Laura Reid Photography

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Mexico City

Some tips for navigating one of the world's largest cities....

I love doing quite a bit of research before I visit a new destination. I hate the thought of missing out on seeing something amazing and finding out about it afterwards. The reality is, you just can't cover everything, and with only 4 days in Mexico City I feel like we didn't even experience the tip of the iceberg. There is just so much to see.  But, from my experience here are some suggestions and tips. Firstly, getting a taxi at the airport was easy and safe (this was probably my main concern before visiting). Secondly, unlike Australia, the ATM machines give you your cash first and card afterwards. Don't do what my husband did and walk away with your pesos and forget your card. My knowledge of Mexican food was not extensive so to start the holiday off on the right foot we went on a food tour with Eat Like a Local. From street food to restaurants and a couple of markets, we covered a lot of ground and ate way too much food. The other tour we did was The Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera Tour with The Traveling Beetle because logistically I didn't know how we would cover all this ground in the short amount of time we had, plus they arranged the entry tickets. Of course driving around in an open top VW Beetle was lots of fun (even though temperatures were fairly low). The Luis Barragan House is definitely worth the effort for those interested in architecture. You need to book on a tour to visit and even though our one was in Spanish (which I don't speak), they did add quite a lot in English. Tamayo Gallery was also enjoyable, with an excellent cafe attached. The Museo Soumaya is striking from the outside and we felt the exhibits inside improved as you progress higher in the building. The Zocalo, for its scale, is an incredible experience. We had a cocktail on the rooftop of the Hotel Majestic to get a bird's eye view of the giant square - the view is great but the Hotel needs a good upgrade. The Downtown Hotel is good for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Pujol is a must and popular with viewers of Netflix's Chef's Table. Finally, we found Uber the easiest way to get around and is very cheap. We also found Starbucks was everywhere, and while I don't recommend the coffee, the free wifi is extremely helpful.