The Frugal Foodies are taking on Mexico! For each new place, I’ll give a rundown on my initial impression, where we stayed, what we did, and what we ate. Enjoy this review of our first stop: Mexico City.
Our Mexico adventure began in the heart of the country: Mexico City.
The Mexico City metropolitan area has a staggering population of 21.6 million people spread across 9,560 sq.km, making it the 5th biggest city in the world. From shopping to sports to food to history, Mexico City has something for everybody.
Initial Impression:
The streets are very clean, the people are nice and helpful, and there are police everywhere. There is beautiful architecture, impressive street art, and street food vendors around every corner. There were very few homeless people and far fewer panhandlers than I remembered from my trip to Mexico City 15 years ago. The city feels alive with a buzzing, bright energy, yet there aren’t too many tourists due to COVID. Speaking of COVID, everyone wears masks both inside and outside, and most venues require temperature checks to enter.
Where We Stayed:
For the first two nights, we stayed at Hotel Marlowe. For $55 usd a night, it was perfectly fine- a private room with a double bed and shower, nice lobby area, good service, good location. However, the wifi was slow, which is a no-no for digital nomads. Also, the “gym” consisted of a broken cable machine and 3 pieces of cardio equipment that couldn’t turn on.
For the second two nights, we lugged our bags .7 miles down the road to a Hampton Inn and Suites for $50/night. The hotel had a gym, free laundry machines, fast wifi and a free breakfast while being right in the heart of the historic district. A total win!
What We Did:
When traveling for extended periods of time, it’s a marathon, not a sprint—you don’t need to fill up every day with travel experiences from 8am to 8pm. We spent time game planning for the week ahead, I got work done, Jeremy tracked down the camera he wanted, and we enjoyed just meandering around the streets, getting a feel for the city.
The Highlights:
- Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral (pictured above)
- Exploring one of the largest markets I’ve ever seen with everything from cell phone cases to pig snouts.
- Wandering around the trendy neighborhoods of La Condesa and Roma Norte.
- Drinks and dinner with a cruise ship friend in Coyocan. Being shown around by locals is always a treat!
Unique travel moment: We were wandering through a park, and the sidewalks were lined with dogs and cats for adoption… with a donation of course. People (myself included) were cooing over the cuteness. I couldn’t tell if it was a Sunday animal rescue event or if the people were home breeders looking to make some money.
What We Ate:
I knew Mexico City had cheaps eats, but I didn’t know they’d be THIS cheap. We’re talking $1usd tacos, $.30 waters, and $.25 churros!
20 peso tacos are a frugal foodie’s dream, and you better believe we feasted. Jeremy is on a quest to eat 100 tacos in a month… stay tuned to see if he makes it.
Fun Fact: The street food vendors have a unique system for serving tacos. They wrap plastic around a plate to serve you your grub. You return the plate, then they swap out the plastic for the next customer. It’s faster, easier, and more hygienic than washing the plates in a bucket or sink. (In parts of Southeast Asia you’ll see street food plates being dunked in a bucket that may or may not have soap…)
We also feasted on pastries from one of Mexico City’s most loved bakeries: Pasteleria Ideal. The sheer volume of pastries for under $1usd was baffling, and the four treats pictured below tallied up to a whopping $2.50USD. I must be honest… they were on the dry side. We are quickly finding that many Mexican pastries are dry, stay tuned for more in-depth posts to come!
In desperate need of vegetables, we went to Blend Station Cafe in Roma Norte for delicious salads and solid wifi. This part of Mexico City is full of ex pats and more western style venues.
For more nutrients, we also went to Walmart to get salad fixings and a rotisserie chicken. As much as I love street food, tacos all day every day would likely end poorly. In fact, I may or may not have already had some food poisoning. But don’t worry, after 2 days of a tumultuous tummy I’m back to normal!
Key Travel Tips:
- Ubers are a cheap and safe way to get around the city. A 20 minute ride will only cost you around $3USD.
- English isn’t as common as you might expect.
- Don’t drink the tap water.
- For more nourishing meals, head to Walmart to get veggies and supplies.
Final Thoughts On Mexico City
I am blown away by Mexico City. There’s so much history and culture with an endless number of things to see and do. Hotels, food, drinks, transportation, and activities are all ultra-cheap, making it the perfect locale for curious travelers on a budget. While this stay was only 4 days, we will be back for two weeks at the end of the month to really dive into the meat of it all.
1 thought on “Mexico City: The First Stop on Our Mexico Adventure”
everything ive seen and heard about Mexico city is that it’s really beautiful with amazing architecture! Great you guys are back together too and there are so many adventures in line for you lucky ducks!