Mexico City Weekender: How to Spend a Day in CDMX

We’ve spent a lot of time exploring the beaches of Mexico but have recently fell in love with the beautiful cities of the interior, too. The country’s capital is a bustling metropolis with seemingly endless neighborhoods and activities to add to your to-do list. So what should you explore if you only have one full day? Or what can you do to make the most of a long layover at MEX? Here’s what we did with 36 hours in CDMX.

In our “weekender” posts, we’ll tell you where we stayed and what we did on brief trips to interesting cities around the world. Nothing in this post is sponsored. We just like to share our favorite travel tools and help you make the most of your journey.

Where to Stay

Figuring out where to stay in Mexico City can be challenging since it’s an expansive city and the traffic is super congested. In fact, with a metro population of more than 22 million, CDMX is the most populated city in the Americas and ranks in the top 5 in the world. So be prepared for crowds and a bit of chaos in many areas that have the best street food and fun things to see — but also note that you can find lovely neighborhoods with quiet places, tranquil gardens, posh accommodations, and high-end restaurants if you’re looking for a more relaxed experience.

We suggest figuring out what you want to see and do and then booking somewhere that gives you easy access to the top things on your list.

For us, it was all about seeing the historical sights and sampling the delicious street eats that make the city a top destination for foodies. So, we opted for a place in the heart of Centro Historico.

We booked our stay at Umbral, which is part of the Hilton’s Curio Collection. We absolutely loved it!

The building’s architecture is beautiful and the decor is wonderfully artistic and dreamy with dark colors, elegant accents, gorgeous stairways, and vinyl record players that bring you to another time and place.

We splurged on the spacious prestige room, which made the experience even more special.

We arrived late, so we opted for dinner at the hotel bar and restaurant, Paxia, on the top floor.

We had some outstanding tacos for a perfect start to our brief stay in CDMX.

Explore Centro Historico

There’s so much to see and do — even just in the historic area. So, on our one full day we wandered around only a small part of town and yet we clocked in nearly 20k steps. Note that even if you’re not staying overnight, you could plan to explore this area with a 6-8 hour layover at MEX. Just give yourself time in case traffic is bad back to the airport.

We started our day by taking a morning stroll to the Zocolo — which is the central square in the heart of the district and one of the largest in the world.

We also checked out the Tiffany stained-glass ceiling and elegant lobby at the Gran Hotel.

For more art nouveau head to Palacio de Bellas Artes and take a stroll through the nearby park.

We also explored the national art museum and the gorgeous historic post office (palacio postal or correos mayor).

Browse the shops on Madero, a pedestrian street.

Check out the Aztec ruins off the Zocalo and learn the history of the sinking city at the Templo Mayor Museum.

Admire the Metropolitan Cathedral.

Try All the Food

To make to most of our short journey, we hired a guide through WithLocals to take us on a 3-hour food tasting tour to some of the hot spots in the area.

We had the famous and tasty tacos al pastor at El Huequito, which claims to be the first place to make this Mexican version of Middle-eastern shawarma. You can read more about it here.

Our fearless guide also made her way through the crowds to score some heavenly churros at El Moro Centro.

We tried some local bites at Las Rancheras Mantecadas.

And even more tacos: Tacos De Canasta los especiales

And since we were there in October, we even got to try some pan de muerto in honor of the day of the dead celebrations. Click here for the history and a recipe for this delectable bread with a touch of sweetness.

Check Out a Rooftop Bar

There are so many recommended rooftops in the area, so we suggest doing a little research and picking one that fits your vibe.

There are also many outstanding dinner spots in Centro Historico but we were exhausted from our long day of exploration and still full from our food tour, so we went back to Umbral’s restaurant, Paxia, for some delicious chicken and mole.

Heading Home

That’s it! We caught a Friday night direct flight from Washington DC to MEX and made the trek home on Sunday morning. So, we really just had one full Saturday in CDMX and it was well worth it. If you have time, we’d recommend adding a few nights here on a longer trip to other destinations in Mexico.

If you’re looking for flight deals to book amazing weekenders like this, check out FareDrop. This is also not sponsored, we just think it’s a great travel tool to find good fares and book directly through the airline.

Have you been to CDMX? What were the highlights for you? Let us know in the comments?

Check out some of our other city guides:

• Portland Maine: 12 Top Places to Eat and Drink 
• Dining In Washington DC: 10 Swanky Spots And DC Institutions We Love
• 5 Top Places to Eat and Drink in Downtown Pittsburgh
• Nashville Weekender: How to Spend 48 Hours in Music City
• London Weekender: How to Spend an Overnight Layover in England’s Capital
• NYC Weekender: 5 Amazing Things to Do Near Times Square