How to Time Your Trip to Mexico City

Mexico City is the most populous city in the world, yet many of its attractions can be reached on foot. It has been a cultural and commercial center for over 2,000 years and today is home to nearly 25 million people. Its population is diverse, reflecting the centuries of rule by Teotihuacáns, Toltecs, Aztecs and European conquistadores.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Walking shoes
• Travel clothes
• Film
• Local guidebooks to Mexico City
• Foreign language phrase books
• Airline tickets to Mexico City
• Camera
• Passport
• Bottled water
• Athletic shoes
• Maps

General Considerations

1. Decide when you want to visit. Mexico City's altitude makes it much cooler than newcomers expect, particularly at night and during winter. Summer brings rain showers almost daily. The average low in January is 6 degrees F, and the average high in July is 74 degrees F.
2. Beware the air - the city's notorious air pollution persists, despite cleanup efforts. Try to walk in the evenings and on Sundays, and avoid busy streets and rush hours.
3. Check out what festivals, expositions and live performances are happening.
4. Take care of your flight, transportation and accommodations (see Related eHows).
5. Check the weather forecast for Mexico City shortly before leaving, and pack accordingly.

Attractions and Seasonal Events

6. Meet Death face to face during Mexico's most morbid and intriguing festival, Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. This fusion of indigenous tradition with the Catholic Feast of All Souls commemorates (and, some believe, hosts) dead ancestors on November 1.
7. Tune in to the movements of the cosmos on spring (March 21) and fall (September 23) equinox at Chichén Itzá. Travelers and locals gather as the Temple of Kukulcan throws a serpentine shadow that stretches as the sun moves, metaphorically fertilizing the earth at the outset of the season.
8. Visit prehistoric and distant civilizations at the elegant Museo Nacional de Antropología. It emphasizes culture in Mexico, the Americas and the world from an anthropological perspective.
9. Experience Mexico's most famous traditional ballet group. The Ballet Folklórico de México performs several times a week at the Palacio de Bellas Artes.
10. Shop for funky pop art, crafts, antiques and more every Saturday at the outdoor Bazar Sábado in San Ángel near San Jacinto Park.
11. Travel through time at the Ruins of Teotihuacán. Wander down the Avenue of the Dead past ancient walls to the Pyramid of the Moon.

Tips & Warnings

• The shadow thrown by the Temple of Kukulcan is also visible for a day or two before and after the dates listed above.
• If you're dying to get started with Dia de los Muertos, you'll find celebrations and mourning in cemeteries as early as October 30.
• Since January, 2007, a passport is required for US citizens traveling to Mexico if they are traveling by air. In January, 2008, the requirements will be extended to those traveling by land or sea.