Mexican Travel Blog, Part 4
April 10-13, Mexico City, reprise and general advice
The final days I spent in Mexico City were—after I had rebooked my apartment—fine. Eclipse stress gone, so I could relax. This time I did chance upon a few really nice spots: a little Italian restaurant that had some decidedly good pizza, an ecological delicatessen-cum-coffeeshop that had good coffee and snacks and a good Mexican restaurant.
I also visited the Museum of Modern Art—which is located next to the Bosque de Chapultec I, which I really enjoyed. A few pictures of some of the art I really liked. Also, it only charges 60 pesos (cash, no credit card) and is a nice building with some nice seats in its very centre. You don’t even have to go in, as there are a number of interesting sculptures outside, as well. If they had a coffee shop it would have been perfect.
All in all, I had a relatively alright time in Roma Norte, even if I found that really nice spots at my final days. Will I go back? Probably not, as I get a better vibe—and value for money—in Spain, which is only a two-and-a-half hour flight away (instead of eleven plus jetlag). Only if I have a compelling reason.
Maybe, Mexico is alright if one visits the old Aztec and Maya ruins in the Yucatan peninsula. Maybe it’s nice if you’re able to travel around. However, with drug gang violence in many places, the latter is not an option. Of the three accomodation booings I made, two fell through. This is ridiculous, and another reason for me to avoid Mexico. If I can’t trust the bookings I made, then why should I go at all? In contrast, the bookings I made in Chile during the 2019 total solar eclipse were all honoured. I also visited Panama and Trinida and Tobago for business, also without booking problems. So it is possible in Latin America, but not in Mexico (in my personal experience).
April 13 I went to the Benito Juarez airport to fly home (via Paris CDG as this saved quite a bit of money on my business class ticket). On flying business class with KLM and Air France: I flew to Mexico city with KLM in a 787-9 dreamliner. This is a nice and quiet modern airplane. I flew back from Mexico City with Air France in an Airbus 350—also a modern and quiet airplane. I actually liked both the airplane (the Airbus) better and the business class seats of Air France. On top of that, you can slide a door closed indicating that you do not want to be disturbed plus it gives you more privacy. Plus there was more closeby storage space for my laptop (so I didn’t have to haul it from the overhead compartment). Plus the slide-out table was of one piece (it’s a foldout at KLM) providing much better support.
Of course, both business class seats will go fully flat, yet those of Air France in the airbus had much more room for my feet, which made sleeping much nicer and easier. And while having a stopover at CDG on my way to Schiphol is a little pain in the neck, I found this was more than compensated by the superior experience of Air France’s business class. KLM, take note!
Finally, a few tips when travelling to Mexico (if you’re so inclined):
Can’t mention this enough: try to avoid areas where drug gangs operate. They won’t just rob you, but kill you as well;
Get some Mexican money before arriving at Mexico City airport—say, about 1000 to 1500 pesos—because taxis don’t accept credit cards;
But no more than 1,500 pesos because money exchange companies in The Netherlands charge very unfavourable exchange rates. I paid €108 for 1,500 pesos (less than 15 pesos per euro), while the official exchange rate was 18 pesos per euro) YMMV in when travelling from other countries, but always check ahead;
The best way to get Mexican pesos is to get them from an ATM that accepts your local debit card. Banco Santander accepted my local Dutch debit cards and charged 38 pesos (about €2,20) per transaction. Do not accept the local exchange rate (actually, Banco Santander didn’t ask for this). I paid €285 for 5,000 pesos, which at 17.54 pesos per euro was pretty close to the official exchange of 17.80 pesos per euro (as of early April 2024);
Unfortunately, banks like BBVA and Banorte did not accept my local debit card (and keep in mind they charge extra fees when you want to withdraw money with your credit card);
My Visa credit card was accepted almost everyhwere: in corner shops (the ubiquitous Oxxo), coffee shops, bars and restaurants;
Nevertheless, do carry an amount of cash—I got 5,000 pesos until they ran out, then got 5,000 pesos again—because sometimes the internet or the connection to it fails and then you can only pay by cash;
Get a local simcard via an electronics shop like Steren (where I bought the power adapter that I forgot). I didn’t, thinking a foreign pass with my current provider of 500 MB would suffice. Well, it didn’t because halfway through my stay in Mazatlan the internet in my apartment failed, and then 3 GB via the local network for about 300 pesos would have come in very handy indeed. So get a local simcard, if only because the internet in your hotel or apartment might fail anytime;
Take Norrit or some other type of diarrhea stopper. I had food poising—albeit relatively mildly—throughout my stay in Mexico, which limited the amount I wanted to explore due to the possible (un-)availability of toilets;
Bring sunscreen—UV is already very high in early Spring—and mosquito repellent (you don’t want to get malaria);
Try to travel in the off-season and outside of large events—otherwise prices for accomodation will be jacked up, and renters will often cancel your early booking in order to rehire for a much higher price. When that happens, websites like booking.com and hotels.com are of little help, as they do not punish these people (they do not remove them from their listings), and they cannot provide alternate accomodation because during an eclipse everything—and I mean everything—will be fully booked;
Avoid local cowboys that offer apartment rentals but only accept cash (they want to avoid paying the credit card charges), want a full day rental paid via bank transfer up front and then dump you in an apartment where the hot water doesn’t work, and where the internet fails after the second day (note that I had no choice because of the eclipse, but I will never ever use the same cowboys again—they’re the company that rents this—link to booking apartment—for example. Avoid like the plague);
If you’re in an apartment and want to prepare your own food: find a decent supermarket with healthy choices. Places like Oxxo and 7-11 only offer junkfood. I think the only relatively non-junkfood I found in there was some Yopla yoghurt, otherwise the food was a nightmare;
The local taco- or other foodstal (street food) are the cheapest, and while I liked the food, I’m not sure if it contributed to my food poisoning or not;
Drink only bottled mineral water—see: food poisoning;
The people in general—with the exception of apartment renters who try to rip you off—are nice enough and friendly;
Author’s note: I know that this post comes four months after the actual trip. Yet I think it contains information that is still very useful. I normally try to combine a total solar eclipse trip with some extensive excursions into the local scenery. This time they were limited because I didn’t feel safe to drive on my own, considering the drug gangs in Mexico.
There is no total solar eclipse in 2025, and the ones in 2026 and 2027 both go through Spain, which is relatively close to me. So that’s where I plan to witness them. There are already travel agencies advertising bookings for the 2026 and 2027 solar eclipses (cruises to Iceland and Greenland in 2026 and river Nile cruises in 2027), but the prizes for those go from Ayeayeaye—some 600 euros for a shared cabin per night—to Aaaaargh!—over 1100 euros per shared cabin per night. This is insanely expensive, and I recommend to travel to Spain, rent a camper or stay on a campsite to witness the solar eclipse there, as that will save you huge amounts of money.
Having said that, both the 2026 and 2027 total solar eclipses take place in August, when it’ll be searingly hot in Spain. You have been warned…;-) As always, thanks for reading!