Vamos a Mexico this summer!

Enjoy the Country with So Much History, Culture and Beautiful Landscapes

What kind of travel do you imagine for your summer holiday? Visiting museums to see famous paintings, monuments, or ancient historical legacies? Or how about hanging around the city centre for a cup of coffee, followed by shopping all day and later dining with delicious exotic cuisines, or going out for drinks in the bar or dancing in the club? Or laying down on the beach under the shining summer sun with a light beer in your hand? Whatever your style is, there's a country which can live up to all your ideas and satisfy your desire for your summer holidays. It's Mexico!

Mexico is a really huge country with abundant nature and diversity. Mexican culture is really unique, a mixture of Pre-Spanish culture made up of various native Mexican Indian clans and some European culture which was brought by Spanish conquistadores after 1517. In Mexico you can find some good harmony from these two cultures and sometimes big contrasts between them. There's huge cultural diversity from North to South, and from the West to East, and what you see and experience will be completely different and unpredictable.

It's impossible to explain Mexican culture, also difficult to give you travel tips due to this huge diversity. But if you're keen to get the full Mexican experience where you can touch ancient historical legacy and enjoy modern Mexican life, the direction you should go should be the capital, Mexico City. It's located high at 2,240 meters above sea level and the location where Mexico City is presently, used to be the capital of its ancient Aztec Empire, Tenochtitlan. However, nowadays Mexico City is one of the biggest cities in the world and its population is around 20 million including its suburban area. Even though the city is so big, it's quite easy to move around the city. The international airport of Mexico City, “Benito Juárez” Airport, is inside of the city so once you arrive you're already almost in the centre of the city. Then by taking metro you can move to wherever you want! Remember that the metro in Mexico City is very handy and cheap. You can go all over Mexico City by metro due to the coverage and the price is just 3 Mexican Peso (€0.15) for one ride no matter the distance!

History and Anthropology

If you're interested in history and anthropology, let's go to the historical centre. It's also a city centre of Mexico City and you can find a huge square called Zócalo with a huge Mexican flag. In Zócalo there are Federal District buildings and Templo Mayor which was the main temple of old Aztec capital Tenochtitlan. The Chapultepec area will also satisfy your curiosity for Mexican history. It's a huge park with plenty of greenery, some ponds, and the National Museum of Anthropology where you can see many interesting things such as the famous Aztec Calender made by a big piece of stone, and the Chapultepec Castle in which the former Mexican emperor Maximilian used to live and now it's open as a museum. Chapultepec Park is the beginning of Paseo de la Reforma which is the principal boulevard in Mexico City.

Arts

Mexico City is also an adequate place to taste the really unique arts. Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts) is an indispensable place and the building itself is just gorgeous, made of white marble, Art Nouveau outside and Art Deco inside. You can find a huge wall painting of Diego Rivera inside. And this Diego Rivera was the husband of the most famous Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo. Her particular painting skill was fostered in the Coyoacán district where she was born and grew up. Coyoacán is a centre of art and culture in Mexico City, such as Montparnasse in Paris, and there're lots of colonial style buildings, parks, markets of handcrafts and artistic stuff, antique shops, cafes and restaurants, and lots of museums. Museum of Frida Kahlo is also in this area and this building is called “La Casa Azul” (the blue house) and it used to be both her house and studio when she was alive.

Shopping, Entertainment and Nightlife

Mexico City also provides a modern and sophisticated life aside from the artistic and historical aspects. The Polanco district is the most posh area in Mexico City and is a nice place for shopping. There're many worldwide famous brands and luxury restaurants throughout the Avenue of Presidente Masaryk. The shopping centre “Antara Polanco” is definitely one of the most exclusive shopping areas in Mexico City. Zona Rosa is a typical downtown part of Mexico City. If you are keen to glance at the daily life of Mexican young people, just go to Zona Rosa, there're so many shops, entertainment facilities, restaurants, taquerías (tiny restaurants for tacos, quesadillas, or burritos, etc.), cafes, bars and clubs. So if you just wanna simply enjoy your stay in Mexico City, just come to Zona Rosa and do whatever you want and you find! Although Zona Rosa is nice for night life in Mexico City, if you wish to spend a stylish and cool night life with a more sophisticated atmosphere you should go to La Condesa area. This area is little bit quiet and hidden but it has very particular ambient with plenty of tiny book shops, cafes, restaurants and bars. Because of this atmosphere you'll feel as if you were in Europe. Moreover, there'll be full of stylish young people in the evening coming for drinks in the fancy bars and to go dancing in the coolest clubs in Mexico City!

Indispensable Places Around Mexico City

Pyramids are not only in Egypt. Perhaps many of you have already seen photos of the huge pyramids very close to Mexico City. Teotihuacán is the city of ruins of the ancient Aztec city and is now registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site. There're two huge pyramids, Pyramid of the Sun and Pyramid of the Moon, and these two pyramids are connected by the Avenue of the Dead. The landscape is really amazing and so majestic, you must not miss this opportunity to go to the top of the Aztec pyramids! And, canals and gondolas are not only in Venice either, there's another Venice just a bit further out from Mexico City’s centre. Xochimilco is an area in which Aztec tradition still remains strongly but nowadays it's famous by the unique geography such as Venice, Italy has, thus not only foreign tourists but also bunch of Mexicans visit here to get this exclusive Mexican experience. There're many “Trajineras” (almost the same as Venetian gondola but much bigger than that) in the Xochimilco canals and on other boats you can see Mariachis playing the guitar and singing typical Mexican Boleros (folk songs) with the traditional black outfit and big sombreros, while older ladies sell their handmade crafts and some traditional foods.

Where is the beach with the sun? Unfortunately Mexico City doesn't have beaches as it's located on the mainland. But don't worry! When you wake up in the morning, you can be at a beautiful beach! Acapulco is one of well-known beaches in the world and it's just 300 kilometres away from Mexico City and it takes around 5 hours by bus. If you take a bus at midnight from Mexico City, you'll be in Acapulco when you wake up with a beautiful sunrise and enjoy a day at the beach with some Mexican beers. Corona, Pacifico, and Sol are recommendable beers on the beach! Acapulco is a really economical beach resort compared with other Mexican beaches such as Cancún or Puerto Vallarta, which are also great. And it's accessible distance from Mexico City so you could visit Acapulco for 2 days during your trip to Mexico City.

Whatever you're interested in and want to see or do during your trip, Mexico City will be one which can satisfy your demands and curiosity! Of course, HostelsClub.com has many partner hostels in different areas of Mexico City, but also in the recommended places such as Chapultepec, Coyoacán, La Condesa, Zona Rosa, Historical Centre (Zócalo)!! All these hostels in Mexico City are really close to these famous touristic points and it makes your trip more affordable and comfortable.

Book a hostel in Mexico City now and enjoy your summer holidays with an unforgettable Mexican experience!