michaelpianko

This is my current supposed itinerary. I am a man traveling solo. I have never been to Mexico. Times in parenthesis are just supposed times the place is open, not that I have to spend that much time there. I know I posed another supposed itinerary in the past, about this trip, but I revised it, + last time I made the mistake of getting us distracted with irrelevant stuff we don't need to rehash again, like my mom's outbursts of anger when she finds out I am traveling somewhere, but I gained some confidence and I know I am 39 and I don't need her approval to travel...

Does this itinerary look reasonably doable without renting a car? My current preference would be to avoid renting a car. Any other suggestions or comments?

Saturday: Flights to Oaxaca City arrive 4:39pm. 1st night in Oaxaca city.
Sunday: Day trip to Mitla (open 10am-12:30pm); Hierve el Agua (open until 5). 2nd night
Monday: Day trip to Monte Alban (open 9-3:30); if time, Museo Rufino Tamayo 3rd night in Oaxaca
Tuesday: Museo de las Culturas Oaxaca; if time various spectacularly decorated churches; if open, if not seen yet, Museo Rufino Tamayo (Museo de arte Prehispánico de México); possibly if time: Museo Casa de Juárez, Centro Fotográfico Alvarez Bravo; Museo Belber Jiménez; Museo del Palacio; Templo de San Felipe Neri, and/or others. 4th night in Oaxaca

Wednesday: Bus to Puebla. if time, Mirador de los Fuertes or various monuments. 5th night. 1st night in Puebla.
Thursday: Cholula (zona arqueológia), Museo Regional de Cholula (10-5); if time Mercado municipal San Pedro Cholula. 6th night, 2nd night in Puebla
Friday: Museo Amparo (archaeology, 10-6); Biblioteca Palafoxiana (library built in 1646, 10-5), Catedral de Puebla (9-1 & 4-8); if extra time, if not seen yet, Museo Casa de Alfeñique (old house museum, 10-5), possibly Museo Regional De La Revolución Mexicana (10-6). 7th night, 3rd night in Puebla

Saturday: bus to Mexico City. Find a market or grocery store, and so on. If time, various monuments or Monumento a la Revolución (until 7), possibly Palacio Postal (until 7:30). 8th night, 1st night in CDMX

Sunday: possibly a guided tour; Zócalo, Templo Mayor, Museo del Templo Mayor, Palacio Nacional (Diego Rivera murals), various monuments. If time if open, sinagoga (Justo Sierra 71, Centro Histórico; 10-5). 9th night, 2nd night in CDMX

Monday: Day trip to Teotihuacán

Tuesday: Museo Firda Khalo. Possibly Mercado de Coyoacán or Antojitos Mexicanos Market Juanita. Back to Centro Historico. If time, if not seen yet, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Alameda Central park, various monuments. 11th night, 4th night in CDMX

Wednesday: Museo Nacional de Antropología. If time, Chpultepec park, El Ángel de la Independencia, and/or possibly one of the markets. 12th night, 5th night in CDMX

Thursday: Museo Soumaya (art collection), other sites if time. 13th night, 6th night in CDMX

Friday: Tlatelolco (Zona arqueológica, Plaza), if time museo Franz Mayer. 14th night, 7th night in CDMX

Saturday: Museo Nacional De Arte; possibly Museo Nacional De San Carlos, Museo Mural Diego Rivera, above sights not seen yet. 15th night, 8th night in CDMX

Sunday: Flights back to Detroit

baldone

I must say, you've really done your research. Well done. Whether it all plays out according to plan, might be another matter. But it seems mostly doable until something doesn't work out according to plan. It's Mexico, where things don't always go according to plan. I for one, could never be held to such a rigid schedule. I've found that some of our most memorable Mexico experiences are the ones not planned.

progol

Michael,
We were just in Oaxaca and CDMX so just a few quick thoughts…

We were in Oaxaca for 10 days and didn’t rent a car. The hotel we were staying in arranged for drivers or taxis and it cost $15/hour. I don’t have the name of the service but it seems to be a standard rate. Perhaps contact the hotel you’re staying in to see if they do the same. It worked out really well for us and we did 4 separate day trips.

We enjoyed both a free walking tour in Oaxaca and a separate food tour. Don’t miss the large indoor markets in Oaxaca - they’re a lot of fun to wander.

FYI, the Museo Rufino Tamayo in Oaxaca is “temporarily closed”. It has been closed for months (since covid but hasn’t reopened due to some unspecified dispute) and there is no info about if and when it will reopen.

The Museo de las Culturas Oaxaca is fabulous. It closes by 3pm so make sure you get there beforehand! We also loved the textile museum as well as well as the contemporary art museum.

We very much enjoyed the day to Hierve el Agua, though if you’re susceptible to heat, then I’d go earlier to the site if you want to walk below the calcified falls. If that’s not so important to you, then staying by the pools doesn’t require a walk down and a walk up. Still, it will be hot and just be aware.

In CDMX, make sure you get the tickets to Frida Kahlo’s home ahead of time. There are long lines and the entry time is kept to pretty strictly, but it moves well and we never felt too crowded. If interested, the Leon Trotsky home is not far away and well worth a visit.

If you want to go to the Nacional Palace, you will need (free) tickets reserved ahead of time. See the post about that on Fodors (started by maitatom) as the website I recently posted on the thread worked for him. When we went a few weeks ago, there were no tickets available for the English tours and only waitlisting available. We didn’t go as we didn’t feel well.

Definitely spend time in the Bellas Artes. The murals there are amazing. And, I also recommend the SEP (Secretaria de Educacion Publica). This is also an incredible place to see Rivera murals and it doesn’t get crowded.

Michael

For spectacularly decorated churches, take an outing from Puebla to Cholula to visit the various churches of which one is in Tonantzintla

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church...a_Tonantzintla

https://flic.kr/p/7oHiq6

michaelpianko

[QUOTE=Michael;17449871]For spectacularly decorated churches, take an outing from Puebla to Cholula to visit the various churches of which one is in Tonantzintla

I will have to do some more research because my tentative guess is that this Templo Santa María de Tonantzintla is just one of many highly decorated churches open to the public, in or near Puebla, and there is also the International museum of the Baroque that looks appealing but i didn't think i could fit it in. Have any of you seen the museum? Does it look worth the trip? (If I judge it to be worth the trip), it looks like the Tonantzintla church is at least 2.45 miles from the archeological zone of Cholula. Maybe I can get a taxi there.

Fra_Diavolo

>>>it looks like the Tonantzintla church is at least 2.45 miles from the archeological zone of Cholula. Maybe I can get a taxi there.<<<

That's exactly what we did. The taxi that took us to Cholula fro Puebla returned to pick us up, then stopped at two of the folk-decorated churches on the way back.

mlgb

I found a Turisbus tour leaving from Puebla that covered the two churches but the pyramid tunnels were closed at that time. There was a little time to walk around the town (Atlixco I think) and the bus circled around on the way back for a panoramic tour. I was able to pay when I boarded the bus, I think. There is a tourism office in Puebla near the Zocalo. They can help if your lodging can't give you advice.

Tonanzintla is more than "just one of many highly decorated churches" and should not be missed. If you are going to visit one church in that area, make it that one.

Possibly this tour has resumed, see the website: https://www.turibus.com.mx/en/puebla...holula-atlixco

If that takes up too much of the day for you , a taxi may be the best option. You can find out when you get to Puebla.
Inside Puebla Uber works but I don't know if they will come out to pick you up from Cholula or Tonantzlin. You should learn how to use Uber for Puebla and ESPECIALLY for Mexico City. Set it up and take a short trip before you leave home to get comfortable with it.

I never made it to the Baroque museum but it sounds interesting. I did walk over to Santa Clara Monastery museum which you did not mention but which I enjoyed. However the exhibits are more cultural and culinary so possibly that is of no interest to you. You also didn't mention visiting the Callejon de Los Sapos.

If the Teleferico to get up to the Mirador in Puebla is not running you can get up there by taxi or Uber.

michaelpianko

I have a valid Michigan driver's license and a car; it would probably be safer and simpler to avoid renting a car in Mexico. I have never ordered an Uber. The only time I took a ride from an Uber driver was when my brother ordered one for me to go from my cousin's wedding back to my hotel, in downtown Chicago, in approximately october 2021. My brother said it cost $11. He didn't tell me that ordering an Uber requires you to prepay on the Uber app. I gave the driver $11. ... why does everybody like Uber so much? Are normal taxis going extinct? What if I ordered an Uber but I didn't find the car? Then I would lose my money.

progol

It’s actually good to use the Uber in CDMX because it’s prepaid. With an Uber, you know exactly how much you are paying and don’t run the risk of having a taxi driver overcharge you. So as not to worry you, it was fine taking an official taxi from the airport into town, but after that, we only used the Uber. And they were very, very reliable. The cost was always very reasonable.

Uber is not available in Oaxaca so we had the hotel arrange for our taxis which was also very reliable.

mlgb

This is why I told you that it would be a good idea to practice at home before you go. There is plenty of information on how to sign up with your own account and how to use it. You do need a working smartphone. Do you have one of those? Will you have internet inside Mexico? Do you know how to set up an international plan or buy a SIM card that works there? (Many US plans have some coverage in Mexico).

This explains how Uber works and how to track and recognize your driver by vehicle and license plate number. Put your own photo on your account so that they can recognize you. Your fare gets charged to your US credit card on file with Uber.
https://www.uber.com/en-AE/blog/how-to-use-uber-for-the-first-time/

https://www.uber.com/ae/en/ride/how-it-works/

michaelpianko

Thanks for your input. Most of my brain wants to think this trip won't be so much more dangerous than the times I traveled to Europe solo, but just to be sure, am I just being naive and forgetting some danger I am likely to encounter? The dangers I can think of are:
-pick pocketing
-violent assault or armed robbery or mugging
-loss or theft of cards and money with no way to get any more money for the rest of my trip. No my parents will not send me money.
-digestive-tract disease like what I caught in Spain (In Spain in March 2022, I caught a horrifying virus on my 2nd full day, that cause severe gastrointestinal symptoms for about half a day until I finally was able to go to fall asleep; I recovered about 80-90% by my 3rd full day, I was fine on my 4th full day; I bought 2 non-prescription drugs at pharmacies. No I didn't attempt to speak English to the pharmacist)
-altitude sickness (In Spain I estimate that I was not at much more than 2,000 feet above sea level. I felt fine after the gastrointestinal virus. I have never traveled to anywhere higher in elevation. I was hoping to just assume that because I have no known non-minor health problems, I will be fine in Mexico City. My great-grandfather with my same last name had a heart attack and died when he was 49; another great-grandfather died after eating spoiled or contaminated fish at a restaurant in New York City in 1940)
-arriving at a museum with a smallish daypack and the museum and finding out I can't bring the bag in and there is no place to store it and/or a situation like at the Chicago institute of art, where they wouldn't let me carry food into the museum, even if I kept it concealed in a bag (so I could eat it after I left) and they refused to store the bag at the coat check room unless I threw the food away. I had to throw away a package of dates that coat $5.99)

baldone

Just 1 guy's experience of 35+ years of Mexico travel (including 12 living here). Fwiw. Ymmv. Idk.
I was pick-pocketed once on the metro on my first trip to the then DF. Later, slapped the hand away of an attempt.
Never robbed or mugged. Paid the 'mordida' once to a cop.
Never lost cards or cash. Bring extra cards, debit and/or credit and don't keep them all on you or in your room at the same time.
You never know what might make you sick. I avoid street fruit.
Altitude sickness shouldn't be a problem at 7,000 ft. Stay hydrated. Cdmx still has pollution problems, however.
Almost all museums will have a place to check and store your bag. Most retail places too.
IMPORTANT: Do not, under any circumstances, no matter how nice they may seem, let anyone wipe bird poop or mustard or anything else off of your shirt, coat, or other garment! Just ask progol.

progol

I second that!

In the anthropology museum, my husband was directed to the coat and bag check since he had a small backpack and that was not allowed in the museum.

mlgb

Biggest risk is that you are probably not going to have enough time to see half of what you listed. Things don't always work out to plan.

suze

Many of those worries you listed could happen anywhere. Only a couple are more specific (and even those not unique) to Mexico City or even Mexico.

mlgb

NONE are "more specific" to Mexico/City.

Some of the most talented pickpockets hail from Europe. The OP is worried because of a bout of intestinal illness in Europe.

PS bring the Imodium with you. Some doctors will even give you a scrip for antibiotics in advance.

Some of your choices about how you eat could also be increasing your risk. The bugs are less likely to survive being cooked but you don't want to eat in restaurants.

michaelpianko

I know from previous travel that before a trip I really don't know whether I will have time for more or less than hat looks appealing. Yeah, I suppose I might not make it to all of or any of the "if time" places.

What about the risk of reserving a space on a tour of the national palace but not finding where to meet the tour and then imwould have blocked somebody else from rsvping for the tour?

I didn't ask this: have any of you gone from Oaxaca to Mitla and Hierve el Agua, without renting a car?

I have a valid Michigan drivers license. I was thinking it would be safer to avoid renting a car in Mexico. I rented a car twice in my life, in south-West Florida and in the Los Angeles California area.

I didn't eat any restaurant food in Spain, Florida, or California. Most restaurant food is made with sugar, oil, and/or salt. Those are my top reason(s) I usually avoid restaurant food. Are you sure that buying most of my food from groccery stores or markets and eating what doesn't require much preparation and doesn't have a huge amount of sodium, would put me at greater risk of sickness? Just for the sake of the argument, what about restaurant food getting infected with something between the time it is cooked and the time I put it in my mouth? Also so far I reserved spaces in hostels in Oaxaca and Mexico City. I didn't see an appealing hostel Puebla. Yeah I know I am making a sacrifice on privacy. Unless I am persuaded to switch to private typical hotel rooms or apartments.

progol

<<I didn't ask this: have any of you gone from Oaxaca to Mitla and Hierve el Agua, without renting a car?>>

Did you read the very detailed post I wrote on this thread (#3)? My hotel arranged rides through a taxi service. When you stay at the hostel, I’m sure they can direct you to a taxi service or where you can get cabs. We paid $15/hour.

michaelpianko

Have any of you taken a part day guided tour from Oaxaca? I noticed some advertised on trip advisor. I don't drink alcohol and visiting a business that makes and serves mezcal wouldn't be of interest. Should I acquiesce to going on a part day tour that will waste an hour at a mezcal business and probably spend to little time at Hierve el Agua?

mlgb

No.