Mexico City Like a Local: How to Explore Its “Hidden Neighborhoods”

Exploring cities is one of my favorite things about travel, and Mexico City is one of my favorite places to do it for a few reasons. The culture across the city is incredibly rich, the people are among the friendliest urbanites I’ve ever encountered, and Mexico City’s urban design is spectacular.

What really sets Mexico City above most other metropolises in my mind, though, is its “urban diversity.” That is, each neighborhood of CDMX (or “colonia”, as they’re called in the local lingo) feels so unique. Different parts of the city have different specialty foods, different street layouts, different architecture, different shops, different genres of music blasting from porches… different vibes altogether.

I love Mexico City’s neighborhoods so much, in fact, that I’ve visited the metropolis three times for at least three months each time. In the last of those times, I lived in CDMX for a full year. During that year, I used my experience with the city to implement an “immersive exploration method” that can give both tourists and longer-term expats a deeper understanding of Mexico City’s urban culture than they could find otherwise. The method revolves around the Mexico City Metro train system. And it can be implemented again and again on subsequent visits to give you a better feel for the city than even most local residents have.

In this guide, I’ll provide you with a step-by-step guide to how you can implement the method yourself, from navigating the CDMX Metro to exploring the neighborhoods of the city on foot. After reading, my hope is that you’ll be able to visit CDMX and make your own discoveries that will live rent-free in your mind for the rest of your life… just like I did.

Step 1: Get Comfortable With the Mexico City Metro

The gateway to the huge diversity of neighborhoods of CDMX is the excellent metro. The stations are clean and easy to navigate, the cars are safe and hygienic, and the rides only cost 5 pesos ($0.25) each regardless of how far you want to ride. There are 195 metro stations across 12 lines, and they don’t just span the city center and airport like many metros worldwide; they reach even the furthest reaches of the city.

If you intend on riding the metro a lot while in CDMX, I’d recommend buying an “integrated mobility card” at one of the automated ticket dispensers or staffed ticket kiosks in almost any Mexico City metro station. Buying a large batch of rides at once unfortunately doesn’t get you a discount like it would on many metro systems, but the card makes it a lot more convenient to swipe onto the metro and can also be used for the CDMX bus system. The card costs 15 pesos in addition to the amount you want to load onto it.

If you don’t buy the card, you can still buy a ticket for each ride at a machine or booth in every station for 5 pesos.

CDMX metro stations are open until 12 midnight. The stations are generally patrolled by police and are rife with surveillance cameras and panic buttons in case of emergencies. There are also a few “female only” cabins on each subway train so solo female travelers can ride the sometimes-crowded subway without feeling claustrophobic.

All that being said, Mexico City is not the safest place in the world and I’d recommend you avoid less crowded stations after 8:00 pm. Be wary of pickpockets at all times in the stations, since the metro is a perfect environment for them. I should add that I’ve ridden the CDMX metro for hundreds of hours, often at night, and never had a safety issue.

CDMX Metro’s Themed Stations

A secondary reason I love the CDMX metro is for the theming of many stations. Some of them were actually designed by famous architects and incorporate a design theme that makes getting to your train feel like the entrance to a ride at Disneyland. Some of the more memorable stations I went to are:

• Guerrero Station has wall murals and costume displays dedicated to Lucha Libre, a Mexican wrestling league.
• Viveros Station is decked out in a rainforest theme complete with fake ferns, palms, jaguars, and snakes.
• La Raza Station is a walk-through planetarium. The walkway leading through the station is darkened and has a glow-in-the-dark starry sky above it, and the sides of the walkway are lined with plaques showcasing facts about space.
• Pino Suarez Station is known as an archaeological zone because it has a 650-year-old Aztec pyramid in its center.
• Zocalo Station has a museum of miniature dioramas depicting the history and construction of the city’s central district.
• Division Del Norte Station has a karaoke booth where commuters can serenade passersby. I was too scared to try, but a surprising number of people were going at it.

Every single station also has a graphical icon that represents it on the Mexico City metro map. Learning about the reason for each icon is amazingly interesting in many cases. For example, Talisman Station has an elephant as its icon because Pleistocene mammoth fossils were unearthed during the station’s excavation. So what about the hornet icon for Chilpancingo Station? Or the triple archway for Portales? Or the two vultures for the chillingly-named Barranca del Muerto (“dead man’s ravine”)? That’s up to you to find out, and the most fascinating way is to actually travel there.

Step 2: Use Google Maps to Identify Neighborhoods

After you’re ready to ride the metro, it’s time to plot some metro stations that you can visit for a maximum degree of cultural immersion. Each station you plan on going to and the area around it will likely end up at least a half-day of your vacation, so be sure to do your research and make some informed picks rather than just throwing a dart at a map, so to speak.

First, know that there are some types of landmarks that you can look for when scouting out neighborhoods to explore in CDMX. My favorite landmark types to look for, along with their associated keywords or symbols for searching on Google Maps, are:

• Neighborhoods near a college or university (universidad in Spanish) are often packed with inexpensive restaurants and other fun activities.

• Neighborhoods surrounding a large park (parque) are beautiful for walking since they normally include murals, recreational areas like basketball courts or dog parks, and charming shops (my favorites are the local ice cream shops or heladerias, which I highly recommend you try). Look for the large green areas surrounded by city streets on the Google Maps browser.

• Mexico City’s markets (mercados) are colorful cultural immersion experiences. Most mercados outside the city center won’t sell the tchachkes and crafts that you might buy as souvenirs, opting instead for more local wares like hardware and produce. Walking around local markets is perhaps my favorite way to surround myself with local day-to-day life.

• Other points of interest are denoted by circular purple icons like a camera, a castle rampart, or a film reel on the Google Maps browser. The different icons represent different types of landmarks like a viewpoint, a historical monument, an outdoor theater, or a museum. They’re all good points of interest for soaking in the local culture, though.

• Neighborhoods with walking streets rather than large thoroughfares or highways. These neighborhoods aren’t denoted by a specific symbol, but they should be easy to find. Smaller streets are more comfortable for walking and tend to contain locals spending free time, greenery that makes the walk more enjoyable, and cute little businesses like cafes and taquerias that give the area a more local feel.

Note that you don’t want to go to a neighborhood that is 100% residential, either. You may have to zoom in on the map to make sure some of the buildings are businesses like cafes or corner stores (aka bodegas).

As you can see in some of the screenshots above, the CDMX Metro stations are also marked on Google Maps. You can look for metro station locations with interesting-looking neighborhoods next to them to determine where you want to go.

Pro tip: View the CDMX metro routes by hovering over “layers” in the bottom left of the Google Maps window and clicking on “transit.”

Finally, compile a shortlist of the metro stations (and neighborhoods nearby) that you’d like to visit. For a good overview of Mexico City’s urban diversity, it’s very important that the neighborhoods you choose are spread out over the city. Locals in CDMX often refer to locations in the city being in one of four quadrants (aka cuadras) – North (Norte), East (Este), South (Sur), or West (Oeste) of Centro Historico in the center of the city. During my planning, I made sure I had at least two stops in each of those quadrants and that none of the stops were in neighborhoods that seemed similar on Google Maps.

Dangerous Mexico City Neighborhoods to Avoid

Sadly, Mexico City is not the safest city. Most of it is completely fine to walk around during daylight hours (I’d say until 11 PM), but there are a few seedier neighborhoods that aren’t great for wandering even during the day. Some of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Mexico City are:

• Morelos
• San Rafael
• Tepito
• Tabacalera
• Del Parque
• Doctores
• Penitenciaria
• Obrero
• Candelaria

I haven’t been to most of these areas myself. I did spend some time in Obrero, however, and I absolutely loved how quiet, peaceful, and quaint it felt. It’s a tragedy that CDMX isn’t yet one of those cities like Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, or Montevideo, Uruguay that is safe to walk around in any neighborhood, especially since some of the more crime-ridden neighborhoods in CDMX like Obrero are so enjoyable.

Optional: Rent Airbnbs

If you’re staying in Mexico City for at least a few weeks and don’t mind moving around a lot, you can go the extra mile in terms of cultural immersion by renting an Airbnb in each of the neighborhoods you’ve scouted out. I usually recommend staying in hotels, but Airbnb is the better method of booking in this particular case because you’ll be staying with a real local who will likely tell you about the area and might even show you around on your first day.

I stayed in Mexico City for three months the first time I went and so was able to book an Airbnb in each of the eight neighborhoods I selected for a week each. Each of the Airbnbs was within a five-minute walk of the metro station to provide easy transportation to other parts of the city.

If you’re there for a month or two (or even less), try reducing the number of neighborhoods on your shortlist to four (one per city quadrant) or only staying at each place for three nights.

Step 3: Explore

Once you’ve got your course plotted out, it’s time to hit the metro and get to exploring.

Every metro station in the city is lined on either side by shops and street vendors selling fast food, clothing, and other inexpensive products. These “metro markets” are good places to buy cheap goods, although the products are not generally as high-quality as what you’d find at a real market.

The metro stations are normally located on big and busy streets that are too noisy and crowded with cars to absorb local culture properly. That’s why you’ll probably want to get off the main street and onto the smaller roads (like the ones mentioned above) as soon as possible.

Once you’re in a neighborhood, wander wherever your heart takes you! Full cultural immersion is 100% about the journey, and there doesn’t need to be a destination. Just take a walk through any street, park, or market you see that catches your interest. You can use the POIs you identified in the previous step to set you in the right direction, but I encourage you to wander instead of pre-planning an exact route.

Most of my best memories of Mexico City are from those times when I was just wandering and taking in the locale. Most of them weren’t because of some unexpected event suddenly happening, either, but because of the prettiness or quaintness I soaked in from my surroundings.

There are bodegas and taquerias on nearly every block in even the poorer neighborhoods of CDMX, so there’s no need to bring anything with you other than your data-connected phone and your wallet with at least a couple hundred pesos in it. Trying out the local food is also an essential part of getting a feel for a neighborhood, as cooking styles change throughout the city based on the kind of people that live in the neighborhood. In fact, I’d recommend only eating very small portions so you have room to visit a few food sellers on your journey.

After spending a few hours walking around a neighborhood in CDMX, I encourage you to reflect on your experience. How did the vibe of the neighborhood differ from the other parts of CDMX you’ve seen? What were the pros and cons of the neighborhood? What do you think it would be like to live there rather than just spend a bit of time there?

This method, a slow-paced exploration of an authentic neighborhood and an honest reflection on the neighborhood’s qualities is what I feel to be the most immersive cultural experience in CDMX. Repeat it in areas all around town to get a solid feel for the diverse culture of the city.

My Favorite Neighborhoods

If you’d rather explore some neighborhoods I’ve already spent time in and liked, here are a few suggestions. The four neighborhoods I’ve highlighted are spread across the four cuadras of Mexico City, as discussed above.

My Very Favorite, Portales (East CDMX)

The Portales metro station is located on the blue line on Calzada de Tlalpan, a busy thoroughfare so wide that you have to cross it using a subterraneo, an underground hallway that goes beneath the street and has stairs on either side.

On one side of the street is Mercado Portales, my favorite local market in CDMX. The market has street upon street of indoor and outdoor shops from delicatessens with huge varieties of meats and cheeses to antique dealers to fruit stands to tamale carts and so much more. The market is extremely vibrant in a way only those who have visited Mexico will be familiar with, and I was one of the only non-Mexican-looking people there.

Beyond the market is a middle class residential area with tons of cafes and cheap restaurants, and beyond that is Parque de Los Venados, one of the largest and nicest parks in the city. Visit the park on a weekend if you can; it comes alive with an energy closely resembling a county fair.

On the other side of the large thoroughfare with the metro on it is a more upper-middle-class neighborhood with quieter streets and some upscale cafes. On the far side of that neighborhood is Plutarco Street and my favorite budget taqueria in Mexico City, Taqueria Casa Lupe.

I loved my cultural immersion experience in Portales so much that I later ended up renting an apartment there and living there for a year.

La Villa y Basilica (North CDMX)

The metro station is on the red line and lets out on Calzada de Guadalupe, a boulevard with a wide median for walking in the middle. The boulevard is lined with some tasty restaurants, an indoor local market, and some other cool shops.

The boulevard’s main attraction, though, is the huge Basilica de Guadalupe complex at the end. The huge plazas of the basilica lead to an enormous set of stairs that wind up a mountain and end in a church. I didn’t go inside the church during my stay, but the view from outside the church is the most stunning vista I encountered in Mexico City.

The complex includes several chapels, a museum about Mexican Catholicism, and a giant monument of Pope John Paul II. The basilica and its surroundings serve as a kind of Mecca that Mexican Catholics try to visit at least once in their lives.

Calzada de Guadalupe and the Basilica were what made me fall in love with the area around the La Villa metro. The surrounding area is charming and pretty if a bit run down, but it’s also mainly residential. It’s worth a quick stroll, but it might get boring quickly.

Universidad (South CDMX)

This metro station is just to the east of University City, the largest “college town” area in CDMX. Everywhere you go in the area, you’ll find green spaces, athletic facilities, bookstores, cheap eats, museums, stadiums, and everything else students appreciate in their living area. And, as I mentioned above, I’ve found that the facilities sought after by students tend to be similar to those sought after by tourists looking for cultural immersion. The campus has actually been chosen as a UNESCO World Heritage site because of how culturally rich it is.

Copilco, a more residential neighborhood on the northern side of the area, is also great for cultural immersion. It has a unique hipster vibe that will appeal to backpackers and it has very low prices.

The neighborhood is also near Coyoacan, a neighborhood that’s a bit more touristy but just as good for cultural experiences.

Mixcoac (West CDMX)

Mixcoac metro is at the intersection of the brown and gold lines of the metro. The station is located just down the street from Mercado Mixcoac, my favorite location in the city for seafood tacos. The market is not huge but it’s well-organized and easy to navigate, so it’s a good place to pick up any other local goods you may need, too.

I stayed on Miguel Laurent, a pretty suburban street to the northeast of the metro. The street is in an area containing a few beautiful parks. One of them, Parque Hundido, is quite possibly the nicest part of the city for dog lovers like me; the dog park there is beautiful and the winding pathways are a great place to take a jog or a stroll.

One of the other parks, Jardin del Arte, has a bustling pop-up market most of the day every Friday that you should swing by if possible. There’s also Parque San Lorenzo, a nice leafy plaza surrounding a chapel that’s a great place to sit and talk or read a book.

The neighborhood, called “Del Valle” by locals, is otherwise mostly residential and gave me the prettiest and most relaxed-feeling vibes I took in in CDMX.

BONUS: Applying This Method Elsewhere

The exact same immersive exploration method described in this article is applicable in cities around the world with a metro system. I’ve gone through a similar process in Bangkok, Brussels, and Sao Paolo. Each time, I felt it gave me a deep understanding of the city’s culture I couldn’t have gained otherwise.

Wrapping Up

There’s nothing wrong with sticking to Mexico City’s most tourist-friendly areas like Roma, Polanco, Merced, and Central, especially if it is your first time visiting. But for those who have been to CDMX multiple times or who have the urge to explore the city’s more authentic culture in a unique way, I’ve hopefully provided enough information in this guide.