This was the first New Year’s trip I took, which quickly inspired future trips in new places to start the new year. I went with my friend Izzy, a friendship forged through work but cemented by a trip like this. I didn’t have a concept of modern Mexico City – I only knew of conquered Aztecs, Narcos portrayals, and beach resorts on Instagram. I left with Mexico City being once of my favorite recommendations.
When it comes to food recommendations, I feel like I didn’t eat the best of what Mexico City has to offer, especially given it’s reputation. I’ll share what’s skippable and what’s recommended – if I don’t give an evaluation, it means it was good but you’d probably find something better if you look harder.
Day 1, Friday
- Flight from JFK to MEX ~ 1am departure
- Land at MEX around 6am
- Uber from airport to a Bounce storage location, close to Airbnb in Roma Norte
- Breakfast at Madre Cafe ~ 8am
- Skippable, got chilaquiles verde
- Another coffee and read at Cafebreria El Pendulo
- Walk around markets by El Ángel de la Independencia
- Kill time around greenery and art at Casa Museo Guillermo Tovar de Teresa
- Lunch at Taquería Orinoco
- Casual taco chain, opened late until 3:30am
- Recommend
- Read and people watch at Parque México
- Check in to Airbnb
- No link but it was at the Alure Condesa apartments, which can be found on Airbnb and I definitely recommend
- Dinner at Broka
- Recommended by a co-worker
- Get some snacks at Oxxo, convenience store chain
Day 2, Saturday
- Journal and read on the Airbnb balcony
- Breakfast and coffee at Panadería Rosetta Puebla
- Recommend, we’ll go again during the same trip
- Walk through Bosque de Chapultepec, a large city park, on the way to museum
- Visit Museo Nacional de Antropología
- Recommend, well rated in CDMX and well worth it
- Divided by region/cultural group. Probably would need to visit 2 different days to absorb it all, so just pick what you can manage in a day
- Some artifacts with English & Spanish translation, some just Spanish
- Watch performers outside Anthropology Museum
- Lunch in Polanco
- Can’t confirm 100% but looks like we went to Sabor a Mí Polanco, if so skippable
- Walk around Polanco and back to Airbnb in Condesa
- Dinner at Mentor, at the St. Regis
- Now permanently closed
- Drinks at Handshake Speakeasy
- Recommend
- Ranked as a Top 50 bar in the world, we got lucky and only waited about 30 minutes
Day 3, Sunday (New Year’s Eve)
- Breakfast at Qūentin Café
- Literally don’t remember this at all
- Mooni Art Gallery in Condesa
- La Lagunilla Sunday Market
- Skippable, this is not an Instagram moment either
- We felt very safe in CDMX, but this is the one area where our guard was up, hence no photos
- Walk around the historic center of Mexico City
- Wish we had a guide or something here, because we were a little aimless
- Lunch at Cantina “La Castellana”
- I was really going for a hidden gem/hole in the wall place, but I mistranslated body parts and at pig leg, which wasn’t really the vibe
- Shop at Artesanías Mexicanas, a small shopping center with local crafts people
- Good for haggling, good for souveniers
- Struggle to navigate the local reservation system in CDMX, and stumble on Maison Artemisia for a price-fixed dinner
- Drinks at Tlecan
- Recommend, very cool vibe that feels a bit like Star Wars
- Ticketed New Years event at Departamento
- Completely recommend, this was such a special way to celebrate New Years. No idea what it’s like otherwise
- Had 2-3 floors with different live music (DJ, funky band)
- Walk home at 2am
- Putting this to reflect how safe CDMX felt
Day 4, Monday (New Year’s Day)
- Sleep late
- Struggle to find places that are open on a Holy Day of Obligation
- Brunch at Bella Aurora, which is supplied by Panadería Rosetta Puebla for coffee and pastries
- Read and tan on the Airbnb roof
- Get a massage at Somatica Massage Therapy, coordinated through Whatsapp
- Get churros at Churrería El Moro and eat at Parque México
- Dinner at Ling Ling by Hakkasan
- Amazing Asian fine dining, I do recommend but if you’re doing to CDMX to just eat Mexican, maybe this doesn’t make the cut
Day 5, Tuesday
- Breakfast at Raku Café
- Take a tour of Teotihuacán
- Tour included stops at Tlatelolco (pre-Hispanic ruins), Teotihuacán (these are the famous “Aztec” pyramids that actually predate the Aztecs by many centuries!), and Basílica Santa María de Guadalupe
- Tour lunch
- We didn’t do the hot air balloon, and in hindsight, that looked really cool, but overall recommend doing this for a day
- Join a tour for lucha libre
- Drink at La Hija de Apaches Pulqueria
- Pulquerias are Mexican bars that serve pulque, a mildly alcoholic beverage made from fermented agave sap
- There was live music and dancing
- Watch Lucha Libre at Arena México
- Recommend
- Late night dinner at Terraza Cha Cha Chá
- Walk through New Year’s fair at Plaza de la República
- Drink at La Hija de Apaches Pulqueria
Day 6, Wednesday
- Breakfast at Felicidad
- Uber to Coyoacán neighborhood
- Try to go to Casa Azul (Frida Kahlo museum), but fail and realize we should’ve booked tickets a month ago
- Go to Museo Casa de León Trotsky
- Did you know he was assassinated there?
- Recommend, this was such a good find!
- Coffee at Cafe El Jarocho
- Shop at Bazar Artesanal Mexicano
- Selling clothing, pottery, souvenirs & more; good for souvenirs
- Lunch at Pizza del Perro Negro 3 Cruces
- Please skip – I like trying pizza around the world, but this was not good
- People watch at Plaza de la Conchita and Parque Frida Kahlo
- Back to Airbnb to tan on roof
- Dinner at Azul Condesa
- Ate mole, but remember thinking “this is probably better somewhere else”
- Drinks at Bijou
- Recommend, this cocktail bar’s menu is a rubik’s cube, where the bartender makes you a drink based on your requested flavor profile
- Drinks at Tokyo Music Bar
Day 7, Thursday
- Brunch at Axolotita Agrofonda Monstruo de Agua
- Barely remember this but I think we liked the service
- Walk through the neighborhood south of Bosque de Chapultepec
- Go to Casa Luis Barragán
- Museum/preserved home of famous architect
- Need to pay extra to have your phone out to take photos
- Go to Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo
- Saw the best exhibit of my life here called “The Visitors” by Ragnar Kjartansson, but seems to be rotating
- Without it, probably skippable
- Dinner at Baltra Bar
Day 8, Friday
- Go to Museo de Arte Moderno
- Recommend this over Contempory Art
- Lunch at Niddo Oxford (maybe?)
- Definitely had chilaquiles rojo but unsure of day
- Check out of Airbnb
- People watch one last time at Parque México
- Flight from MEX to JFK, with an overnight layover in Las Vegas
- We thought we would stay up all night and hit the casinos, but that lasted about an hour, we went to In n Out, and got to the airport hours early to nap
Day 9, Saturday
- Land in JFK
- Get a donut at Penn Station NYC
- Take an Amtrak to DC
- Get home over 24 hours after leaving CDMX
