menus, some don't. There was usually one waiter, or somebody who spoke some English, so we were always able to get by. People, in general, were very nice. For example, we took a mini-bus and couldn't find the right change right away - a gentleman seating next to me, just offered us a few pesos.
No problem asking for directions or anything else -if we could understand more, it would've been even better =)
The food is delicious. There is a wide variety of restaurants. And, the food is cheap comparing to the US or Europe. We went to Aquila del Sol, which is considered among the best restaurants in Mexico City, and our bill was less than $100 with tip (for an appetizer, 2 entrees, and 4 drinks)
We used mainly 2 books: One is by Andrew Coe , Mexico City - it's more of a narative, and gives some background history, as well as places to go and things to see.
Another book is by PulseGuides, Mexico City Night and Day. Great book - has a ton of info on restaurants, neighborhoods, night life. I like the way it's organized.
We went to the Ballet Folklorico performance - even my husband who is not a big fan of dance performances, said that is was amazing. Very colorful, great music and a wonderful performance.
We also went to the Anthropology Museum, Frida Kahlo's House and Leon Trotsky's house.
If you go to Anthropology Museum, do not get an audio guide - everything is marked and explained in English (more than you would get with an audio guide). We got one, and ended up just reading the signs.
I think this trip report ended up a lot longer then I anticipated. If anybody has any questions, please ask.

Sounds like a great trip - we love Mexico City too!

Thanks for this report. I'll be in Mexico City the middle of Feb.

Any tips for the visit to Kahlo's house and/or Trotskys house?? We are going there for sure!

Thanks!

Leanna, go on a weekday to those, or be prepared to wait. As the guard said to me, "it's frida-mania now."

yn10, very nice report. We had a wonderful 4 days in the DF in Nov. and also want to go back.

How did you like Puebla? Where did you eat there? What did you eat at Aquila del Sol?

Leanna,
I liked Frida Kahlo's museum - I really like her work. They offer guided tours, so it may be worth it. We didn't do it, (it was our last day, and we were a little "toured out"). We went on a week day and there were a lot of people for the size of the house, so it is popular. There are a few rooms just with her paintings, drawings, letters to and from friends, photographs, etc. The rest of the house contains the furniture and other pieces.
Trotsky house is very interesting too. It's smaller, but has a lot of information.
There is a great restaurant within 15 minutes walking distance from Trotsky's house. The name is Los Danzantes. It's overlooking the square of the Park del Centenario. You can get a table outside. The food is delicious. Their webiste is losdanzantes.com. We had a really bad map, so we had a bit of a problem founding it. But were very glad that we did.
Emd - we liked Puebla, but had a bit of a different expectation from reading about the place, which describes it as quant little town, cobble stone streets, tile buildings, etc. While it definitely has the potential, we thought it was run down, except for that one square facing the cathedral. A lot of junky stores, the nunnery museum was closed for renovation, another big cathedral we couldn't get into, b/c it didn't open until 4 pm. But, I am glad we went there anyway. We ate at Santa Clara - great food. Did you go there? What did you think about the place?
We LOVE food in general, and we LOVED Aguila del Sol. It was our first dinner in Mexico City. I had an amazing duck dish, and my husband had chilean sea bass. I thought it was impecable.
What places did you go?

I went to Puebla last July for 3 days by myself. I stayed at the Hotel Colonial, had a great room w/high ceiling and a little balcony overlooking the university next door. I loved Puebla. I had chile en nogada for the 1st time (yum), but my favorite meals were by far the tacos aribe at Las Ranas. OMG, I kept going back there, it was so good and inexpensive, and full of Poblanos, and live musicians would come in off the street to play for customers. I can't even begin to describe the tacos aribe, they were incredible, I salivate just thinking of them.

I did a wonderful walking tour of Puebla and the colonial bldgs. and churches (I've never seen gold rococo like that in the Santa Domingo chapel of the rosary, it was breathtaking), bought lots of amazing Talavera pottery (and wrapped it in bubble wrap and packed it in the empty suitcase I had brought), and went to Cholula (45 min. by bus, really like a suburb of Puebla) for an incredible market day
on a Wed., and climbed up the worlds 2nd largest pyramid there- the one w/the great view of the volcano.

The one thing I missed in Puebla was the train museum. I really wish I had seen it.

I had a couple of great massages at El Sueno, a very nice hotel and you don't have to stay there to book a spa treatment, and these were the best $50 massage I've ever had.

Did you have a good map/guide for a walking tour? Maybe Puebla is just a better place to stay rather than day trip...I did not find the colonial area junky at all. I thoguth it was very clean, well-preserved, and friendly. I even had an artist in the little art sqaure section invite me into his little gallery to watch him paint and chat in English.

In Nov. in the DF, we went to a lot of the same places as you in the DF and Coyoacan, and the pyramids, and we also went to see a Lucha Libre match and a bullfight (opening day of the season at Plaza de Toros) as I was with my teen son on that trip and those were on his wish list. It was day of the dead weekend and the zocalo and cathedral were alive to the max w/day of the dead festivities.

I love Mexico, always surprises there, so colorful, friendly, and inexpensive.

In retrospect, I wish we did Puebla with a tour, instead of ourselves. Santa Domingo was that cathedral that wasn't opening until later that day, so we didn't get a chance to go inside. It seems like you had an amazing time there.

yn, I think Puebla is worth an overnight stay, and I think that might also have made the difference. That and a good walking tour.

But there's always next time! I am thinking of going w/a friend to the really good cooking school in Tlaxcala 2 hrs from the DF) for 5 days. You have coking class in the morning and have afternoons off to explore this great little town. It sounds great, gets rave reviews. Then we would take another 5 days to explore some more Colonial towns.

P.S. also enjoyed the "sweet street" in Puebla, with shop after shop with the indigenous home-made candies. Brought back a lot of that and everyone loved it.

Hey everyone thank you!!! And thanks for the discussion on Puebla cause we are going there too!!!

I've cut & pasted your comments into my notes!!!! So....you shall be thought of!!!! :):)

Agree that Puebla deserves a longer look. I stayed there for 6 days and on first glance I was rather unimpressed, but we really came to love it after exploring more. It's a neat little city. Reminds me a little of Valladolid in Spain. Both cities used to be very important and influential cities and are under appreciated today, but have lots of little treasures.

I am visiting mexico city with my husband for a weekend only end of March 2008. Pleae tell me:
1. where we should stay (4 star) in the city that is nice, safe, central and has some special charm? 2. the one really cool thing you found or did there
3. the one favourite restuarant you ate at and recommend
THANK YOU SO MUCH

newtousmama - I wish had the answers for you, but I've never been to DF. You might try starting a new thread to get some more hits. I'm not sure if you've ever tried tripadvisor.com before, but I've been really happy with the hotel recommendations I've gotten on there. I'm 4 for 4 in terms of total satisfaction!

I am glad you had a good time in Mexico City! I've been there 3 times and thoroughly enjoy it.

newtousmama-I've stayed at the Nikko and the Intercontinental and both were lovely hotels and in a very safe area-right near Chapultepec Park. They don't have a lot of local charm, but are conveniently located. Walking distance to the Anthropology Museum also.

I love the Anthropology Museum-did it once on my own and once with husband. I did enjoy the audio guide and thought it was worth it.

I also enjoy just walking around Chapultepec Park, seeing all the children and families there is fun. I have also visited Chapultepec Castle and found it very interesting.

We went to Teotihuacan and really enjoyed it-highly recommend a day trip there!

I hope to get back to Mexico City again soon! Thanks for the trip report--I'd love to get to Puebla next time!