4 Days in Mexico City

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After an incredible three days in Oaxaca, we reluctantly left to catch a short flight to Mexico City, where we’d spend the second half of our trip exploring a city that had been on my bucket list for years.

The energy in this second city quickly shifted up a gear, with crazy traffic from the moment we hopped in the Uber and made our way towards Centro Histórico (Downtown) to find our hotel.

I had a few hotels on the list for this holiday, but settled on Downtown Mexico by Design Hotels for its central location and rooftop pool.

Sitting bang in the middle of the downtown area surrounded by the city’s impressive architecture, we settled into our Colonial Queen room that had unbelievably high ceilings and a terracotta interior, acting as a peaceful escape from the chaos outside.

On the first floor they have a restaurant, where we devoured the tastiest Mexican breakfast each morning. Choosing a hot option from the à la carte menu as our coffee cooled, we were then free to roam the continental buffet until we were almost too full to move.

Moving up to the top floor, there’s a bar with tasty small bites and a selection of drinks on the menu, which you can enjoy on the terrace or around the corner beside the pool. My go-to was their (extra) spicy margarita, which was garnished with a fiery chilli pepper.

What I quickly realised was that Mexico City is absolutely gigantic, and there was zero chance we’d get to see all the districts we’d mapped out, even with affordable Ubers.

Here’s a quick breakdown of where we visited and when:

Day one: Downtown for lunch, an afternoon in Condesa, and Roma Norte for dinner

Day two: a day trip in the morning (more on that later), an afternoon at the hotel pool, and Downtown for dinner

Day three: Coyoacán for lunch and Polanco for dinner

Day four: Roma Norte for a morning walk and an afternoon at the hotel pool before flying home

Coyoacán was without a doubt my favourite district, with Condesa in close second. I’d say my least favourite was Polanco only because it lacked the historic charm with all its designer shops and polished streets.

Onto the best bit – the food. I’d say Oaxaca remains on top for cuisine, but we enjoyed some great meals in CDMX too including:

Cheesy chilaquiles and tlayudas at Restaurante Xaachila (Downtown)
Super cheap tacos with the locals at Los Especiales (Downtown)
The famous Pastor tacos at Tacos El Huequito (Downtown)
A selection of local dishes at La Casa de Toño en Zona Rosa (Roma Norte)
Iced coffee from Cafe Tormenta (Roma Norte)
Ice cream from Joe Gelato (Roma Norte)
Guacamole and tortilla chips at La Calaca (Coyoacán)
Jarocho blend coffee from Café El Jarocho (Coyoacán)
Carne tacos at La Gloria y El Golfo (Polanco)

As I mentioned, on day two we decided to go on a half-day trip to San Juan Teotihuacán, home to the ancient pyramids of Mexico. We booked this through a friend’s contact but the company was called Vive Vuela Teotihuacán.

Our driver picked us up from the hotel at 5am, and we arrived at the site where our hot air balloon would take flight just before sunrise.

Stepping into the basket with a few others, the balloon swiftly levitated, finding space in the sky alongside tons of other colourful balloons. We spent just over 30 minutes circling the pyramids. I thought I’d be scared of the height and lack of security, but it was magical up there.

Once back on the ground, we were whisked off to a nearby restaurant for a traditional Mexican breakfast, before exploring the grounds of the pyramids at our leisure for the next couple of hours.

The trip cost around £130pp (more if you purchased their drone footage, which we did) and I can safely say it was a worthy investment to level up our experience of Mexico City. We both loved it and would do another hot air balloon flight in a heartbeat.