Why Mexico City Blew Our Minds (and Our Budget)

We came to Mexico City thinking we would be overwhelmed by all the traffic, noise and crowds. After spending the month here, I can happily report that our main issue with this city is that there’s just way too much fun stuff to do. It was our first visit here; we had four weeks to fill; and we still couldn’t cover off everything on our list. 

Of course, what we did cover was outstanding. We enjoyed great food, incredible sights, fun things to do and, of course, a totally unforgettable afternoon on the canals of Xochimilco. 

Normally, as full-time travelers, we do want to make the most of each destination — but we also want to do it at a reasonable cost. We like to say that we’re not budget travelers but we are budget minded. 

Unfortunately, we seem to have really blown our budget this month — likely our extra luxurious Airbnb had a lot to do with it. We’re at the end of our month here and this is the time when we tally the final bill. What did we get up to and how much did it cost?

Fortunately, the very first thing we did cost no money whatsoever. We always like to kick off our stay in a new destination with a walking tour of the key sights. Often this might be a paid tour but for a large city like this one, we quickly found a very detailed free self-guided walking tour online. This took us all the way through the historic centre of the city with built-in stops for refreshments. 

Since we were in Mexico City, of course we needed to take in a night of wrestling at Lucha Loco. This was as rowdy as you might imagine, complete with beer and popcorn. A similarly rowdy experience was our afternoon on a colourful boat in the Xochimilco canals where we enjoyed music, tequila, games, snacks and the occasional mariachi band that was also floating by. 

For a more high-brow cultural experience, we spent a day exploring the magnificent pyramids of the Teotihuacan archeological site. And there were lots of other museum visits as well including the Museo Nacional de Antropología (outstanding; don’t miss this one), the Museo de Arte Moderno (we found it was best for the lovely sculpture garden) and the impressive Castillo de Chapultepec, offering a great view of the city. For the castle, our recommendation is to get there when it opens; the line forms early and gets surprisingly long. 

Dining out was as exciting as you might imagine in a city known for its food. We tried sweet buns and hot chocolate for breakfast a couple times; found our favourite street food carts for tacos and gorditas and sampled dorilocos, a snack consisting of Doritos slathered with sauces and topped with vegetables, nuts and gummies. 

We also tried chiles en nogada, a special dish that is only available during August and September in the run-up to Mexico’s Independence Day. This is a poblano chile stuffed with ground meat and fruit and covered with a cream sauce of walnuts. Yes, it was as delicious as it sounds. 

Our Airbnb this month comes with a backstory.

Normally we don’t have much trouble finding a place we can stay with our two adorable dogs. But in Mexico City, we thought we’d never find a nice Airbnb. We reached out to about 20 Airbnb hosts and they all said no to our dogs. We were starting to feel like we’d have to skip Mexico City altogether — which would be very unfortunate — but finally one host said yes. And that’s how we ended up in the most luxurious, the most expensive apartment we’ve ever stayed in. 

We loved almost everything about this apartment: the extra-cozy living room; the design touches throughout; the fully-equipped modern kitchen and the hotel-quality bed. Our only feedback to the host is that the main bathroom is a little open concept with the toilet on full view. With a proper wall and a door covering up the toilet, this place would be just about perfect. 

Now for the costs. Our entertainment came in at $317 USD, which is a very high spend for us. Most of that spending came from our group tours of Teotihuacan and Xochimilco. We chose to go with pricier tours but both of those experiences could be done DIY for a fraction of the cost.Plus there are absolutely world-class museums here that are very affordable — less than $4 USD to get in.And there’s so much free stuff to do in the city. You can easily fill days just walking around and taking in the different neighbourhoods. 

Of course, we did have to get around; our transportation came in at $90 USD. We took a lot of Ubers; a ride was usually just a few dollars. But Gillian also got a membership to the city’s bike share program. These bikes were in pretty rough shape but they were very convenient and she ended up using them almost everyday. 

Dining out was another high spend for us coming in at $492 USD. We tried it all: street food, casual meals, fine dining. Usually we went out for at least one snack or meal every day; it’s hard not to when you’re surrounded by so many delicious options all the time. We experimented with a few international restaurants and found that these were a little hit and miss in terms of quality and value. 

Our groceries came in at $446 USD. Gillian did most of the shopping at Sumesa, which was the closest big store and it really seemed to cover our needs.

Now for our Airbnb, the really big spend. We do have some flexibility with our accommodation budget but we normally like to keep a monthly rental between $1,400 and $1,600 USD. We usually find that amount lands us a decent apartment in most of the places we go. In Mexico City, for the reason we shared earlier, our budgeting flew out the window. Of course, we are in Roma Norte, which is a really prime location so that’s going to drive the cost up. 

Our extra-luxurious apartment $1,692 USD for the month plus the Airbnb service fee of $169 plus another $335 for the occupancy taxes. You really can’t forget about those taxes when you’re renting here in Mexico.

We want to say two things about the cost of our Airbnb.

First, the amount we paid is just outrageous.

We were actually so embarrassed about it that we honestly considered not doing a cost of living video at all. But we believe in being transparent with our travel costs. 

Secondly, what we paid for this apartment in Mexico City is actually the same amount as we paid for a basement apartment in Toronto earlier this year. And personally, I would choose luxury in Mexico City versus a basement apartment everytime.   

Now for the total. You’re probably getting the impression that we did a lot here and that we also spent a lot and it’s all true. The total amount that we spent for a month in Mexico City was $3,540 USD. That’s our biggest spend so far but we don’t regret it because this was actually one of our most fun travel months yet.