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Mexico City Arrival

Arriving unprepared in the vastness of Mexico City may seem daunting, but in fact it’s not hard to get into the centre, or to a hotel, from any of the major points of arrival. The only problem is likely to be hauling large items of luggage through the invariable crowds - take a taxi if you are at all heavily laden. The airport and all four major bus terminals have a system of authorized taxis designed to avoid rip-offs, particularly prevalent at the airport where people will offer rides at anything up to ten times the going rate to unsuspecting newcomers. The authorized system is the same wherever it operates from - you’ll find a large map of the city marked out in zones, with a standard, set fare for each; you pick where you’re going, buy a ticket at the booth, then walk outside and present the ticket to one of the waiting cabs. One ticket is good for up to four people to one destination. The driver may drop you a block or two from your hotel rather than take a major detour through the one-way systems (best to accept this unless it’s very late at night), and he may demand a large tip, which you’re in no way obliged to pay. Most hotels are used to late arrivals, so don’t be overly concerned if your flight gets in late at night, though it would be wise to have somewhere booked in advance for your first night.

By Bus

There are four chief long-distance bus stations in Mexico City, one for each point of the compass, though in practice the northbound terminal handles far more than its share while the westbound one is tiny. All have guarderías , and hotel reservation desks for both the capital and the major destinations served, and all have authorized taxis.

Apart from the major terminals we’ve listed, there are large open-air bus stops at the end of all the Metro lines, with slow services to places up to an hour or so outside the city limits. For destinations in the capital’s hinterland it can be quicker to leave from these.

By Plane

The airport (Metro Terminal Aérea; line 5; tel 5571-3600 ext 2208 for international arrivals and departures, or ext 2259 for domestic flights) is 5km east of the Zócalo and still very much within the city limits - you get amazing views as you come in to land, low over the buildings. It is an initially confusing place, with several arrival halls (Sala A-Sala F) arranged along a broad concourse, with the bulk of the departure lounges on the upper floor, poorly sign-posted above Salas E and F.

Most international arrivals reach the concourse on the ground floor at Sala E1 or Sala E3. Here you’ll find numerous ATMs and several casas de cambio , open 24 hours a day and with reasonable rates for US dollars (rates do vary, so shop around), but a poorer exchange for other major currencies. There are also plenty of pricey restaurants and snack bars, major car rental agencies (see “Listings), a post office (in Sala A), a few bookshops and left luggage facilities (in Sala A and Sala E3; US$5.50 a day). There are several airport enquiry desks dotted around, and a small tourist office in Sala A (open for most arrivals; tel 5786-9002), with a limited range of city information.

As you emerge from Customs and Immigration, or off an internal flight, you’ll be besieged by offers of a taxi into town. Ignore them; by the main exit doors in Sala A you’ll find a booth selling tickets for Setta authorized taxis with a scale of fares posted according to where you want to go: bank on roughly US$8 to the Zócalo, US$10 to the Alameda, US$11 to the Zona Rosa and US$13 to Polanco.

If you’re travelling reasonably light you could also go in on the Metro (out the doors at the end of Sala A then follow the covered walkway for 200m) or continue past the Metro station out to Boulevard Puerto Aéreo and catch a city-bound bus .

Visitors reasonably familiar with the city can walk just past the Metro station and pick up one of the waiting green-and-white taxis (usually VW Beetles), which should use their meter. Depending on traffic they’ll cost between half and two-thirds of the SETTA fare, though you risk getting ripped off.

If you don’t fancy heading straight into the city so soon after arrival, you can get a direct transfer to nearby cities . There’s a bus stop right outside Sala D where you can pick up first-class buses to Cuernavaca, Pachuca, Puebla, Toluca and Querétaro. There are also luxury car and van services, but they’re almost ten times the price of the buses.

By Train

All mainline trains arrive at the Estación Central de Buenavista just off Av Insurgentes Nte, about nine blocks from its junction with Reforma, and right by the Metro station (Metro Buenavista; line B). Most train services have been suspended in recent years and the only services now operating are those to Querétaro and Tlaxcala. There are several cheap hotels within easy walking distance.

Getting Around

For all its size and frantic pace, once you’re used to it Mexico City is surprisingly easy to get around, with an efficient and very cheap public transport system as well as reasonably priced taxis.

You’ll want to walk around the cramped streets of the centre, but remember the altitude - walking gets tiring quickly, especially for the first day or so. If you’re heading for Chapultepec or the Zona Rosa, you’re better off taking the bus or Metro - it’s an interesting walk all the way down Reforma, but a very long one. As for the outer suburbs, you’ve got no choice but to rely on taxis or public transport. You’ll save a lot of hassle if you avoid travelling during rush hour (about 7-9am & 6-8pm).

Tours that take in the city and often include the surrounding area are available from most of the more expensive hotels, and from specialist operators such as Gray Line, Londres 166 (tel 5208-1163); Maxi Tours, Amberes 69 (tel 5525-6812); and American Express, with various locations around the city (tel 5326-2877).

Driving

Rental cars are available from the airport and elsewhere, but it is generally better to wait until you are ready to leave the city before renting. If you already have a car, it’s advisable to choose a hotel with secure parking and leave it there for the duration of your stay, except possibly to do a tour of the south of the city. Driving in the city is a nightmare, compounded by confusing one-way and through-route systems, by the impossibility of finding anywhere to park and by traffic police who can spot foreign plates a mile off and know a potential “fine” when they see one. If you insist on driving, note that the “Green Angels” that operate throughout the rest of the country do not operate within Mexico City: for breakdown help call the AAM (equivalent of the AA or the AAA) on 5578-7531.

The Metro and Tren Ligero

Mexico City’s superb modern Metro system (enquiries on 5709-1133) is French-built, fast and quiet. It is also crowded and at peak times some stations designate separate entries for women and children only (look for the “Mujeres” signs), but this is rarely applied, and on the whole it is no more crowded than its New York or London counterparts. Tickets (US$0.15) are sold individually and there is no discount for bulk purchases, though to save a lot of queueing and messing about with tiny quantities of change it makes sense to buy several at a time. In theory you’re not allowed luggage of any size on the Metro, but in practice you can if you board at a quiet station at a quiet time, and these days even a backpack seems to be tolerated at busy times. The last train leaves from each end of the line at midnight (1am Sat), with the first train at 5am Monday-Friday, 6am on Saturday and 7am on Sunday.

Once you’ve got into the system, there are no maps, just pictographic representations of the line you are on along with the stations where you can transfer to other lines. Before you set off you need to work out which way you’ll be travelling on each line, and where to change. Direction is indicated by the last station at either end of the line (thus on line 2 you’ll want either “Dirección Cuatro Caminos” or “Dirección Tasqueña”); interchanges are indicated by the word “Correspondencia” and the name of the new line.

One of the most recent additions to the system is the Tren Ligero , which runs south from Tasqueña (the southern terminus of line 2) as far as Xochimilco, entirely above ground. Though almost identical to the Metro system it is run separately with a different ticketing system. When you change at Tasqueña you’ll need to buy a Tren Ligero ticket from the machines in the concourse (US$0.15), which is good for any one-way journey.

City Buses

At one time buses in Mexico City were beaten-up old bone-shakers trailing plumes of black smoke behind them, but nowadays they have smartened up their act and are generally large and reasonably clean, and may sometimes be two-unit affairs hinged in the middle. They’re also very efficient, if you know where you’re going. There’s a flat fare of roughly US$0.15 per journey.

The two most useful routes are #55 along Reforma, and #17 along Insurgentes from Indios Verdes in the north, past the Terminal del Norte, the train station, Metro Insurgentes and eventually on to San Ángel and the university in the south. There are also trolleybuses running in both directions along Lázaro Cárdenas (the “Eje Central”, or Central Axis). Buses display their destinations in the front window, which is somewhat more helpful than looking for route numbers, since the latter are usually not posted up.

The area just by Chapultepec Metro station at the entrance to the park is also a major bus terminus, from where you can get to almost any part of the city. Note that during rush hour it can be almost impossible to get a bus: once they’re full, they simply don’t stop to let passengers on.

Pesteros (Colectivos)

Running down the major through-routes, especially on Reforma and Insurgentes, you’ll find peseros ( colectivos ), which are smaller and faster but charge more than the bus (far less than a regular taxi, however) and will let you on and off anywhere along their set route. They’re mostly thirty-seater buses or VW vans, usually green with a white roof, and have their destination displayed on the windscreen - drivers of the smaller vehicles may sometimes hold up a number of fingers to indicate how many free seats they have. Like buses, peseros have route numbers, but routes often have branches, and a vehicle may start or finish in the middle of a route rather than at the end, so again it’s more helpful to check the destination in the window. One of the most useful routes is #2, which runs Monday to Friday from Chapultepec Park via the Alameda to the Zócalo.

Taxis

Ordinary taxis come in a variety of forms. Cheapest and best are the green-and-white ones (the colours indicate the use of unleaded gasoline) or, increasingly rarely, yellow-and-white cabs that cruise the streets looking for custom. Both are usually VW Beetles and should have a meter (make sure it’s switched on) and are extremely good value compared to anywhere in Europe or North America - the smaller taxis seem to charge less and can negotiate the traffic much more easily. The orange cabs that wait at sitios (taxi ranks) charge slightly more, but in general work the same way. Watch out, though, for turismo taxis, which lie in wait outside hotels and charge rates at least treble those of ordinary taxis. In the normal course of events you should avoid them, but they do have a couple of advantages, namely that they’re almost always around and that many of the drivers speak some English. They can be worth it if, for example, you need to get to the airport in a hurry (for which they charge no more than a SETTA cab would) or if you want to go on a tour for a few hours. In the latter case, with some ferocious haggling, you might even get a bargain. If you need to phone a taxi , try Servitaxis (tel 5516-6020), Taximex (tel 5519-7690) or Transportación Terrestre al Aeropuerto (tel 5571-4913). Again, it’s virtually impossible to get a taxi in the rush hour.