My husband and I love Mexico City, it is a beautiful City with a lot of culture, museums, food, traditions, crafts, etc.
We go every year to Mexico and we will go forever. the best area to stay it is the Pink Zone.

Our Best Vacation Ever
My wife, Betty, and I wanted to spend some time in Mexico City at the conclusion of our cruise of the Panama Canal. Never having been there and not speaking Spanish, we needed a guide/mentor. What we found was Mojdeh and her Journeys Beyond the Surface a (http://www.travelmexicocity.com.mx) it was our best vacation ever.
We were intrigued by Mojdeh’s web-site which promises, “a bridge available for people who want to have a personal interaction with the city.” That phrase describes us to a “T” and Mojdeh delivered all that and more. We not only got to see all the tourist attractions that were on our list, but we did indeed have our personal interaction with the city.
We met with Mojdeh our first night in the city and had a delightful dinner with her as we plotted out the details of our, unfortunately too short, three full days in Mexico City. Mojdeh is this 47 year old bundle of energy, originally from Iran, who by a somewhat circuitous route, found Mexico City and made it her home. By the end of that first night we knew we had found a kindred spirit and a new friend.
Our first full day in Mexico City we did the Zocolo and the surrounding Metropolitan Cathedral, the National Palace with its magnificent Diego Rivera murals, and the, not to be missed under any circumstance, Aztec Templo Mayor. We then took the clean, modern and cheap Metro to the Palacio de Bellas Artes, the spectacular, Art Deco performing arts center. We finished our walking tour with a visit a quick cappuccino and a visit to the Central Post Office and its staircase that seems to defy gravity. Mojdeh had arranged for her colleague, Alvarro, to accompany us on our day in the Centro Historico. He was a delight: a sculptor who is also a student of ancient and historic Mexico. We got to see the center of Mexico City through his insightful and loving eyes. He even took us to a restaurant that he had frequented as a student – it became one of our favorites.
On our second day, we spent the morning at the Museo Nacionaldo Antropologia with its unbelievable collection of pre-hispanic art by region. This museum deserves more time than the half day we had on our schedule, but even on our short tour this dramatic presentation of Mexican culture and art was enough to convince us we need to return to Mexico City. As we were leaving the museum, our driver noticed that the Voladoras were preparing for a performance and so we stayed to watch these flying dancers tether long ropes to their feet and wind themselves around a rotating wheel at the top of a several hundred foot high pole. They then fell backwards and began spiraling slowly back to earth, arms outstretched while playing an eerie tune on a whistle-like flute and drum.
Our driver was Jose Luis, a bright, personable young man with a brand new taxi he had just purchased. Jose Luis knows the city well and made sure that we got to see a little of everything as we traveled between major sites.
We next visited the Universidad Nacional Automona de Mexico (UNAM) with its iconic central library and 300,000 students. The cube-shaped library with the tiled frescos on its four sides was designed by Juan O’Gorman and in itself is worth the drive to the university.
By this time we were ready for a late lunch and told Jose Luis to find someplace. He asked us if we would enjoy a Mexican buffet. When we said yes, he drove us to a restaurant in the working-class district of Santa Domingo. It wasn’t until we got there that he told us the restaurant was owned by his aunt, Lety. This was one of the best experiences of our time in Mexico City: We met the family, heard the life stories and had the best meal of our stay in the city.
We spent the early evening in the once colonial town of Coyoacan that has managed to retain its charm even though it is now surrounded by Mexico City. On this Saturday night, the streets and parks were crowded with vendor booths, street performers and locals enjoying the end of the work week. At the local church a wedding was starting and we joined the on-lookers for a few minutes.
Sunday, we visited the ancient city of the largest archeological site in Mesoamerica. We climbed the 248 steps to the top of the 213 foot high Pyramid of the Sun and touched the embedded coin as we raised our open palms to the sum. We walked the Avenue of the Dead and marveled at how well this city is preserved compared to other ancient cities we have seen. The small museum presents the treasures of the site in a very attractive manner. This museum, as well as the others we visited, is a beautiful, well maintained building in its own right.
For lunch, we ate in a restaurant, La Gruta, build in a cave with seating for up to 700. It was beautiful and unique. After lunch we traveled to the Villa de Guadalupe. Not being practicing Catholics, we were not sure that we wanted to spend any of our limited time at this shrine to Mexico’s patron saint. We’re glad we did.
It happened to be Palm Sunday and the huge grounds were packed. Thousands were at Mass at the Nueva Basilica and everyone carried intricately woven and decorated palms to be blessed. Jose Luis asked if it would be all right if he got palms for his mother and aunt. We, of course, said yes and then suggested that he should join the throngs to get them blessed. It was a real treat to participate, vicariously, in this once-a-year celebration.
That evening we had dinner with Mojdeh in a restaurant overlooking the Zocolo and reminisce on our delightful visit to Mexico City. Afterwards, Betty and Mojdeh shopped in the Zocolo for trinkets to take home.
Before arriving in Mexico City we were apprehensive about our safety due to all the media in the U. S. about crime and drug wars in Mexico. At one time we even considered canceling the visit, but in both emails before our trip and once we were there, Mojdeh made it OK. We never felt threatened or uncomfortable and everyone we met was pleasant and polite – especially Mojdeh’s colleagues.
As a result of our visit, we have come to understand that Mexico City is a major world capitol and should be on everyone’s list of places to visit. And, hopefully, you too will find a new friend like Mojdeh.

John & Betty

Most of my friends wondered why I would go to Mexico City for a short vacation. I wanted to see the art and c ulture and skip the beach and it was well worth it.

Day 1- the Zocala square, to see the great Rivera murals and the nearby ruins and then to the antropological museum. Day 2- the pyramids outside of the city and the Frieda Kahlo house. Day 3- a trip to Taxco for silver jewelry.

The people were friendly, the streets were clean, the food was great and our hotel, the Embassy Suites, was perfect. They offered a guide, Luis Suarez [--], who has perfect English, a deep knowledge of the history, and is an exceptional guide. We highly recommend him.

As recommended in the guidebooks, we didn't venture out on foot at night, we used only hotel taxis, the traffic in Mexico City is worse than you can imagine, but this is a great place to visit and I plan to go again someday.

After spending 10 delightful days in Mexico City and Oaxaca I feel that the negative press that the city and country have been receiving is a great disservice to Mexico and to would-be tourists who are deterred from traveling there because of fear of being caught in the drug war. I traveled with my wife and 2 other couples; we never had any concerns for our safety. We stayed in a lovely B & B in La Condesa [The Red Tree House] which is a residential area with many restaurants and cafes ranging from outstanding taco places to fine dining. We walked in the evening to dinner and rode the subway during the day.
We hired a driver to go to the Pyramides and were fortunate to find a guide who made our visit truly memorable. His name is Tonatiuh Cervantes, but he jokingly says that we should call him Tom Cruise. He is very handsome, speaks excellent English and is a great storyteller. He is very proud of his Indian heritage and shares a lot of personal info about his family history, Indian rituals and legends. You can arrange a guided tour with him by e-mail: tonatiuh.cervantes@gmail.com.
We also had a great guide, Israel, at the Palacio National for the Diego Rivera murals. The guided tours are free and if Israel is there you should definitely take the time to have him give you an insightful description of the murals.