Getting there & around

Getting there

Most people fly into Mexico City International Airport (MEX), officially Benito Juárez, the country’s main hub with direct flights from across the Americas and Europe. It sits close to the centre on the east side. A second airport, Felipe Ángeles (NLU), sits well north of the city, is used by some budget and domestic routes, and is far less convenient. Check which one your ticket actually uses, because the transfer times are very different.

From MEX into the central colonias, order an Uber or DiDi from the app and meet it at the designated rideshare pickup, which is cheaper and cleaner than the marked-up “taxi autorizado” desks inside the terminal. Reckon on 30 to 60 minutes and roughly 150 to 350 MXN depending on traffic and time of day (approximate). The airport also connects to Metro Line 5, but hauling luggage through a rush-hour Metro is not worth the few pesos saved.

Long-distance buses in Mexico are excellent and leave from four main terminals by direction: TAPO (east, for Puebla, Veracruz, Oaxaca), Terminal Norte (north, for Teotihuacán-area and the Bajío), Taxqueña (south, for Cuernavaca and Taxco), and Observatorio/Poniente (west, for Toluca and Michoacán). First-class lines like ADO, ETN, and Primera Plus are genuinely comfortable, with assigned seats and air conditioning. Puebla runs roughly 2 to 2.5 hours, Querétaro about 3, Oaxaca 6 or so (approximate). Book popular routes ahead on holiday weekends.

Getting around

• Metro. Cheap, huge, and fast when it is not rush hour, with a flat low fare on a rechargeable card. It is standing-room packed and pickpocket-prone at peak times, so keep your bag zipped and in front. The front cars are reserved for women and children during busy hours. Great for beating surface traffic across the centre.
• Rideshare (Uber and DiDi). The default for most visitors: cheap by North American or European standards, safe, no haggling, and a record of the trip. The catch is traffic, which can make a two-kilometre hop take 25 minutes.
• Metrobús. Dedicated-lane express buses that cover corridors the Metro misses, including Paseo de la Reforma and Insurgentes. Uses the same rechargeable card; a red one you tap on entry.
• Ecobici. The city bike-share is genuinely useful in flat, leafy Roma, Condesa, and along Reforma, especially on car-free Sunday mornings.
• Walking. Within and between Roma, Condesa, Juárez, and much of the Centro, walking is often the fastest and most pleasant option.

Honest comfort notes

The altitude of about 2,240 metres is the thing nobody warns you about. Expect to be a little short of breath and to feel alcohol faster for the first day or two; go easy and drink water. Traffic is the real enemy of your schedule, not distance, so cluster each day by colonia rather than criss-crossing the valley. Air quality is worst in the dry pre-rain months of February to May, which can bother sensitive lungs. If you rent a car for a day trip, know that driving inside the city is stressful and parking is scarce; take a bus or a rideshare instead and save the car for open road. See the day trips page for how the regional buses connect.