What to do with a 5 hour layover in Mexico City
 

Ladies and Gents,<BR><BR>I am taking my 7 month pregnant wife to Cancun for our 5th year anniversary. We are flying through Mexico City and have a long layover there. Any suggestions on how to kill the time, with out getting into any trouble? Any suggestions are much appreciated.

Hi.<BR><BR>5 hours is quite a long time to spend at the airport... However, if it is a weekday, and you are arriving during rush hour traffic, your best option may be to stay there. Traffic in Mexico City can be legendary.<BR><BR>5 hours may be misleading. Have you considered the time you need to take to go through customs and immigration? That may take up to one hour, if many international flights arrive at the same time. And you have to be back at the airport one hour before your flight. That leaves you with three hours.<BR><BR>If you arrive on a weekend, maybe you'll have time to get out of the airport, take a cab to the Zocalo, look around a bit, have a meal there and then go back. However, maybe your wife will not appreciate being rushed, walking fast, or sitting in traffic.<BR><BR>The best option may be to walk to the Marriot hotel at the airport. They have a couple of good restaurants (like La Mansion, excellent steaks) and a nice lobby to hang out.

Stay at the airport. There is plenty to see in Mexico City, but you really could get delayed and miss your flight. Like the person above says- go to the Marriot or eat at the Barron Rojo in the airport and look in the stores. You just don't have enought time.

Thanks so much, excellent suggestions and you probably saved me the hassle of a lifetime! Not to mention avoiding ticking off a pregnant woman. Thanks!

I totally agree with the above. We've flown into Mexico City a couple of times the last 2 years and had different experiences both times. First time around, we had a connecting flight to Acapulco. We had to clear immigration and just barely made our flight. The lineups were incredible. Second time, we had a connecting flight to Cancun and we had loads of time. No lineups at all. We were through immigration in no time at all. One thing that was weird, however, was that we never did clear customs, in either Mexico City or Cancun. I'm not complaining, it was just different. <BR><BR>Secondly, the gate for our connecting flight wasn't announced until about 30 minutes before takeoff. We asked and got the information, but it wasn't posted. <BR><BR>On our flight back to Canada, the gate was changed at the last minute. We then had a very long walk through the airport to get the correct gate. <BR><BR>Jean Valjean is correct about Mexico City traffic. We were staying around the zocalo - traffic there is incredible. Once we got out of that area, we thought it would be clear sailing out to the airport - wrong! It was bumper to bumper all the way.

Jesse,<BR><BR>Although it seems you have already made your mind, as a resident of Mexico City I have to agree with the above posts and advice you to go to the Marriot have a nice drink and meal, relax and wait for some other time to visit this crazy but wonderful city.<BR><BR>Cheers,<BR><BR>McH

I also would advise spending your time at the airport. I would advise that you pass the time in the international terminal section of the airport. This section as an atrium type building with a nice assortment of good restaurants and shops. A very good place to pass them time<BR>

Thanks so much to all of you who replied. I would have never taken into consideration all the traffic, connection considerations or immigration tasks. Thanks for relieving my headache before it began. I have a feeling I will enjoy all 5 hours!