Traveling to Mexico City alone as a woman brings up a lot of questions, and pretty much everyone you tell about your plans is going to ask if you’re sure it’s a good idea, which honestly makes sense when you realize this is one of the biggest cities in the entire world, with around 21 million people living in the metropolitan area.
Arriving for the first time can be an exciting experience, especially when you’re at the airport, trying to figure out transportation to your accommodation, and realizing your high school Spanish isn’t sufficient.
So this blog post focuses on the answers to all of your questions when you plan your Solo Female Travel in Mexico City. Instead of typical short answers to your problems, we will bring you everything you need to know about Mexico, especially Mexico City.
So stick around until the end to find out what you’ve been looking for, and welcome to SprintWilo, your solo traveling companion.
Table of Contents
Is it safe to travel to Mexico City alone as a woman?
Some travelers make it sound like walking around the city is no different than strolling through any major European capital, while others write these scary stories that make it seem like you need to hire a bodyguard just to get breakfast, so figuring out the truth from all these different opinions gets pretty confusing.
So when it comes to safety in Mexixo City, as a woman by yourself falls somewhere in the middle of all those extreme opinions, because yes, it’s definitely a big city with all the normal big city problems like pickpockets and crowded areas where you need to watch your stuff, but no, it doesn’t mean you’re going to be in constant danger every time you leave your hotel room or anything like that.
Walking around different neighborhoods with a camera, taking the metro when it’s completely packed during rush hour, getting lost while trying to find cafes in areas where there aren’t many other tourists around – these are all things that happen during a normal day there, and most people get through their entire trip without any serious problems.
What really stands out about Mexico City is how helpful local people can be, even when there’s a massive language barrier getting in the way of communication.
Most locals help the tourists with their day-to-day needs, and whenever they need help, without any language barrier or anything special.
That kind of generosity from strangers happens usually in this city, and it shows a side of Mexico City that doesn’t really come through in all those safety warnings everyone keeps repeating.
What are the safest places in Mexico for solo female travel?
Neighborhoods like Condesa, Roma, and areas around Chapultepec Park are some places that are mostly safe and where most tourists like to be. These areas have a lot of cafes, and the streets with good light, making the tourists feel comfortable walking and staying even during the night.
These neighborhoods usually have a more relaxed vibe, with tree-lined streets and local shops that make exploring feel less overwhelming than some other parts of the city.
What about cost? A complete breakdown
$15-35/night
$38-118/night
$114-243/night
Is it easy to get around in Mexico City?
The public transportation system in Mexico City is actually way better than a lot of people expect, but figuring it out when you first arrive may be hard for you. The buses here are pretty frequent, and they go basically everywhere you’d want to visit, plus they have WiFi on board, which is honestly something you don’t see in a lot of other major cities around the world, and the metro system covers a huge area, even though it gets incredibly crowded during rush hours and especially on weekends.
Keep this in mind when you use buses for traveling through the city. As the buses are numbered according to the routes, you may get on the right bus on the route, but for the opposite direction. So make sure you are getting on the bus.
Walking around the city is totally doable if you don’t mind spending some time on your feet, and actually, it’s one of the best ways to really see different neighborhoods and visit little shops or cafes that you’d never find if you were just taking the metro everywhere.
You do need to be careful crossing streets because the traffic can be pretty chaotic, and drivers don’t always stop for pedestrians, even when you’re in a crosswalk.
Getting a MetroCard should be one of the first things on your list when you arrive because it makes everything so much easier than trying to buy individual tickets every time you want to go somewhere, and having Google Maps downloaded offline helps a ton when you’re trying to navigate.
Is Mexico City good for singles?
Yes the Mexico city itself is one of the best places for the single travellers, and here is why.
The original reason why Mexico City is effective as a solo destination is that the entire cafe culture that is permeating the city; incredible coffee shops are located on nearly every other block, and many of them have patrons sitting on their laptops or reading their books or simply chilling.
It becomes this habit to spend the whole afternoon in one cafe after another, and each of them has its own atmosphere and personality, such as there is one cafe that has rescue cats roaming around as you take your cup of coffee, because the owners brought a group of cats and really take good care of them.
The thing that is surprising about such a big city of cities is that there are numerous parks and green areas scattered in between the various neighborhoods, which allows you to have areas to get a break amid all the noise and the traffic, and go under a tree a bit.
The food situation is also obviously unbelievable, as there are both small street bakeries where you can order pastries practically free, or fancy restaurants that offer authentic Mexican cuisine that you have never heard of before, and you only need to point at something on a menu and watch what will be on your table.
Learn some Spanish before travelling.
Learning at least some basic Spanish before going there makes a huge difference in how smoothly everything goes, because the reality is that most people in Mexico City don’t speak English at all, which makes sense since it’s not a super touristy city like Cancun or anything like that.
Downloading something like Duolingo and practicing for even just a few days before the trip means you can at least ask where the bathroom is or order food without having to pull out your phone translator every single time, and locals really appreciate it when you make the effort to speak Spanish, even if you’re terrible at it.
What a Week in Mexico City Actually Looks Like? (What to Do in Mexico City)
Planning out a Mexico solo travel itinerary doesn’t have to be super complicated because a lot of the best experiences come from just wandering around and seeing what you find, but there are definitely some places that should be on everyone’s list.
Visiting Palacio de Bellas Artes
The Palacio de Bellas Artes is probably the most beautiful building in the entire city with this amazing mix of neoclassical and art nouveau architecture, and the coolest part is that it was built on a floating foundation with rubber bearings underneath to keep it from sinking into the soft soil that Mexico City is built on, which seems like something out of a science fiction movie but it’s actually real.
Getting there early in the morning helps avoid some of the crowds that show up later in the day, although there’s a good chance there will be some kind of construction or renovation work happening because that just seems to be how it goes with major landmarks.
Visiting the Metropolitan Cathedral
The Metropolitan Cathedral is another must-see spot that took over 250 years to complete, starting back in 1573, and standing inside this massive building gives you this extraordinary feeling of history that you just can’t get from looking at pictures online.
Visit Chapultepec Castle
Chapultepec Castle sits on this hill that has been important going back to Aztec times, and the name actually means “hill of the grasshopper,” which is kind of a fun fact to know.
The castle itself is beautiful and the views from up there are great, but here’s something nobody mentions – you need to get tickets ahead of time or you’ll end up standing in a really long line, and also they’re pretty strict about what you can bring inside so don’t be surprised if they make you check things like tripods or selfie sticks at the entrance.
Plaza Garibaldi
Plaza Garibaldi is known as the home of mariachi music, and it’s got these colorful buildings that make for good photos. Timing matters a lot here because if you show up too early in the day, like around 10 in the morning, there’s basically nothing happening, and the whole area feels kind of dead.
The mariachi bands and the real energy of the place don’t start until later in the afternoon and evening, so plan accordingly if you actually want to experience what everyone talks about.
Historic Center area
Walking around the historic center area gives you a real sense of how massive and busy this city actually is, especially on Sundays when it seems like half the city comes downtown and you’re just surrounded by people everywhere you turn.
Sometimes you’ll even see protests or demonstrations happening in the main plazas because that’s just part of life in a big city with active civic engagement, and while it might seem intimidating at first, these are usually peaceful gatherings, and you can just walk around them if you want to avoid the crowds.
Enjoy in Cafes and Restaurants
The cafe and restaurant culture is a must that you have to enjoy when you are in the Mexico City as qa solo woman. You see the most of the tourists are enjoying their trip, going from one cafe to another, enjoying different foods, drinks, and also partying with other tourists.
If you have no social phobia, you can join the parties with some other tourists and find a way to enjoy yourself in the Mexico City. There is one thing that you have to keep in mind: when you are travelling solo, there is no need to stay solo the whole time. Yes, you came solo, but you can still enjoy the trip with strangers.
So, Is Mexico City Actually Worth Visiting?
Whether it is worth making the trip to Mexico City depends on the type of traveling experience you desire, since this certainly is not going to be some relaxing vacation on the beach where you can sit by a pool and drink margaritas all day.
It is a huge, disorganized, at times oppressive city in which you will feel lost at least a couple of times, will have a hard time adjusting to the language barrier, will have to push through the masses and noises and pollution, and you will, at least once, have the thought of why you did not simply go somewhere you can.
But this is what goes on in Mexico City that makes all those troubles worth dealing with –
- You see architecture and art that takes your breath away,
- You eat food that is better than anything you ever ate, you walk through neighborhoods that seem to be totally different,
- You meet people who go out of their way to help you when you cannot communicate properly, and,
- You have these random experiences that make the best stories you are going to tell when you get home.
The city vibe is simply different than those of other cities, and this blend of the old and the new culture co-exists simultaneously, and even when things are bad or annoying, something is thrilling about being there.
To all those people who even question whether Mexico City is a good place to be solo or a good place to be with a single partner, the answer is definitely yes, since you can get your way with how you can organize your days without necessarily having to make compromises with those who may be your traveling companions. Wish to occupy six hours sitting in cafes on your laptop? Go for it. Want to stroll through random areas in different neighborhoods, having no specific place in mind? Nobody’s stopping you.
The Mexico City solo travel guide advice that actually matters isn’t about following some perfect itinerary or staying in exactly the right neighborhood or eating at all the trendy restaurants – it’s about showing up with realistic expectations, being flexible when things don’t go according to plan, learning at least a little bit of Spanish before you arrive, and staying open to all the unexpected things that make travel memorable in the first place.
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