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I'm trying to do more travel, and wanted to go somewhere this year, so I asked a friend and he said he'd been wanting to go to Mexico City. I've never spent much time in Mexico (a couple of hours in Juarez is it), but Mexico City sounds great as a destination. I think ten daysish probably sounds about right; we're looking for nice but not luxurious rooms, we both see the room as someplace to sleep and shower in, that we're in Mexico City to do things outside of the hotel, but I would prefer an actual hotel over an AirBnB. We'd like to go during Day of the Dead, neither of us have kids so we don't have to worry about anything family-friendly. We don't mind getting off the beaten path, but I'm not interested in overnight hikes or anything like that (though he may be, and we may split up), but I'm fine to walk a lot (I went to Japan last year and averaged about seven miles a day of walking, much more than 10 and I don't think my fat rear end could handle it, especially if there's a lot of verticality). Prefer to avoid driving if at all possible, would love to ride the trains/buses. We're both very white cis-hetero dudes, I'm in my early 40s he's in his early 30s, no mobility issues. My friend speaks some Spanish, I speak some French and enough Spanish to get stabbed in a bar (I only know the bad words). He is into hiking, and we're both into infrastructure, history, food, and drinks (beer and cocktails, primarily; I will absolutely drink wine, but it's not really something I seek out); no serious dietary restrictions. I love unique liquor; it doesn't have to be good (in fact, while great liquor is my favorite liquor, awful liquor is my second-favorite liquor); if someone distills something from some kind of poisonous cactus or something that tastes like rear end but makes your mouth tingle, I'm 100% in. I did some Googling, and it definitely seems like some of the high points would be to check out Tenochtitlan/The Museo Templo Mayer, National Museum of Anthropology, the National Palace, and maybe Teotihuacan, if it's not too hard to get out there. Plus, it would be great to do at least one tequila distillery tasting/tour, maybe one or more brewery tastings, too. So, lots of questions: *We're thinking leave late October, come back early November; would it be better to just leave right before the Day of the Dead celebration, and stay after? *We're flying out of Seattle (SeaTac, specifically); as far as airlines go, Delta and Aeromexico seem pretty competitive; I see very cheap flights from Volaris, but some Googling seems to indicate it's the Spirit Airlines of Mexico; should it be avoided? *I generally carry a couple hundred bucks in cash on me, along with a credit card, and leave another credit card in the safe at the hotel; is this the best way to go for Mexico, or are there better logistical ways to do it? Anything we should make a point of having/not having with us while we're there? *For lodging, I'd say we'd like to keep it below $200/night; the place I got in Tokyo based on a Goon recommendation was $90 a night, no frills, but very clean rooms with three beds, that was a block from a substantial subway station; if we could find something like that, that would be ideal; location is more important than amenities, though it would have to be very nice for a very good price if it didn't have internet. I'd love some specific hotel recommendations if you have them. *Where are good areas to stay in? Are there any areas that should be avoided? *I've had all the standard vaccines, plus Typhoid and Hepatitis A; doctor gave me some azithromycin just in case for digestive issues just in case for a trip to Cancun I wound up having to cancel earlier this year, any other health stuff I should be aware of? *Some of the stuff I've read suggests finding a guide, is there a good way to do that? I found a Tenochtitlan walking tour that looks cool, but it's hard to judge, and just a random site on the internet. *Food & drink recommendations; we both love trying new stuff, would love some places to drink, and like I said any local distilled liquor or unique beer/wine recommendations would be greatly appreciated. When I went to Japan, about 80% of the time we just went to places that looked decent near where we were, and that worked out excellently. It would be nice to get a couple of recommendations for high-end places to hit up while we're there, too. *As far as sites go, what's underrated? What's overrated, and should probably be skipped? Is there any place worth day-tripping out to, specifically (definitely thinking of Teotihuacan, here, but also anywhere else)? *What would be a good way to plan, like, a chill out & relax day in the middle of the trip? We did a ryokan in Nara for a night when I went to Japan, and that was great. *Anything I'm not asking about here that I should be asking about? Thank you for the help.
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Mar 29, 2024 00:44
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Since you have platinum, you might find some useful info in the Central / Latin America thread on T&T. Looks like you've done a decent amount of research already, so I'll just post about a few things I do know:quote:*Where are good areas to stay in? Are there any areas that should be avoided? Roma, Condesa, or Polanco. Condesa/Roma North would be my recommendation - walkable, lots of restaurants, near a metro line, nice. We stayed in Polanco which was OK but not quite as convenient as I think Condesa or Roma North would have been - but we needed a large house and there weren't a ton of options. I would avoid everywhere else, not necessarily because of safety but because Condesa/Roma are so much nicer, and Coyoacan is way too far from everything. AirBnB is going to be way better quality-per-peso than two hotel rooms. If you're going to share a room then I guess just see whatever hotel in the region looks good at whatever you're willing to spend - there's no shortage of options. quote:*Food & drink recommendations; we both love trying new stuff, would love some places to drink, and like I said any local distilled liquor or unique beer/wine recommendations would be greatly appreciated. When I went to Japan, about 80% of the time we just went to places that looked decent near where we were, and that worked out excellently. It would be nice to get a couple of recommendations for high-end places to hit up while we're there, too. You can also pretty much just hit up places that look decent near where you are. There are a million options at every price point. If you want to go to a particularly good/famous restaurant, book way in advance, like... weeks to months in advance if you want to go somewhere really fancy like Pujol or Quintonil. quote:*Some of the stuff I've read suggests finding a guide, is there a good way to do that? I found a Tenochtitlan walking tour that looks cool, but it's hard to judge, and just a random site on the internet. You don't need a guide anywhere in Mexico City. I'm not surprised that a website "getyourguide.com" recommends getting a guide for tying your shoelaces, though. You may very well get more out of a guide than you'd get from Wikipedia+printed signage. I get enough detail from signs that any additional detail I get from a highly-educated guide goes immediately in one ear and out the other, but that's very much a YMMV type of thing. quote:*I generally carry a couple hundred bucks in cash on me, along with a credit card, and leave another credit card in the safe at the hotel; is this the best way to go for Mexico, or are there better logistical ways to do it? Anything we should make a point of having/not having with us while we're there? Mexico City is a wealthy, massive, highly-developed first world city. Like any massive city there is some petty crime, but the only thing you have to do is pay attention to your pockets if you use the metro, and I guess don't wander around back alleys while hammered at night in sketchy neighborhoods. You don't need a water purifier and an air filter; the air quality in CDMX is fine. I mean if you live there it's a concern, but for ten days it's not going to give you the black lung. quote:Prefer to avoid driving if at all possible, would love to ride the trains/buses. maybe Teotihuacan, if it's not too hard to get out there. Take Uber to get everywhere, although occasionally the metro may be convenient depending on where you're going to/from. We used it to get to Teotihuacan, but then were unable to get an Uber back which was annoying; we took a bus but the bus was pretty mediocre (random schedule, difficult to find, totally 100% packed). You should go though, it's pretty incredible, even though they banned climbing the pyramid, which is mega-lame. No clue about Day of the Dead. Just keep in mind that the Day of the Dead idea you have in your mind is probably the one that was invented FROM James Bond. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/day-of-dead-james-bond-mexico-b2439974.html. I mean it's a traditional holiday, but it's not like carneval in Rio, where the films that use it as a setting are basing it on a real parade/event/festival. Well, they do it now, but again only post-Spectre coming out. Also keep in mind that that parade that James Bond invented, and which they do actually have now, it's not on November 1st, it's on some random day ± 1 week from Nov 1st, since again it's not an actual tradition and people already have their traditional plans for the actual Day of the Dead. Or at least, that's all my understanding of it, someone who lives in CDMX may have more insight.
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Mar 29, 2024 12:30
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Saladman posted:Since you have platinum, you might find some useful info in the Central / Latin America thread on T&T. Looks like you've done a decent amount of research already, so I'll just post about a few things I do know: quote:Roma, Condesa, or Polanco. Condesa/Roma North would be my recommendation - walkable, lots of restaurants, near a metro line, nice. We stayed in Polanco which was OK but not quite as convenient as I think Condesa or Roma North would have been - but we needed a large house and there weren't a ton of options. I would avoid everywhere else, not necessarily because of safety but because Condesa/Roma are so much nicer, and Coyoacan is way too far from everything. AirBnB is going to be way better quality-per-peso than two hotel rooms. If you're going to share a room then I guess just see whatever hotel in the region looks good at whatever you're willing to spend - there's no shortage of options. quote:You can also pretty much just hit up places that look decent near where you are. There are a million options at every price point. If you want to go to a particularly good/famous restaurant, book way in advance, like... weeks to months in advance if you want to go somewhere really fancy like Pujol or Quintonil. quote:You don't need a guide anywhere in Mexico City. I'm not surprised that a website "getyourguide.com" recommends getting a guide for tying your shoelaces, though. You may very well get more out of a guide than you'd get from Wikipedia+printed signage. I get enough detail from signs that any additional detail I get from a highly-educated guide goes immediately in one ear and out the other, but that's very much a YMMV type of thing. quote:Mexico City is a wealthy, massive, highly-developed first world city. Like any massive city there is some petty crime, but the only thing you have to do is pay attention to your pockets if you use the metro, and I guess don't wander around back alleys while hammered at night in sketchy neighborhoods. You don't need a water purifier and an air filter; the air quality in CDMX is fine. I mean if you live there it's a concern, but for ten days it's not going to give you the black lung. quote:Take Uber to get everywhere, although occasionally the metro may be convenient depending on where you're going to/from. We used it to get to Teotihuacan, but then were unable to get an Uber back which was annoying; we took a bus but the bus was pretty mediocre (random schedule, difficult to find, totally 100% packed). You should go though, it's pretty incredible, even though they banned climbing the pyramid, which is mega-lame.
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Apr 2, 2024 04:15
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Ham Equity posted:I actually went looking for this and didn't find it in the first several pages of the forum, is it just in the archives? The Latin America thread; also I meant to look at the most recent ones, not the first ones. https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2838711&pagenumber=82#lastpost Ham Equity posted:The plan is to get a hotel room with two beds. Neither of us are really into hooking up with random people on vacation, so I think it should be fine (most recent trip to Japan their were three of us and sharing one room with three beds across four different cities was without issue). Yeah, I mean whatever works for you. If you've slept in the same room with someone before you know how it goes; I have a couple friends that are snore-ers and I wouldn't share a room with. I also like apartments since then you have a couch and a living room to hang out with, and I don't really like sitting on beds, but ymmv and anyway you'll be out most of the day. Ham Equity posted:Is the best place to find a couple fancy places to eat just to hit up the Michelin guide? Any Goon-recommended secret spots? Yeah, bib Michelin is usually a good bet. Here's a writeup a Mexican friend of mine who's a foodie did about a year and a half ago with my comments in bold for the ones we went to. You can Google them and see which ones match your vibe of course, the pictures will be generally pretty representative. Desayunos: Lardo (mi favorito indiscutible para desayunos) - we went here and I guess it was decent? I don't remember anything about the food. Lalo Finesse El Cardenal (las conchas con nata, te mueres) Café Toscano Catamundi ---- we went here and I really liked it Ciena Panadería Rosetta -- we went here and I thought it was decent but not extraordinary. It would go out of business in a few months anywhere in France, but maybe Mexicans like dry, non-flaky croissants. Cafe Nin Eno Filigrana Niddo Comidas o cenas: Maximo Tetetlan - went here and loved it. It's way out south. Galanga Thai House Sartoria (la pasta con trufa) Rosetta Quintonil Ticuchi Nicos (de mis favoritos mexicanos) El Bar Sella (pide el chamorro) Anónimo Elly’s (el pollo es espectacular) EM La Docena Barra de Fran Carmela y Sal - also went here and really liked it. Matea Imbiss Migrante Mi Compa Chava (mariscos) Tamales Madre Amaya Meroma Fonda Margarita La Poblanita - went here and was not particularly impressed Pasillo de Humo Bares y para echar el cotorreo con amigos: Contratar (mi favorito de los viernes) Parnita (echas un taco y cotorreas) Hugo Wine Bar Botánico - we went here and I really liked it. Caimán Jardín Paraíso Leonor Cityzen - went here and really liked it. I really like tower bars/restaurants though. We also went to their restaurant on the 13th floor, accidentally, and then went to the bar at the top. Both were good although as for any tower restaurant, the price:quality ratio is never particularly favorable. Reserve in advance for the outdoor terrace on the roof! Tacos: El Venadito El Califa -- we went here and it's a "meh" small chain, but as you like. Personally I much prefer TexMex tacos to Mexican tacos, so that was probably also of the issue. Also it was loud as gently caress. La barbacoa de Los Tres Reyes Orinoco Cocuyos Parnita Cariñito Los Parados El Vilsito Sushi: Kura Iwashi Rokai Ikigai Kyo Madai Umai Yoru Pizza: Ardente Felix Milk Los Cancinos Balboa drat, now I'm hungry after googling those names to remember which ones we went to. Also generally reserve in advance - many days in advance, or even weeks for something like Pujol or Quintonil or anything else that gets a Michelin star. Ham Equity posted:It's less that I'm scared of getting robbed or whatever, more that, like, in Japan you were required to carry around a passport with you at all times as a foreigner Ah, yeah. I never carry my passport while walking around, the one-in-a-billion chance of getting hassled by a cop seems much less of a risk than accidentally losing my passport by fumbling it out of my pants into a storm drain while reaching for my wallet, or getting pickpocketed. YMMV, and in some countries (though probably not Mexico) it probably also depends on your skin color and what language you're speaking in the street. I certainly wouldn't carry a passport around CDMX in the metro, at most I'd just carry a photocopy.
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Apr 2, 2024 16:41
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