We traveled to Mexico City for the first time over Labor Day weekend. It’s a quick 2.5 hour flight from Austin, and we found everything to be incredibly affordable once we arrived, making it the perfect long weekend getaway. I’ve outlined our itinerary below. A star denotes my favorites, and we already have a long list of things we want to do on our next visit!

We stayed at Chaya B&B, and couldn’t have loved our suite more (I mean…that tub!). The B&B is located on a rooftop, is incredibly stylish, and made me want to decorate my entire house with greenery. Chaya is located in downtown Mexico City, which allowed us to get a great taste of the weekend and weekday culture downtown.

Day 1:

Dinner @ Azul Historico*
Highlight: Escamoles, which are ant eggs – think insect caviar!

Lucha Libre CMLL @ Arena Mexico*
This was a complete highlight of the trip for me. The performers were talented, and the crowd was electric.

Tips:

• Buy tickets a few weeks ahead of time on Ticketmaster.
• When you arrive, check in at the box office to pick up your tickets (the security guards as the entrances can direct you).
• You will be ushered to your seat and offered beer and snacks throughout the event, and will settle up at the end with your vendors.
• We watched documentary Lucha Mexico ahead of time – and also happen to be Glow fans – both of which provided a ton of context  for what was going on.

Day 2:

Breakfast @ Chaya B&B
Highlight: Chilaquiles – tortilla chips in a flavorful sauce (I prefer red to green), with an egg on top and beans on the side.

Coffee @ Café Negro
Highlight: Their beautiful design and kind service.

Visit @ Museo Frida Kahlo* (Frida’s home, now a museum)
Highlight: Everything. Frida’s photographs and paintings (some unfinished), Diego’s overalls, Frida’s studio (above) and bed.

Tips:

• Buy tickets online ahead of time or you’ll wait in a very long line.
• Watch (or re-watch!) Frida before you go – it was so fun to see many sites in Mexico City with with movie fresh in my mind. I ran out of time to read Frida’s biography ahead of time, but will do for our next visit.

Shopping @ El Bazar Sabado
Highlight: Only open on Saturdays, the indoor section of this market is a collection of beautiful boutiques that showcase handcrafted products.

Lunch @ San Angel Inn
Highlight: The beautiful spread, and the government officials and their bodyguards that were there for lunch. This is high-end Mexico City.

Visit @ Frida and Diego’s Studio
We didn’t go inside (Tim was experiencing Frida fatigue), but plan to next time. Even the outside was  beautiful and exciting to see.

Drinks @ El Azotea
This spot was located on the rooftop of our hotel – beautiful view.

Drinks @ La Clandestina*
NOT to be missed for mezcal. Our waiter was fantastic and made great recommendations – we tried several mezcals in different styles from all over Mexico, and I learned a ton.

Dinner @ Contramar
Highlight: A tuna version of steak frites – delicious. I also had my favorite mezcal of the trip here: Mal Mezcal.

Day 3:

Breakfast @ El Cardenal*
Highlight: This old-school spot was lovely. Don’t miss their special hot chocolate or delicious pastries (which are offered to all before ordering your main). They had a huge selection of egg dishes, and everything looked amazing.

Tips:

• We got there at 9am and didn’t have to wait at all. By the time we left, it was packed.
• They have a few locations – we went to the Palma one.

Visit @ Palacio Nacional
Highlight: a series of beautiful Diego Rivera murals depicting the history of Mexico.

Tip:

• Mexico’s National Palace is free to visit, but they limit the number of visitors per hour, so arrive early (we got there at about 10:30am).

After a hugely filling breakfast, we skipped lunch and bar-hopped in the afternoon. We tried a variety of Mezcals and light snacks at these three beautiful spots:
@ El Traspatio
@ Broka Bistrot
@ Balmori Roofbar* – I’ve never seen more innovative, creative cocktails (see above popcorn surprise!), and the rooftop was lovely.

Churros @ Churrería el Moro*
Founded in 1935, there are now several locations throughout the city. They’re all stylish and delicious. Not to be missed!

Dinner @ Guillos
The tortillas we had in Mexico City were the best I’ve ever had, and this taco spot in our hotel complex was no exception.

Let’s be honest: sometimes you just need to drink a bottle of mezcal and have a dance party in your beautiful hotel room. That was our Sunday night, and is one of my favorite memories from the trip.

Day 4:

We found out on Monday that many businesses in Mexico City are closed on Monday, so we ended up missing out on a few restaurants we had wanted to try (oops).

Breakfast @ Maque
Highlight: A lovely bakery in the Condesa neighborhood. It literally smelled like butter – a great sign in my book. Afterwards, we walked around Parque Mexico, a gorgeous park where lots of people were out with their dogs.

Lunch @ La Bota
Highlight: The eclectic decor and the Patatas Bravas — also, the portions here were huge. We hear this is a great place to go to after Lucha Libre matches.

Shopping @ Barrio Alameda
These are the shops downstairs from our hotel. We checked out all the shops and picked up a couple souvenirs.

Shopping @ Hotel Downtown*
This is the shopping center in which we dined at Azul on our first night. Similar to El Bazar Sabado, there are a few floors of boutiques. My favorite was Parakata Galeria, where I said no to many gorgeous decor items that were out of my price range, and yes to the sweetest chicken napkin rings.

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