sharich

Hola,
We have three and 1/2 days in Mexico City in May. We have a Museum and City tour day one, Teotihuacan Pyramids & Guadalupe Shrine day two.
Looking for suggestions for our other full day. We are not big museum people and we do love to walk.
It is a Monday and I was considering a tour to Xochimilco, it looks very tacky to me but friends have said they love it and we should go.
I know the Fodors peeps are discerning travellers so looking for comments on this and other suggestions for a full or half day tour. Or do you suggest we just explore the city more?
If yes to Xochimilco should we do the day tour with and Coyoacan, or just the evening tour. I would have liked to include the Frida but this is closed Monday and we dont have another day available as our visit is either side of a cruise ex Havana.

Many thanks
Sharon

baldone

Xochimilco is tacky. That's what makes it such a hoot. But only on weekends, not Mondays. So much for discerning travelers!
Chapultepec offers plenty of walking, but the castle is closed on Mondays too. Probably too late to move the pyramid tour to Monday? Otherwise, just explore the Centro historico on your own, Bellas Artes, Sanborns House of Tile, etc. You don't say where your lodging is, but dinner and an evening in either Condesa or Roma Norte is always pleasant.

sharich

Sometimes tacky works, I recall not fancying the Jumping Crocks cruise in Darwin, but with an afternoon to kill we did it and it was great, sometimes we have to be the tourist and not the traveller! Cant change our other tours as they are part of our cruise package, so think we will just take your advice Baldone and explore, Thanks

Stewbear

We went to Xochimil on our first trip to Mexico City in December '97 finding it less then interesting especially considering the cold weather, lack of flowers and lack of people. Perhaps in the Summer/Spring on a weekend in may be a better trip but it was so cold my wife needed to buy additional outerwear just to be comfortable. A mostly wasted day in our opinion. Day would have been far better spent at other attractions.

aililup

I too find Xochimilco tacky and frankly not worth the visit. I don't know what your city tour includes, but I have this suggestions:
1. Stay at city centre, visit Bellas Artes, eat traditional food, visit the Cathedral and maybe if you are interested go see the "Ballet Folclorico" at Bellas Artes, it is a nice way to see the interior of Bellas Artes and the show is typical mexican dances. I have gone several times and find it quite beautiful.
2. After visiting museums, pyramids and Guadalupes Basilica, maybe you would want see another side of Mexico City. Maybe do some walking, shopping and eating around Condesa/Roma Norte or Polanco? In Polanco you can eat at El Bajio (typical mexican food), walk around Lincoln Park, window shop in Masaryk and just walk around.
Hope this helps!

5alive

We are also hoping to go. Any recommendations on a restaurant near Guadalupe for lunch?

aililup

I'm pretty sure theres a El Bajio (mexican food) restaurant nearby! It is inside the mall called Centro Comercial Parque Lindavista

sharich

Thanks alililup, will follow your recommendations, we are wiping Xochimil, didnt think it was our thing. we are staying at Gran Hotel Ciudad de México any recommendations for local dining around there? we don't want 5 star restaurants we are doing a cruise so will have had enough of that, we want to try more casual and local. Will see how far our shoes can take us as I would like to see Condesa/Roma Norte too.

aililup

Hi!
Hotel Gran Ciudad de Mexico is beautiful!!! We stayed there for a corporate event in decmber and was great! The only thing to considerer is the rooms facing Zocalo can be noisy in the mornints. We had to wakeup early that morning so I dindnt mind but I you are sensitive to noise I would considere asking for another room!!
For restaurante suggestions this are my favorites:
Azul restaurante (at Calle Isabel la Católica 30) (They have another restaurant at Condesa also!)
Sanborns Casa Azulejos (at Francisco I. Madero 4) it is a very casual place, good for breakfasts. It's part of classical mexican chain of restaruants, but the one at Centro Historico is specially pretty.

And for dessert or a nice afternoon snack
Churerria el Moro (churros and hot chocolate!) (at Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas 42) it is a very casual and local place

At condesa, a fun place to have a drink is Chuchito Perez, you can order a sangria with an upside beer! It's a casual fun place!

Hope this helps!

Have a nice trip!

geenance

I will be going to CDMX in a week from now for a week. (I've never been there before.) I share some of the same concerns of yours about Xochimilco. I have absolutely no interest in going but people keep suggesting it to me. When I asked about what to do on a Monday, that was the response.

What we've chosen to do on our Monday is a food tour with Eat Like a Local. The woman that runs it gets rave reviews and her style/approach seems up our alley. Having said that, we haven't done the tour yet, so my comments will mean more once we've done it.

I'll post once we've completed our trip.
(PS - I've just read about the earthquake today...sounds o.k. in Mexico City, but no doubt they are anxious after the terrible earthquake in September.)


Good luck with your trip!

sharich

Look forward to hearing about your trip ailiup, we have decided to do a day trip to Taxco and Cuernavaca, I always like to get out of a city if possible, but still have time to explore it a well. We can compare notes later.
Thanks