Mexico City Guide in Condesa
You guys, I’ve been terrible at getting our trip recaps posted! Just know that I have a genuinely guilty conscience about it, it’s just that I spend so much time writing it all out that I get a complex about it, haha. But better late than never, I’m sharing part two of our Mexico City guide in Condesa!
If you read the first part of our Mexico City guide, you’ll know we stayed in Polanco for the first half. A taxi from hotel Habita to hotel Condesa DF with a tip was $10, but we quickly wised up and started using Uber. Basically you can take a 45 minute Uber ride for $3 or less, so we got a little taken on the taxi. Beware!
We loved Polanco and Condesa for different reasons, but Condesa definitely has more of an artsy, neighborhood feel to it than Polanco. We also tried to be selective about which places we wanted to try based on the proximity of each part of town we stayed in, because you can easily get stuck in city traffic for quite a while. Basically anything we could walk to from one Uber round to that part of town was ideal.
Once again we found our hotel through Mr. & Mrs. Smith (awesome perfectly ironic given Jared’s last name and our recent engagement, ha!). We loved the interior design of Condesa DF. Basically we felt right at home with the natural light and bright white open-air common area.
If you can swing it, upgrade to the best room you can, because it’ll be worth it. We got a patio room, which was nice, but wish we would’ve gotten a suite. We basically ran around the entire time during the day to see things, and since we’re not big party/club people, we got back to the hotel around 8:30 every night, which makes a nice hotel room worth it to us.
The food at the hotel was equally delicious as our first stay, so we enjoyed quite a few meals in the hotel restaurant and rooftop bar. Continental breakfast is also included with your room if you book through Smith Hotels, so is a complimentary cocktail. They also have cute bikes you can use if you dare to bike around Mexico City. We wanted to bike around Condesa, but didn’t get the time to. If say the Condesa neighborhood is the most biker friendly,
Metropolitan Cathedral – Definitely avoid this on a weekend! We went on Monday and it wasn’t that crowded. There’s also a lot of little shops and tourists in he area of you walk around, plus you can walk to Downtown Hotel Mexico to see the vertical garden restaurant from here, too.
Casa Luis Barragan – You HAVE to come see this. It requires reservations pretty far in advance, which we didn’t do. I even showed up and tried to bribe someone to let us in, haha! I would recommend making reservations three or four weeks in advances, as they only do one tour a day for groups of 5-7 people. There’s also a lot of colorful walls in this part of town, too. That said, if you can’t get in to Barragan house, it’s not worth the special trek over there.
Frida Museum – Go on a weekday if you can, it’s cheaper and not as busy. It’s also only an additional $60 pesos to take photos, so bring your camera! They only let 145 people on at a time so the wait is no joke unless you purchase tickets online in advance.
Museum of Anthropolgy – It’s super cheap to attend and the museum of modern art is right there also, so you can just take a stroll through the park to see both. It’s a short trek through a tunnel to get to the Four Seasons for cocktails afterward.
Museo Jumex – If nothing else, this one is worth just walking along the outside to snap a photo! The architecture is awesome! When we were there, they also had a Jeff Koons gold balloon exhibit out front.
Romita Comedor – Such a cool place (photo above)! It’s in an inconspicuous building with someone manning the door, and you walk up a spiral staircase straight out of Harry Potter to get to he six floor with an amazing greenhouse window and black and white theme. You also pass several cute shops and cafes/bakeries on the way from Mercado Roma. The food is definitely specialty, so if you’re looking for simple, be sure to eat somewhere else first. It’s also super slow, so don’t come here in a hurry unless you’re ordering tequila.
Limantour – It’s definitely a moody place, but the upstairs bar is super cute and overlooks the street. The menus are also the coolest thing of all time, and apparently it’s one of the top 20 bars in the world, so I heard.
Casa Virginia – You’ll pass this on the way to Romita Comedor or Limantour, and I’m super sad we didn’t hit that area on the right day! It’s only open certain hours of certain days, but it came well recommended and the decor is stunning.
Lalo – One of the MOST delicious breakfasts of all time. I got the bacon and eggs on sourdough and it looked and tasted 120 times more magical than I thought it would, ha! They also come around with a little tray of pastries before your meal, and I got the chocolate donut, because why the heck not?
Mercado Del Carmen – A super cute place. It’s the giant blue building with lots of modern, well designed shops inside. We got birthday cake from the bakery, gold cups and utensils from a home goods shop, and a beer sampler in the back. It also has good free wifi. Be sure to check out the upstairs where the cute open-air garden is.
Mercado Roma – we got chocolates by Quo Bo while I walked around with a cocktail, and got fresh made churros, and macarons. Loved it!
Mercado San Juan – If you’re a foodie you’ll love this one. A ton of people recommended it to us!
San Angel Saturday Market – This is definitely more crafty, which I liked! Be sure to work some time in to see it, since it’s only open on Saturday’s from 10-7pm!
Downtown Hotel Mexico (where the vertical garden is) – The hotel has a really cool vertical garden, plus a restaurant that you can eat outside next to it. The first and second floors of the hotel are full of local shops.
We loved it so much that we’re actually talking about making another trip back soon! Have any of you been to Mexico City? If you have recommendations of places we didn’t hit on our first post or this one, let us know!
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