Mexico City Transportation Tips by Maria_75

Take the taxi-bike

I'm not quite sure what they are called, but I will call them "taxi-bikes". You can find them many places around the city, and they always try to sell you a ride. Never accept the first price they say, you can always get it cheaper.

It's a very special way to see the city, and it's incredible how they manoveur their bikes through the heavy traffic! It can be a bit scary to drive around in this traffic sometimes, especially when they go pedalling for full speed straight through a red light when cars pass by you on every side. But most of the time it's no problem, and just close your eyes when it get's a bit too much... ;)

Mode: AROUND

Type: Other

Taxis

Before I went to the city I read and heard so many warnings about the taxis. Many of the taxis are not safe to take, and you should mainly just order a taxi from special sitios around the town. Many people also say that you should never hail a taxi on the street.

When I got to the city I got really confused! There are many different kinds of taxis, and I never really understood which ones to take and which ones to stay away from. One thing I knew was to not take the green VW Beetles, as there has been many incidents with them. (Read more under the danger-tips).

We took a few different kinds of taxis, some from sitios and some that we stopped in the street. We never had any problem, even if some of them didn't have the ID-card in the window (which you are advised to always look for).

Mode: AROUND

Type: Other

Take the metro Metro Review

The metro is the best way to get around the city. It's very efficient and easy to understand. All the lines have different numbers and colors, there are signs showing you where to go all over the stations.

The price is incredible low! One ride costs 2 pesos which is something like 0,20 USD (and in Norway it's almost 5 USD if you buy from the driver!!!).

Most of the tourist attractions are close to a metro, and it's easy to get around. They also run very often. I'm not sure how often, but it seemed like they came at least every five minutes.

The only problem is that there can be lots of people there, and also lots of pickpockets so watch out for your things. In the rushhour they often have different wagons for women and children, so they are separated from the men.

I never experienced anything bad, except for a man who was pretending to be very helpful. He was going to take us to the place we wanted to go, but we knew he was showing us the wrong direction so we didn't follow him. But he followed us and was talking plenty and seemed to be so nice. In the end we had to go to a policeman to pretend we were asking for directions, and then he disappeared quickly!

Mode: AROUND

Type: Subway/Metro

Take the bus By Bus Review

Taking the bus in Mexico is both cheap and efficient. There are lots of different companies that drives all over the country. You can take everything from expencive deluxe buses to cheap, bumpy "chickenbuses".

If you plan on covering a long distance by overnight bus it might be better to pay a little bit more for a first-class bus. They don't always go direct, but they have just a few stops. The second-class and other buses stops at every corner, and people come and go all the time, which makes it very difficult to sleep.

All of the first-class buses, and many second-class, have both TV and air condition. Normally they show an old american movie with spanish subtitles.

Mode: TO

Type: Bus

Website: http://www.ticketbus.com.mx

Take a plane By Plane Review

Mexico is a very big country, and if you plan to do a lot of travelling you should consider taking a plane at least once. The price on routes that are highly trafficated can be quite cheap. But if you want to take a route which is not as popular, you might have to pay a lot more.

Anyway you should check out the price if you are going to travel long distances. If it's a little bit more expencive it might be a good choice when you think about the time you save. Plus sleeping on overnightbuses can sometimes be a bit difficult.

Mode: TO

Type: Airplane