Before You Go - Mexico City
Arriving in Mexico City
Be prepared for queues to go though immigration. This is partly due to numbers of staff, quantity of travellers but probably mostly due to the incorrect filling out of the visa/immigration form. For some reason, even with the large printed out examples on the wall, people forget to fill in the bottom. It is not uncommon to see people wait for an hour in the queue to be rejected for not filling in the bottom.
Edit 2022:
After a brief trial of an online visa (eFMM), most major airports now have done away with the paper FMM forms. A stamp is made in your passport with your entry date. When you leave the country, the entry date is compared with your exit date to ensure that you haven’t overstayed your alloted time.
Once through immigration, expect your baggage to be in amongst other flight’s bags. Sometimes they have been taken off the conveyor and are arranged on the floor (due to the long immigration lines). Security/customs often isn’t working, but if there is staff, you may be asked to press a button. This provides a random bag check process, green or red.
Once through customs, there are two money exchanges (the ones inside security have much worse rates). Depending on your arrival time, the currency exchanges outside of the gates may be closed for the day. You can see one of them when the gates open as people leave, and a keen eye can even see the posted exchange rates.
Proceed to the right where there are stands for multiple taxi companies. Pick whichever, they all cost the same for the most part. You say where you are going (suburb), they take a set fare and provide you with a numbered ticket. Head outside to the queue for your taxi company and provide your driver with you address and the ticket. Large taxis for 6+ people are available.
Currency in Mexico City
The Mexican Peso (MXN) at the time of writing was 15 to the CAD. During my first trip, it was 12MXN to the CAD.
Credit cards can be used at many locations, but more humble restaurants and street vendors operate only in cash. Some may not accept large notes like 200 pesos, so I tend to break those at OXXO corner stores for bottles of water. After Covid, credit cards with tap have become more common (even in markets). QR code menus have also become fairly standard.
I tend not to exchange cash ahead of time, no more than I need for a taxi, and simply use an ATM after i’ve checked in to my hotel.
Baños/Toilets in Mexico City
This section has driven the most traffic to my website for Mexico City content.
There are public toilets throughout Mexico city, often in odd locations next to shops or restaurants. They regularly are equipped with full sized turnstiles, where you pay the attendant or an automated coin system and enter. Costs can be anywhere from 2 pesos to 20 pesos, so it is a good idea to always have spare coins. Some public baños have toilet paper available on the wall (in a dispenser) before you go in, some may not. Some will have an attendant who will give you a couple of squares of singly ply toilet paper.
Hygiene may be great, it may not. I suggest carrying some toilet paper (in a ziploc bag) in your pocket/bag just in case. This is relevant due to the famous Montezuma’s (Monteczuma’s?) revenge. Also hand sanitiser may or may not be accessible, though that has improved after covid.
The locations of toilets in Mexico City tend to be in public parks, at bus stations, outside of metro stations, in shopping centres/malls and in museums.
Crime in Mexico City
Mexico hits the news a great deal with drug cartel related crime. Mexico City has been known as a dangerous place in the past. Due to a change in policies in 2009, the installation of CCTV cameras throughout the city as well as a large-scale expansion in the police force, crime has reduced greatly.
There is now one uniformed officer per 100 people in Mexico City. The murder rate per 100K people, for instance, is higher than New York but less than other cities in the US (wouldn’t rank in the top 40 if it was a city in the US). Crime does exist, but the worst areas are not neighbourhoods that tourists would go to. Be aware of pickpockets on the metro in such close quarters, but otherwise the city is very safe. Some areas are known for being afflicted by motorcycle snatch and grab gangs.
That being said, don’t be surprised if you see police playing on their phones and smoking cigarettes en masse.
A handful of police on duty
Crossing the street in Mexico City
This might seem like a bizarre point, but don’t expect vehicles and bicycles to adhere to road rules. Red lights are almost a guide, one way streets aren’t always treated as such and I personally saw one of the drunkest drivers that I have ever seen drive onto the curb to park and purchase cigarettes, which he then smoked against his car.
Drunk driver needed cigarettes
Water in Mexico City
Mexico is known for having sewage infiltration into drinking water, and Mexico City is no different. The water treatment is good, but by the time it reaches the tap it has likely been affected. Bottles of water can be bought from corner stores (OXXO or 711). 1.5L bottles might cost 10 to 20 pesos. Avoid distilled water, which is oddly common, as it leaches minerals from your bones. A lot of hotels and restaurants purchase ice and don’t make it from tap water. Some hotels will have separate taps in rooms with “filtered water”.
When it comes to food safety, water is often the contaminant that affects tourists via contact. Salads or uncooked vegetables/herbs that have been washing in contaminated water is often the cause of this illness.
Due to the high altitude and high UV, you may not realise how much more dehydrated you will get so buy lots. Also SUNSCREEN, especially at the pyramids!
