If you love sugar and spice, and everything nice, then a Mexico holiday might just be your answer to my favourite question – “Where next?”
Mexico is the whole enchilada of adventures waiting to be had – history, food, culture, and nature. As we stand in 2024, only few anthropological mysteries remain unresolved, and one of the most significant ones shrouds the rise and fall of civilizations in the region of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. As many locals and an historian who was our tour guide told us, pre-hispanic history is also incredibly difficult to reconstruct accurately, because much of what we know today is heavily influenced by the Spanish interpretation and record.
You need atleast 2 weeks, to explore all the country, but if you want to get a quick flavour of the country, plan a week-long trip, covering Mexico City and any of the beach towns along the Mayan Riviera.
Getting around in Mexico
While inter-city buses are available, the timings tend to be fluid, with unscheduled stops. Air travel is faster and more reliable.
Uber works well within Mexico City, but resort towns like Tulum and Cancun do not have any ride-hailing apps and rely on their own internal taxi network (which tend to be expensive!)
Keep an eye on the weather – summer in Mexico means thunderstorms and sapping temperatures, plan your day ( and clothes!) accordingly
Mexico City
The effervescent capital city of Mexico (CDMX) is in a long-term love affair with colour. It is special because this is not a relationship created for tourists to take pictures but love, for love’s sake. The streets, shops and houses are done up in bright pops of colour, elaborate wall murals wink at you from every other corner, and even the streetlights are occasionally covered in neon pink cotton candy ( true story!)
What stands out as you walk around the city, however, is the archaeological effort. Mexico City is a unique, composite unit – civilizations piled one on top of the other – from the pre-Hispanic Aztec ruins to Spanish colonial racetracks, to 21st century dog parks. In recent years there has been a renewal in efforts to discover the city’s roots, and open excavation sites are everywhere.
At the center of the city in the Zocalo region, are the ruins of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital from the 1300s. It was founded by the Mexica people, who came to central Mexico to fulfill a prophecy – one that involved seeking out an eagle perched on a cactus, holding a snake (a symbol now featured on Mexico’s national flag). At its peak, the city is estimated to have been home to 200,000 people, making it one of the largest cities of its time.
Recent excavations have made imagining the grandeur of these sites much easier, there are two wonderful museums that you can spend an entire day exploring.
National Museum of Anthropology: One of the most significant anthropology museums in the world, exhibiting the history of Mexico and its indigenous groups. The sprawling 23 room museums starts from the inhabitation of the Americas, in 1000 BC and tells a beautiful narrative through the Pre-Classical period, the age of Teotihuacan, The Toltecs, The Mexica, Mayans, and Aztecs and several other tribes. Keep an eye out for the hoops used in Ollamalitzli – A Mesoamerican ball game consisting of vertical hoops anchored to the wall; players were required to shoot the ball through the hoop, without using their hands!
Pro-tip - Big bags are required to be checked in, and the lines can get very long, so travel light. Entry is free on Sunday.
As a bonus, the museum borders on Chapultapec Park – a beautiful space in the middle of city for quiet evening walks. It is even bigger than New York’s central park!
Templo Mayor Museum – Dedicated to findings from the excavations of the Templo Mayor, or Grand Temple ( Nothing to do with the Mayans, I got a little confused too)
The vibrant markets of CDMX deserve a full two days in your itinerary. It is (fervently) believed that if you can’t find something in the chaotic, winding lanes of the mercados, then it simply does not exist.
Hit up the Artesenias La Ciudadela – for little trinkets – clothes, jewelry, art, knick-knacks for home. For more exclusive merchandise take a stroll in the artsy district of Polanco, you will see several boutique stores and small businesses with quirky merchandise.
Experiencing local food demands a lot of strength. There’s so much to try, and so little time ( and space!) It can get very overwhelming to navigate through the nested markets. The best way to start is to a book a food tour. That way you can get a mild introduction, sample a little bit of everything, get authentic recommendations. We made the best decision by going with eatlikealocal – they curated a sublime day for us.
We recommend it all – from non-descript street vendors serving up sweaty tacos in baskets – soft, juicy tacos bakes in layers, swimming in hot oil and onions - , delicious quesadillas stuffed with meat, or potatoes, banana flowers and cactus leaves for vegetarians, crunchy snacks of roasted chinicuiles, chapulines, chicatanas ( yup, insects) and finishing up with all kinds of candy and fruit.
When in Mexico, remember to experiment with salsa – most restaurants have their own recipes and use a variety of ingredients – Salsa Roja features bright red tomatoes and jalapenos, Salsa verde is packed with green tomatoes and tonnes of cilantro, Chile de Arbol is made with a specific kind of chilli and garlic – the list is endless.
Day Trips from Mexico City
Xochimilco
About 45 minutes away from the city, is the borough of Xochimilco. Dating back to the Aztec times, the area was once a lively network of interconnected canals and a lake. It served as the breadbasket for the city , growing and trading crops on artificial islands or chinampas. You can book a half day excursion, or even use the Metro to get here. Today it is more a tourist attraction, with gondolas charging an arm and a leg to ferry you through the canals, mariachi bands, and food stalls, but it is worth the trip, simply to marvel at the ingenuity of the construction of this system.
Teotihuacan
Often called the "City of the Gods", Teotihuacan is an ancient Mesoamerican metropolis located about 50 kilometers northeast of Mexico City. It was established around 100 BCE and thrived till roughly 550 CE. A lot of our interpretation about the remains of the city are courtesy the Aztecs, who came centuries later. The site has monumental pyramids - Temple of the Sun, and Temple of the Moon, and the Temple of the Feathered Serpent. The ruins of the city walls tell wonderous stories of what the city looked like, its houses and communal spaces, 1500 years ago.
Tulum
One of Mexico’s most well-recognized towns, the sunny Tulum started out as a flourishing Mayan trading port, flourishing between the 13th and 15th centuries. It’s almost a pity that it has turned into the poster child for Instagram, with its pristine beaches dotted with resort after resort, and a ‘downtown’ that is packed with done-up bars and clubs, all meant for framing that perfect photograph. (I love a good all-day brunch, but I found myself asking, did I really need to travel to the middle of Mexico for it?)
Nevertheless, if you want to experience unspoilt, soft sandy beaches, and some solitude, then check into a resort inside the Tulum National Park. This is a conserved area, with an entry fee, and several restrictions like no plastic, no drone flying…, but on the plus side, it is less crowded, and away from the tired downtown.
Day Trip from Cancun/Tulum – Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza is one of the most famous archaeological sites of the Maya civilization, located in the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico. The city-state was founded around the 5th century CE and flourished for over 500 years. The easiest way to visit the ruins, is to book an excursion – they usually include a visit to a cenote, or sinkhole, tequila tasting, and demonstrations on the use of materials like the Agave leaf and obsidian and are absolutely worth it.
The most remarkable structure in the ruins today is the Pyramid of Kukulkan - The Feathered Serpent – built with incredible astronomical precision. During the spring and autumn equinoxes, as the sun sets, the shadows cast create the illusion of a snake slithering down the pyramid’s steps, culminating at the stone carving of a serpent’s head at the base of the pyramid.
Some more on cenotes – The Mayan Riviera is home to thousands of them. Cenotes are sinkholes with dramatic limestone walls, descending down to revealing sparkling blue and emerald waters in underground rivers and freshwater pools, making it ideal for swimming and even snorkeling. This list from Travel and Leisure is very useful!
Mexico bears the burden of a number of stereotypes about safety, cleanliness etc, but most of them are not justified. If you take reasonable precautions, as you would whether you’re in heart of Paris, Athens, Saigon, Delhi, or New York, you’re all set for a fabulous holiday.
P.S. Anyone know how to read a Mayan Birthchart? I bought one, and I’m failing miserably to decipher it.