Mexico - great food and a lot of colors

Videos on my trips to Mexico in 2017 and 2018

I went to Mexico 3 times (2017, 2018, and 2019) because I had a Mexican boyfriend and stayed 3-8 weeks each time. I really love this country and its people. For me, Mexico is a very underestimated country because the young generation is full of great ideas and a strong mindset (I also worked in a school so I can tell). There are a lot of incentives by the government. One example is the creation of "Pueblos Mágicos" (magical villages). This is a title that small villages in Mexico can get if they fulfill certain requirements. This title helps them to attract more tourists - I LOVE pueblos mágicos and I really would love to visit all of them one day (I think there are already over 100)!

Mexico City is one of the biggest and most impressive cities I have been to. The city is like a country with 23 million inhabitants. I remember my time in high school when we used to learn about the biggest cities in the world in my geography class. At that time Mexico City was the biggest city in the world and looking at the photos in my schoolbook I decided that one day I wanted to see this amazing city! Nowadays other cities in Asia are much bigger but still my dream of getting to know Mexico City came true in 2017.

What to do in Mexico City:

• visit the Zócalo: this is the main plaza in Mexico City. There is a huge flag in the middle and it's surrounded by the main cathedral and the government palace. What is really interesting: the cathedral is built on top of the ancient Aztec temple and the government palace is built exactly on top of the old residence of Moctezuma. The colonizers wanted to impose the new religion and the new government with this action.
• have a walk at Chapultepec Park: Chapultepec is divided into 2 zones. The first one has a castle that you can walk up to and have a view of the city. The second one is a big huge park with possibilities for sports or just to sit down.
• visit the National Museum of Anthropology: this museum contains beautiful pieces from different cultures of Mexico. The most famous one is the Calendario Azteca (the Azteca Calendar). The entrance fee is 70 pesos (3$) for foreigners. Avoid going there on Sundays*.
• have a coffee at the shopping center in front of "Bellas Artes": this place is so amazing because you can sit on the terrace and have a beautiful view over Bellas Artes and the whole city center.
• visit Ciudad Universitaria (UNAM): This campus belongs to UNAM, Mexico's biggest public university. You can walk around, sit in the park, etc.
• enjoy one afternoon in Coyoacán with some Jarocho (Mexican coffee) and ice cream: the main plaza in Coyoacán is my favorite place in Mexico City. I love coming here on a Sunday afternoon and just watching the people with their families taking a walk, eating ice cream, etc. It really makes me feel alive.
• have a view over the city on the Torre Latinoamericana: this building is situated in the city center. We went there at night because I wanted to see this big city at night, but maybe you can go there for sunset and also have a look over the city at night. I think there is a restaurant too.
• EAT A LOT OF FOOD: this is the most important thing. Food in Mexico is great – even if it seems to be very similar there is so much diversity. I recommend two places where I love to eat: Casa de Toño and Sanborns.

* The Mexican government has established a policy that each Sunday Mexicans get free access to museums and cultural sights (which is a great idea in my opinion) – but it gets very crowded on that day. So for you as a tourist another day would be a better idea.

Teotihuacán is a famous temple complex an hour outside of Mexico City to the north. You can get there by bus. The buses leave from the Northern Station in Mexico City. The entrance fee is 70 pesos (3$) for foreigners. Avoid going there on Sundays.* 

Jardines de México (Gardens of Mexico) is a complex with different “garden types” of the world (Italy, Japan, Brazil) located in Morelos. It’s around 1.5 hours away from Mexico City. We went there by car. The “gardens” are very beautiful with so much diversity in plants!

Tepoztlán is located in Estado de México, near Mexico City. The “Pueblo Mágico” is famous for its pyramids (which we didn’t visit LOL). But still, I enjoyed the village so much - with the market and the streets. Mexican villages are amazing!

Chalcatzingo is a little village situated about two hours to the south of Mexico City. There is a nice temple complex but the most famous "thing" in Chalcatzingo is a big yellow tree.

Morelia is the capital of Michoacán. The city has a very nice main plaza and the food is really great. You can get here by bus in about 4-5 hours from Mexico City.

Ixtapa is located in the Guerrero region near Acapulco (maybe 2 hours by car from Acapulco). We went there from Morelia, but there should be buses from everywhere. The bus system in Mexico works quite well. Ixtapa has beautiful beaches inside and outside of the city.

Querétaro is located about 4 hours to the north of Mexico City. We went there by bus. The city center is very beautiful. There is a famous market where you can buy a lot of souvenirs etc.

From Querétaro, you can get to Bernal, another “Pueblo Mágico”. There you can visit the famous Peña de Bernal – a monolith on a hill.

Mexico is full of beautiful nature. One of the things to visit is Grutas de Tolantongo in Hidalgo. We went there by car (5 hours from Mexico City). The accommodation is a little bit of a problem. There is a fancy famous hotel which accepts no reservations – so you have to arrive before 8 am to book for the night. We didn’t make it, so we just went down a road in the car and visited some houses and then decided on one. They are also a little bit expensive, but that's ok. Then you can go to the Grutas. The place is magical – I loved it so much. There are small natural pools with such light blue, warm water. If you walk around you can get on the Gloria (you have to pay an extra fee) and this place is even more beautiful. You can also take a bath inside a cave. We enjoyed it although it was very crowded.

Guanajuato is located 6-7 hours away from Mexico City. It’s near Querétaro, so if you visit Querétaro you can just go to Guanajuato next. Guanajuato is also a “Pueblo Mágico”. There are colorful buildings everywhere. You can walk up to a little mountain and have a view of the whole city. The most famous "thing" in Guanajuato is the “Estudiantinas” or “Callejoneadas” at night. For this event, you walk around town and there are a few young singers who sing and tell traditional stories. It was a really great experience although I couldn't really sing along to the Mexican chants. Most of the stories, that are told, are love stories. So it’s a nice trip for couples. There is also the famous “Callejón del Beso”, a little street where couples should take a kiss, which gives them 7 years of good luck. But if you go there, it shouldn’t be at night (there will be so many people). We went at night and didn’t like it. So we went there again the next day and got our beautiful photo. The next day we were at the mountain Cerro del Cubilete (a place my boyfriend wanted to go). I think it’s not very touristy, but I liked it. You can get on a bus and drive 45 minutes to get there. At Cerro del Cubilete there is a church and a Cristo (similar to Rio).

Cholula is one of the most famous and visited “Pueblos Mágicos” in Mexico. It’s located in Puebla. We visited the city, a park, the church on the mountain and then a market.

Atlixco is another “Pueblo Mágico” in Puebla not really known but is super beautiful and unique. I loved this place so much, especially because there was a dancing show by schoolchildren when we went there.

Puerto Progreso is a beach located 40 minutes away from Mérida. It’s very nice just to chill and relax. I loved it for sunset.

To get to Chichen Itzá we booked a day tour, which included several things. Our first stop was in Izamal, a “Pueblo Magico”. As I heard it was the first ever “Pueblo Mágico”. Everything there is painted in yellow - really beautiful.

From there we drove to a “Cenote”. There are a lot of cenotes in the south of Mexico! These are small holes in the ground that have been filled with water. There are 3 types of cenotes: open, half-open, and closed. Allegedly the holes were made by the meteorite that hit Yucatán and killed the dinosaurs. But I am not sure if this is true. Our cenote was half open and very impressive - 46m deep and cold :D From there we went to eat lunch.

Our next stop was Chichén Itzá. Thank goodness there was no real sun on that day. There is hardly any shade there and my sister (who was there one year before me) had told me that it was incredibly hot and that the sun was really burning. So take water, light clothes and try to avoid the hottest time of the day. Chichén Itzá was very, very beautiful.

Uxmal is also a Maya ruin, but less known and less visited than Chichén Itzá. Everyone told us that it’s more beautiful than Chichén Itzá - and they were right. The ruins were amazing and especially in nature – so there was green all around. In addition, you could really see and touch it, unlike Chichén Itzá. We enjoyed it and took a lot of photos.

To know more about Mexican traditions click here