Getting There By Air:Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juárez (MEX) Tel: (55) 2598 7000.
Website:
www.aeropuertosmexico.com/Ingles Mexico City's international and domestic airport is located 13 kilometers (8 miles) east of Mexico City's el centro district.
Airport facilities: VIP lounges, medical services, bureaux de change, ATMs, travel agents, tourist information, bars, restaurants, 24-hour luggage lockers, a telecommunications office, long-distance
telephones and a wide range of duty-free and other shops. Car hire is available from
Avis,
Budget,
Europcar,
Hertz,
Thrifty and
Auto Rent. A rather swish art gallery is well worth a browse while the airport's excellent visitor info center offers a mega-efficient hotel booking system.
Transport to the city: Skip the dirt-cheap offers of illegal taxi scams in favor of the super-efficient fixed-price
Transportación Terrestre taxis - Mexico City's most reliable and safest option. Purchase tickets from booths at exits A, E and F. Metered taxis also serve the airport but it is important to agree on a price beforehand or buy a prepaid ticket (
see Getting Around -
Taxis). Alternatively, a trolley bus runs to Calzada Ignacio Zaragoza and eventually arrives in the city after an hour-long crawl - at least. In theory, Mexico City's packed, but extensive metro system also serves the airport. However passengers entering
Terminal Aérea are not officially permitted to travel with luggage. Visit:
www.metro.df.gob.mx for schedules.
Approximate flight times to city: London is 10-12 hours, New York is 5 hours, Los Angeles 3-4 hours.
Getting There By Road:Mexico's 6,000km (3,700 miles) of well-maintained (
cuota) toll motorways fan out from Mexico City to connect with all large cities. In contrast the
via libres (free roads) are often dangerously rutted and potholed.
Cuotas (tolls) vary but rising charges mean the roads are often congestion free. Speed limits are usually 100kph (62mph) on motorways and 30kph (19mph) or 40kph (25mph) in cities. A valid driving license from the driver's home country is required and an International Driving Permit (IDP) is recommended. Insurance is not mandatory but is very strongly advised; note that Mexican law
only recognizes Mexican
seguros (insurance). The minimum age for driving in Mexico is 18 years. There is no legal limit for blood/alcohol levels, however drunk driving is taken seriously and is punishable with heavy fines. It is not advisable to drive at night.
Driving times to city: Mexico City to Toluca - 1 hour; Mexico City to Acapulco 3 hours 30 minutes; Mexico City to Oaxaca 6 hours 45 minutes; Mexico City to Cuidad Cuauhtemoc and Guatemala Border
- 30 hours.
Emergency breakdown service: SECTUR, the Mexican Ministry of Tourism, has teams of
Angeles Verdes (Green Angels) (tel: (55) 5250 0123) who patrol most of Mexico's main roads and provide free assistance to motorists in trouble - for a tip.
Routes to the city: The 57/57D motorway links Mexico City to the north and Querétaro, San Luis Potosí and Monterrey, with 45D branching west at Querétaro to reach León, Aguascalientes and Zacatecas. Route 150D heads east to Veracruz and Puebla (with branches to Oaxaca and Villahermosa) while 15/15D goes west to Toluca and Guadalajara. To the south, 95D links Mexico City with Cuernavaca and Acapulco, with a branch going to Taxco.
Coach services: Mexico's inexpensive coach travel connects the capital to most cities in Mexico. Standards run from non-stop, luxury, air-conditioned services to rickety, second-class affairs. Check out schedules at the Terminal Terrestre at the airport or contact any of Mexico City's long-distance hubs: Terminal Norte (north), Avenida de los Cien Metros 4907 (tel: (55) 5719 1201; Metro Autobuses del Norte), is served by 30 different bus companies linking Mexico City to the north of the country, Guadalajara, Colima and Puerto Vallarta. Terminal Oriente (east), Calzada Zaragoza 200 (tel: (55) 5784 3077; Metro San Lázaro), is better known as TAPO and serves destinations east and southeast of Mexico City, such as Puebla, Veracruz, Oaxaca and the Yucatán Peninsula. Terminal Central de Autobuses del Sur (south), Avenida Tasqueña 1320 (tel: (55) 5336 2321; Metro Tasqueña), offers southward services, including Acapulco and Zihuatenejo. Terminal Poniente (west), Avenida Sur 122 (tel: (55) 5272 8816; Metro Observatorio), handles westbound services, including frequent shuttles to Toluca.
Getting There By Rail:Mexico’s passenger railway system,
Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México (FNM) or Mexican National Railways has been in decline for some years and recently went into liquidation.
Getting Around:Public TransportNavigating Mexico City's vast urban sprawl can be a daunting prospect even with a comprehensive and cheap public transport system. However, the metro makes light work of crisscrossing the metropolis and is at its most efficient when tickets are bought in advance. Avoid peak travel times to miss the crowds for an altogether calmer experience. Special women and children only carriages run from 1800 and 2100 (
Solo Mujeres y Niños). The Xochimilco Light Rail (e
l tren ligero) is an above-ground system that connects to offer a fast, efficient alternative to bus and taxi travel.
State-run Ruta-100
buses display their destinations on the windscreen and are slow but clean. Mexico's speedy
minibuses or
peseros (micros) ply the streets of Mexico City for trade and are a fun, if cramped, mode of transport. Schedules are loose with no fixed stops or departures - so allow plenty of time. Simply hop aboard, pay the driver (correct fare) and shout out
'bajan' when you'd like to get off.
All crowded public transport systems in Mexico City are breeding grounds for petty crime and busy stations, such as Metro Hidalgo, are notorious for pickpockets and bag-snatchers. Choose ATMs with care; carry anything of value with discretion and avoid traveling on public transport after dark.
TaxisNo taxi is equal in Mexico City, despite regulation, so it is important to establish rates and tariffs. Different taxis offer varying services. The most common are vehicles that serve unfixed routes. Mexico City is renowned for its ubiquitous green and white Volkswagen Beetles that buzz around with a throaty roar. Avoid all unlicensed taxis, however tempting the deal. In recent years, taxi crime has escalated to sophisticated levels with criminals in unlicensed cabs hanging around official taxi ranks with forged ID. Unlicensed drivers have been linked to violent assaults, robberies and rapes so if the price is too good to be true, don't get in the cab.
Though more expensive, Radio taxis are reliable and safer and are ordered by telephone from hotels and restaurants. Companies include:
Servitaxis (tel: (55) 5516 6020);
Taxi Radio 24 Horas (tel: (55) 5566 0077);
Taxi-
Mex (tel: (55) 5519 7690) and
Taxi Autotransportes (tel: (55) 5398 9641).
From the airport and main bus terminals, opt for a fixed-price
Transportación Terrestre or
autorizado (authorized) taxi. Tickets are prepaid from booths (prices vary according to city zones) and it is not customary to tip the driver.
Driving in the CityDriving in Mexico City is not recommended. Traffic can be dense and infuriating, the one-way systems confusing and signposting less than clear. Bumps and collisions are common.
Visitors should certainly not drive alone at night, as there have been many reports of hijacking, robbery and assaults on lone drivers. Also, the red lights tend to stop operating at night except on large thoroughfares.
Mexico City has two ring roads, the
Anillo Periférico, through what used to be the city outskirts, and the
Circuito Interior, within its circumference. The city has a structure of primary roads called
Ejes Viales (
road axes). The Eje Central runs from south to north passing by
Bellas Artes; this serves as the focal point for numbering of all other roads: Ejes to the west are called Eje 1 poniente, Eje 2 poniente, etc; those to the east Eje 1 oriente, Eje 2 oriente and so on; to the north, Eje norte; and to the south, Eje sur.
To help ease congestion and pollution, Mexico City operates a
‘Hoy No Circula' (Don't Drive Today) policy. No matter where they are registered, cars without catalytic converters are banned from driving between 0500 and 1000 for one day each week. The last digit of the registration plate denotes when the vehicle must be taken out of circulation: 5 and 6 on Monday; 7 and 8 Tuesday; 3 and 4 Wednesday; 1 and 2 Thursday; 9 and 0 Friday. Upscale restaurants and large hotels offer off-street or valet parking. Otherwise cheap
estacionamiento público (supervised public car parks) are a good option - though spaces are like gold-dust.
Car HireCar hire in Mexico is expensive and bureaucratic. Drivers must usually be a minimum of 23 years old (21 in special cases). A valid driving license from the driver's home country is required to hire a car, as is a valid passport and a major credit card. Insurance, tax and fuel are an additional cost to the basic daily or weekly hire rate.
Car hire companies include:
Avis, Hotel Presidente Inter-Continental, Avenida Campos Eliseos 218, Polanco (tel: (55) 5282 0195
or (55) 5588 8888, general reservations;
www.avis.com.mx);
Budget, Athenas 40, Juárez (tel: (55) 5566 6800;
www.budget.com.mx);
Hertz, Versailles 6, Juárez (tel: (55) 5592 8343;
www.hertz.com.mx); and
Thrifty, Avenida Campos Eliseos 199B, Polanco
or Paseo de la Reforma 322, Juárez (tel: (55) 5207 1100/08;
www.thrifty.com.mx).
Bicycle HireA growing network of state-funded cycle paths can now be found throughout Mexico City, though it remains far from cycle friendly. In 2008, hundreds of naked cyclists rode through the streets of the capital to demand respect from drivers. Bicycles can be hired from Avenida Heroico Colegio Militar, in the
primera sección of Chapultepec Park.
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Related Mexico City Content
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Related Mexico Content
The Columbus World Travel Guide has been published for 26 years and is sold in over 90 countries worldwide.
Word Travels is a comprehensive travel guide covering hundreds of cities and holiday resorts in more than 125 countries.
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