There are so many reasons to LOVE Mexico City here are just a measly 10!
This is the second post in a two part series. Check out the other side of the argument: 10 Reasons to NOT LOVE Mexico City! As you will notice, many of the items on this list are also on the other list. Read them both and you’ll see why!
As I mentioned in my first post of this two part series, I was petrified to visit Mexico City. Once Mexico made it onto my radar, I started getting first hand accounts of Mexico City. It made it much more real and much less scary.
I wound up spending 10 days in Mexico City and absolutely fell in LOVE with this beautiful city. I tend to get lured to gritty, real destinations. I crave street food, local flavors, and architecture and Mexico City had it all.
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Safety was a big concern for me. I mean it is Mexico City.
I am happy to report, I felt pretty safe in Mexico City. I am certainly not going to say go run around at 2am, drunk, alone with money hanging out chyo pockets. But in the main drags, I felt comfortable walking around with a purse, by myself. I even rode the infamously dangerous subway and actually laughed at how scared I was to do so once I saw the actual conditions! (Spoiler: it was all businessmen!)
10 Reasons to LOVE Mexico City
Architecture
I’m going to let photos do a lot of the talking for this one. In general, the architecture of Mexico City left me in awe. It felt like each building had a story to tell. From small, residential housing buildings to the beautiful, colorful dome of the Bellas Artes museum; every building seemed as though it was trying to show itself off.
Doors
I LOVE DOORS! I REALLY LOVE DOORS!
I promise you this, when I do settle in for the long haul my housing will have a grand entryway. I will spend my life until that point doing research in every city I meet.
Mexico City was a great place to wander the streets, especially the Condesa neighborhood, and gaze at the doors and architecture. I love lazy strolls around beautiful cities.
Neighborhoods
Each area of Mexico City had its own vibe or identity. Condesa/Roma Norte was the hipster or Brooklyn style, the centre historico was full of history and tradition but flooded with tourists and Polanco is the upper west side/wealthy district. It almost felt like I was visiting different cities within the cities.
Culture
Mexico City was an awesome blend of tradition and cutting edge. You can find street vendors making hand made tortillas like locals have for centuries. You can also find extremely contemporary neighborhoods and eateries, busses running on biofuel and there’s even a city bike program.
Infrastructure
This was one of the easiest cities to navigate. There were taxi apps and ubers and taxis hailed on the street were safe and reliable and traffic, generally, wasn’t awful. The subway was a great, cheap alternative, that surprisingly I found out was safe to travel around major tourist hubs.
Museums
Mexico loves its museums. I’ve never visited that many museums in my whole life, let alone in one city. Surprisingly, they weren’t boring! Most were incredibly well done! We even stumbled upon an incredible sculpture museum highlighting a local artist. You could spend weeks wandering through Frida Kahlo’s house, the Bella Artes, and the National Archeaology Museum.
Zocalo
Most Central American cities, I found, had zocalos or city squares. Mexico City’s zocalo was epic. On one side you have a huge cathedral, on another you have the royal palace, an another side is the entrance to a street lined with beautifully restored historical buildings with starbucks on their first floors. I sat on the steps in front of one set of buildings for quite some time staring at the madness of the Zocalo.
Starbucks
This is one of those things that was both a positive and a negative. There were Starbucks at almost every corner in Mexico City. It was nice to be able to get a familiar drink to sip on whilst wandering around the city. There were other creature comforts from the USA that have made their way into Mexican territory like Walmart and Home Depot. There are many positives to having familiar shops but there is also the argument that this takes away from the traditional culture of the country.
Food
The food and beverage scene in Mexico City is nuts. I’d be shocked if in the next few years it doesn’t become a foodie destination. Trends like craft cocktails have hit the neighborhood eateries and with such a focus on Mescal in the area, it lends itself to a really unique spin on the whole concept.
Safety
Finally, to wrap it up, safety. I was blown away with how safe I felt in Mexico City. Mind you, this is in comparison to how unsafe I thought I was going to feel. I definitely still felt more on edge wandering the city’s streets than I have in other areas of Mexico. It was a wonderful surprise and really, ultimately, made it easy for me to fall in love.
Have you ever visited Mexico? Why did you go? Do you recommend it?
