How to Spend a Relaxing Weekend in Mexico City

I liked Mexico City much more than I expected! The food was great (obviously), but what really surprised me was how green the city was. I visited in February and the weather was perfect, a little cool in the evenings and comfortable to walk around during the day.

I visited for about 4 days, but I was working for part of it so only did about 2 days worth of activities, which I’ll share below. Plus info on where to stay and a couple of day trip ideas.

Where to Stay

There are many different popular with tourists. I’ll share where we stayed and why, plus some info about others.

La Condesa

We stayed at an AirBnb in La Condesa. I chose it because it is near the expansive Chapultepec Park and to several metro stops. This neighborhood is popular with tourists and expats, as is Roma Norte which borders it to the north.

The neighborhood has a lot of trees and nice parks to walk through. It felt safe (although we didn’t walk around much after dark) and had great food options on practically every street.

Roma Norte

Roma Norte is pretty much the same as La Condesa. You can’t go wrong with either. I would just choose based on whatever hotel or Airbnb you find and like best or has the best deal!

Coyoacán

This neighborhood is quite bit further, about 30-40 minutes by metro to the south of the city. However, it is very quiet and safe and popular with families. This is also where to Frida Kahlo museum is.

What to Do

There are so many things to do in Mexico City and it’s impossible to fit them all in one post. We only hit a couple of highlights and otherwise took it easy, strolling through parks. I’ll list where we went and give a few suggestions if you have more time to spend in the city.

Walking Tours

I always go on a free walking tour in every city I visit. We actually did two here, the first was of the Centro Histórico which takes you around the highlights and historical parts of downtown. It was a great tour and we learned a lot. Anytime you’re in this area, be aware of your surroundings and personal items.

The second walking tour we did was a food tour and it was yummy! There are so many food tours available. We chose this one because it was near where we were staying and it’s a tip-based tour, but you still have to pay for your food at each place.

I am mostly vegetarian, though I did eat some meat tacos. However, if you’re completely vegetarian there usually are still options available for you, but maybe not at every stop.

Chapultepec Park

This is a beautiful, large park about a 20-minute walk from La Condesa. You rent a paddle boart, bikes, or just walk around and enjoy the greenery like we did. There’s even a small botanical garden inside the park which is free to enter!

There are many (over 5!) museums in this park. We didn’t make it to any unfortunately, but the National Museum of Anthropology is ranked as one of the best in the world. The entrance fee is $95 pesos (~$5-6 USD) and there are free guided tours at 10 and 12 from Tuesday to Saturday.

UNAM Botanical Garden

I’m a sucker for walking through botanical gardens (birding can be good in these places too!) so we also visited the University’s gardens. It was febuary so wasn’t quite in all its splendor, but was still a nice visit. It’s free admission, open from 9:00-4:30 on weekdays and until 3:00 on weekends.

I was able to identify 15 bird species at the gardens:

• American Robin
• Black-and-white Warbler
• Black-headed Grosbeak
• Berylline Hummingbird
• Bewick’s Wren
• Broad-billed Hummingbird
• Cassin’s Kingbird
• Cinnamon-bellied Flowerpiercer
• Dusky Hummingbird
• Empidonax sp.
• House Finch
• Ladder-backed Woodpecker
• Nashville Warbler
• Vermillion Flycatcher
• Yellow-rumped Warbler

Other Recommendations

Below are some options I looked into, but we didn’t actually visit.

Desierto de los Leones National Park

We were planning to visit this national park to do some hiking and birding, but we didn’t make it here. It is about an hour south of the city by metro. Since we didn’t visit, I don’t have much to say but I’ll share this link in case you want to visit.

Others ideas to look into for a weekend in Mexico City:

• Xochimilco floating gardens
• Tenochtitlan ruins, the capital of the Aztec Empire
• Palacio Bellas Artes
• Itza-Popo National Park–for the adventurous!

Looking for more to do in Mexico?

Check out my guide to Valladolid and the Yucatan!