Until we visited, Mexico for us was not more than delicious Mexican food and music. However, it is more than just food and music, and everything about Mexico is colourful and full of joy. It is an incredible place to visit!

Mexico City was the first stop of our 2 weeks of Mexico travel. As we combined 2 days of Mexico City with a longer Yucatan Island road trip, we managed to see the historical and cultural side of the city life along with the modern and chilled island lifestyles of the Mexicans.

If you ask me how many days are actually enough to spare for Mexico City, my answer would be 2 days unless you want to take it easy and enjoy the city’s hustle and bustle more than a relaxing holiday in Yucatan Island. Two days are really enough if you have limited time and willing to see the main sights. Don’t get me wrong, there are loads of activities and sights so you could easily spend a month, but we have to make choices.

So here are my top five things to do in Mexico City in 2 days;

1- Stroll in Historic Centre of Mexico City

Stay in the historical centre and you won’t regret not having to take the metro or public transportation to the places you want to see in the city. Mexico City is big and chaotic, so staying in the Historical Centre will save you time and energy.

We arrived late night to our hotel, City Centro Ciudad de Mexico. Pretty well designed and located in the heart of Mexico City, we enjoyed our stay there and we would definitely recommend it. We walked to most of the sights around and took the metro to further areas as the metro stop was easily accessible.

Looking for a hotel in Mexico City? Click here to use my 10% discount from your hotel bookings on Booking.com.

The first day in the morning, we walked to the ‘House of Tile’, ‘Palacio de Bellas Artes’ (super Insta-worthy roof), ‘Palacio Postal’ (super Insta-worthy interior), Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral and Palacio Nacional which were all walking distance from our hotel.

Tip: Don’t forget to visit Miralto Bar on top of the Torre Latinoamericana building to have drinks admire the views of the historical centre.

The historical town is divided into small areas where people sell different items in each. You may end up at a street where vendors are selling antique items and then the next moment, you find yourself in a street full music instruments shops. It is indeed a lively city and the sounds and smells change as you walk by.

 

 

2- Visit the Soumaya Museum

Soumaya Museum has been on top of my bucket list items. This modern art museum is Mexico City’s one of the best museums with its interesting architecture and vast art gallery collection.

Located in Plaza Carso, it is tiled with 16,000 aluminium hexagons. Inside, you can see Rodin’s ‘The Thinker’ sculpture. Other must-sees include art pieces from Henri Matisse, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Vincent van Gogh and El Greco, amongst others.

We headed to Soumaya Museum in the first afternoon, after spending the morning strolling in the streets of the historic town. It was a nice break, far from the chaos of the city centre.

Tip: Take the metro from the historical town and walk around 20 minutes to get there. Avoid the metro between 17:00-20:00 as it is the rush hour.

 

 

3- Frida Kahlo Museum / Casa Azul

A visit to a house where Frida Kahlo lived and died is a must when you are in Mexico City. Her clothes, bed, photos and even ashes are there, and it is impossible to imagine her life while walking inside the house where she once lived in.

Tip: Buy tickets online to avoid the long queue. It is 200 pesos per person plus 30 pesos to be able to take photos inside.

We kept this to the second day’s morning as we wanted to combine it with Frida Kahlo’s favourite neighbourhood – Coyoacan -sightseeing which included eating literally the best tacos in our life. Coyoacan is perhaps the most Instagram friendly neighbourhood of Mexico City, as it is filled with art deco houses and amazing street art.

 

 

4- Eat the World’s Best Tacos at Tostadas

Tacos and Mexican food are everywhere but we were not impressed with all the food we had in Mexico City. Maybe the secret was to go to the most local place which we have done and eaten the best tacos of our lives. My mouth is still watered, thinking about those huge soft tacos filled with pulled pork, beef, seafood, fresh avocados and many more!

Tostadas is the name of this little, inside-the-market, corner snack place. Tacos are pretty large and filling so one normal-sized person would be satisfied with 3 pieces. Sitting down at the bar, first, you get confused with all of the options to select from but thank god the service is pretty fast. Tacos range between 30-50 pesos per piece and it was definitely worth it.

Tip: It was a bit difficult for us to find Tostadas. To find it, go into the Coyoacan Market and walk towards the middle. You will locate it easily with its huge yellow menu pan carts on its walls.

5- Buy a Souvenir to take home

If you ask me what is the best souvenir from Mexico, I would definitely say packs of soft tacos and a variety of sauces sold in the local markets. But it’s not all about food and Mexico has more than food to offer. Other souvenirs you can buy include silver jewellery, tequila, masks and small art pieces, mezcal, handwoven textiles, hammock, coffee and pottery. I would recommend bargaining as usual.

For those who have more time to enjoy the city;

If you have more time, add these to your list and you will thank me later:

• Biblioteca Vasconcelos
• Casa Luis Barragán
• Ciudad Universitaria’s Espacio Escúltorico
• Bosque de Chapultepec Castle

After Mexico City, we flew to Cancun and continued our travel with a road trip within the Yucatan Island. Our favourite place was the Holbox Island. Click here to read why we loved Holbox Island.

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