10 Mexico City Tips to Make your Visit a Success
Mexico City is one of the more underrated capital cities in the world. Despite that, people avoid coming here for lots of reasons. After visiting myself and realizing how special of a city it is, I want to share some helpful Mexico City tips to encourage others to visit and experience how fantastic of a city it is.
None of these are written in stone, and there are plenty of other things to look out for when visiting Mexico City. Still, this guide is a starting point based on my own personal experiences in Mexico City and the rest of the country. These are things I found most helpful or, after not knowing them myself, think will help others coming into Mexico City.
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Mexico City Tip #1 – Bring a Reusable Water Bottle
Mexico City’s – and Mexico’s in general – water isn’t safe to drink. It likely won’t kill you, but it will probably make you sick, especially if you aren’t used drinking the water in this part of the world.
Mexico’s sanitation standards aren’t great, which means the water contains various bacteria to make you sick. With a reusable water bottle, you can fill it up at your hotel (most will have water that is safe to consume) or wherever else you can find that has drinkable water to ensure you stay hydrated throughout the day.
You can also buy water in plastic bottles, but that is going to cost you money and create a lot of plastic waste. A reusable water bottle is better for your bottom line and the planet.
For what it’s worth, I’ve even seen other people say you shouldn’t use ice in drinks for the same reason. I personally feel like that’s a bit over the top, but it does make sense. I’ll keep using ice when I go to Mexico, but I’ve also been sick three out of the five times I’ve been there, so what do I know?
Mexico City Tip #2 – Use Water Bottles for Brushing Your Teeth
Using a water bottle or purified water to rinse your toothbrush and your mouth may seem a bit silly, but ask yourself this: Would you rather feel silly or have a stomachache and/or diarrhea that ruins your trip?
I bet you’d rather feel silly! As mentioned above, Mexico City’s sanitation standards aren’t as good as what you may be used to if you’re coming from a more developed country.
It doesn’t take much exposure to bacteria to give you a bad case of Montezuma’s Revenge. So, it pays to have a water bottle handy to assist in oral hygiene in Mexico City.
From personal experience, I can attest to this as I was careful with the water I consumed but less so when brushing my teeth. I’ll never know for sure, but I think this is how I got sick on my last trip to Mexico.
Mexico City Tip #3 – Be Careful Where You Eat
For the same reasons why you have to be careful about the water, you also need to be careful about where you eat. This tip is a bit trickier, though. With water, it’s easy enough to avoid drinking it. However, with food, you have to be a bit more discerning.
The easiest way to choose where you can safely eat is to pick places that have a lot of customers. Odds are popular spots aren’t making people sick.
Similarly, you can check reviews online beforehand. People love to give negative reviews. If a place is making people sick, you’ll know about it.
This gets a bit trickier with street food. Street vendors likely won’t have online reviews and may be popular with locals. That doesn’t mean your body is accustomed to whatever or however they’re cooking. If whatever is in that pot looks dubious, you’re probably better off skipping it – unless it looks especially tasty, then skip ahead to tip number four.
A couple things to look out for when eating at street vendors are whether they have hand sanitizer on hand and if the person handling money is different from who is doing the cooking. Again, you can also generally be safer at places with lots of customers. These three things lend themselves to the place having good hygiene.
Mexico City Tip #4 – Bring Pepto Bismol
You’ve taken all the above precautions and yet you still got sick. It happens. Just the stress of traveling can lend itself to getting sick.
You can only do so much, so don’t beat yourself up too much about it. It’s important to come prepared for this possible eventuality. Make sure to bring plenty of Pepto Bismol. This medicine will help with diarrhea symptoms and any associated stomach aches, allowing you to still make the most of your time visiting Mexico City.
Important note: I stressed plenty of Pepto for a reason. On my last visit to Mexico, I got so sick that I ran through our supply with two days left. We spent our last few days in a resort in Cabo where a pharmacy wasn’t convenient, and I ended up having to buy more from our hotel’s shop.
Almost everything in Mexico was cheap except for these meds! They have a pretty significant upcharge on them because they know you need them, and you don’t have any options. It was worth the price, but it still stung a bit having to pay so much.
Mexico City Tip #5 – Bring a Jacket
You may think to yourself that you won’t need any cool weather clothes because you’re heading to Mexico, and Mexico is close to the equator where it’s hot. During the day, you’re absolutely right. However, as the sun goes down, it’s a different story.
One thing you may not consider when planning your trip to Mexico City is the elevation that Mexico’s capital sits at. Mexico City is on a plateau, 7,300 feet above sea level. Because of this location, it can get downright cold in the evenings. I brought a light hoodie almost as an afterthought, but after experiencing the change in temperature, I was glad I had it.
You don’t need to bring anything too thick, especially if it’s going to take up a lot of space in your luggage. A thin, lightweight jacket or hoodie should be enough regardless of the time of year.
Mexico City Tip #6 – Use Uber, Not Taxis
Contrary to what you may think, Ubers are safer and more reliable to use than Mexico City’s taxis. Much of this has to do with the fact that Ubers rely on user reviews more so than taxis. If an Uber driver received negative reviews for taking his or her passengers to a back alley to get robbed, that’s obviously going to affect his or her rating.
In addition to that, it’s easier to avoid scams because you can track your route through the app. You can also let family members know when you’ll be in an Uber so other people know your location.
Besides, taxis didn’t seem very readily available, anyways. On the other hand, Uber drivers were everywhere. The longest we had to wait for one was about 5-10 minutes, and that was likely due to the fact that we were on a busy road during morning rush hour traffic.
Another drawback to taxis is the language barrier. With Uber, the location you’re traveling to is handled all within the app. That’s not the case with a taxi where you have to negotiate with the driver where you’re going and the potential cost (it’s best to have taxi drivers give you the price first so they can’t drive around randomly to increase the fare).
Mexico City also has decent Wi-Fi throughout the city to make using the Uber app easy. Even in the absence of Wi-Fi, if you have an international plan with your cellular carrier, you won’t have any issue picking up a signal to track down an Uber.
Mexico City Tip #7 – Brush Up on Your Spanish
Us English-speaking citizens of the world tend to have a privileged outlook when it comes to our language. We expect everyone to know it, speak it and use it regularly. Despite coming across as obnoxious, it’s also not true.
Yes, many people do speak it, but it wasn’t ubiquitous across the city. Most bar and restaurant staff only spoke a bit of English, if that. Between the little bit of English they knew and the smattering of Spanish we knew, it worked. Still, it would have been much more convenient and respectful of their culture had we learned a bit more beforehand.
More importantly, though, most signs and information placards in the museums we visited in were exclusively in Spanish. Even those that had English translations weren’t providing the same caliber of information as their Spanish versions.
This was especially true in the National Museum of Anthropology and Chapultepec Castle. The museum was still incredibly interesting, but I would have like to have a better understanding of some of the things on display. Alternatively, the museum in the castle was very difficult to appreciate because almost nothing was English, and I didn’t know enough about Mexico’s history to be able to piece things together on my own.
Mexico City Tip #8 – Have a Basic Understanding of Mexico’s History
Which leads me to my next tip for visiting Mexico City: Come with a basic knowledge of the country’s history.
You don’t need to be a Rhodes Scholar on Mexican history, but knowing some of the highlights will give you a much greater appreciation of the city, its architecture and its people. It will also help you out in some of the museums, but that’s not as important if you don’t plan on visiting them.
I felt a little lost in the National Museum of Anthropology and Chapultepec Castle. Even without knowing much Spanish, I think had I known a bit of the history beforehand I could have at least made sense of what I was seeing.
Beyond the language barrier, it was difficult to remember names and make sense of everything in the anthropology museum. The names of the different cultures and landmarks started to blend together because I didn’t recognize them. Had I known more about Mexico’s history, I could have associated the names with what I knew to make them easier to remember as I made my way through this extensive museum.
Mexico City Tip #9 – Keep Pesos Handy
More places accepted credit card than I expected, but we still had to use pesos about half the time in Mexico City. Typically, smaller restaurants or cafes and street vendors only accept cash. You’ll generally see a sign saying cash only at these establishments.
That’s not to say you need to constantly carry around a ton of pesos, though. Furthermore, you shouldn’t carry around too much cash as a safety precaution. Determine your budget and what types of places you’ll likely be shopping or eating at. Based on that, you can estimate how much cash you need to take out.
Mexico City also has plenty of ATMs if you need to take more cash out in the heat of the moment.
Mexico City Tip #10 – Be Careful but Don’t Worry Too Much About Crime
Sadly, Mexico is a dangerous place. I’m not trying to dispute the stats on violent crime and drug trafficking. Yet, the areas where you will likely be visiting in Mexico City are pretty safe.
I avoided coming to Mexico City for a long time because I let news about crime dissuade me from visiting. It’s not that I expected shootouts on the street (though the thought crossed my mind), but I thought everywhere would be so sketchy that I wouldn’t be able to relax and enjoy myself.
Shortly after arriving, I realized my anxieties were mostly unnecessary. The touristy neighborhoods felt just like visiting any other big city in the world. In fact, I’ve felt less safe in some Americans neighborhoods before.
That isn’t to say you can come to Mexico City without taking any precautions or being careful. The same rules apply for anywhere else.
- Don’t travel alone at night.
- Avoid any areas that seem unsafe (not many other people, poor lighting, generally feeling seedy, etc).
- Don’t have a lot of money on hand at any one time and keep it out of sight.
- Keep your belongings with you at all times.
- Try not to wear a lot of flashy jewelry.
- Only travel with verified individuals or groups.
Don’t let Mexico’s gang and drug violence deter you from visiting its capital city. It’s a grossly underrated city on par with many of its counterparts around the world. Come and enjoy yourself but be smart while doing it!
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