How To Get Around Mexico City: Public Transport & More

Once you’ve decided what sights and neighbourhoods you want to visit, the next step is to figure out how to get around Mexico City. Fortunately, there are a lot of options at your disposal, each with its own pros and cons to consider.

Personally, we almost exclusively rely on Uber now. Not only is it convenient, but it’s also nice and cheap! That said, there are occasions when we’ll hop on the Metrobus, especially if we’re going into the Centro Historico, where the CDMX traffic is particularly bad. 

There are also unique options to consider for one-off trips, like the Cablebus that runs above the borough of Iztapalapa.

In this post, we’re going to share our tips about getting around Mexico City, explaining the different options available, how they work, and what they’re most useful for.

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What Is The Safest Mode Of Transportation In Mexico City?

The safest option for getting around in Mexico City is probably Uber. We use it all the time and have never had any issues. 

Compared to street taxis, you don’t have to worry about being scammed, while compared to the Metro, there’s no risk of being pickpocketed.

There’s also the added security of knowing that the driver’s identity and vehicle registration are all stored by Uber.

How Do Tourists Get Around In Mexico City?

Getting around Mexico City as a tourist is actually pretty easy, with quite a few public transportation options to choose from. The golden rule is probably to avoid taxis, but otherwise we’ve not had any problems to speak of using the Metro or the Metrobus.

For both these systems you’ll need to get a Tarjeta de Movilidad Integrada (TMI), known in English as an Integrated Transit Card. It’s basically a smart card that you swipe on the designated machines as you enter either the Mexico City subway or the bus. Since it’s a flat fee regardless of how far you travel, you only need to tap in, not tap out.

It costs 15 pesos (85 US cents) for a card, which you can usually purchase at a Metro station ticket window or machine. You then top it up with us much cash as you want.

Of course, the best way to get around Mexico City in terms of comfort is probably a ride-hailing app like Uber or Didi. We’re also regular users of the Ecobici system, which is a government-run bike-sharing scheme with docking stations throughout the capital. It’s all tied into the TMI scheme, so you can just use the same card to check out a bicycle.

There are other options for how to get around Mexico City that we haven’t covered here because they’re not overly tourist-friendly or particularly convenient. These include the Trolebus (trolleybus), the peseros (microbuses), and the Red de Transporte de Pasajeros (RTP, urban bus service). 

There are also specific tourist-oriented services like the Turibus, which covers many of the capital’s attractions on a loop, and the Tranvia Coyoacan, an old-school tram which takes you round the major Coyoacan sights.

Is Mexico City A Walkable City?

Yes and no. The Centro Historico is very walkable, but if you wanted to get from here to, say, Chapultepec Park, that would take you more than an hour on foot. 

Then there’s one of our favourite districts, Coyoacan, which is quite far to the south of CDMX and definitely not walkable from other parts of town!

The other thing to consider is, is it safe to walk around Mexico City? Again, yes and no. Parts of CDMX are very safe, such as Condesa and Roma Norte. The Centro Historico is mostly fine to walk around during the day, although we don’t go for strolls at night because it starts to feel dodgy.

We’ve also accidentally strayed into neighbouring Tepito while following Google Maps in the downtown area – and that is not something you want to do, as it’s one of the most dangerous neighbourhoods in the capital!

#1 Metro

Probably the cheapest form of public transportation in Mexico City that we’ve used, the metro system is an extensive network comprising 12 different lines.

That might sound like a recipe for confusion, but don’t worry, you probably won’t end up using most of them, as many are principally commuter routes. We’ve been living in CDMX for a few years now and haven’t set foot on at least half of them!

The Metro in Mexico City covers a lot of popular tourist destinations. The Zocalo, Palacio de Bellas Artes, and Chapultepec Park all have their own dedicated stations. You can also get to the water gardens of Xochimilco by riding Line 2 to Tasquena and then transferring to the Light Rail. 

Chilangos get plenty of use out of the Mexico City Metro system, with more than 4 million people riding it daily. We’ve found the service to be generally efficient and easy to navigate, with a couple of special carriages at the front of each train that can only be used by women and children. 

On the downside, riding the Metro is not always a comfortable experience. It gets unpleasantly crammed during the rush hours, so we always avoid travelling when people are scrambling to get to and from work. As a rough guide, mornings from 7-9 am and evenings from 6-8 pm are the worst.

Although there is a Metro station near the airport (Terminal Aerea), we wouldn’t choose this option to get from arrivals to our accommodation. We haven’t tried lugging our baggage on the Metro personally, but from our experience of the system it seems like it would be a nightmare. Plus, it makes you an obvious target for pickpockets.

On weekdays, trains run from 5 am to midnight, while on Saturdays, the service doesn’t get going until 6 am. On Sundays and public holidays, the service only starts up at 7 am.

#2 Uber Or Didi

Uber is (in our opinion) the best way to get around in Mexico City. The company has an established presence in Mexico, with operations in more than 60 cities across the country.

It is usually the fastest way to get from A to B, as the public transport options are sometimes quite circuitous and/or time-consuming. For example, if we want to hang out in Coyoacan for the day, it takes twice as long from our flat in Condesa using the Metro compared to hailing a ride.

Uber is also the safest way to get around Mexico City. As with elsewhere in the world, the app allows you to track your route as well as view the rating of a driver before you are picked up. The estimated fares and times are normally accurate, so we can weigh up whether it might be more efficient to use public transport – for example, if there are traffic jams, which are not infrequent in CDMX. 

Another ride-sharing option for how to get around Mexico City is Didi. China’s answer to Uber, it’s managed to get a good foothold in the Mexican market. According to friends of our, it can be useful to have Didi as well as Uber so you can see which has better availability and pricing, but to be honest, we usually just stick with Uber. 

If you are thinking of using either Uber or Didi as your primary means of how to get around Mexico City, we recommend getting a local SIM card from Telcel. Trying to rely on Wi-Fi for ride-hailing apps gets frustrating real fast!

It’s quite easy to get a SIM at the airport. No ID is needed; just pick your data package, and away you go.

#3 Metrobus

Another excellent public transport options for how to get around Mexico City is the Metrobus. Introduced in the mid-2000s, there are now 7 lines that run along popular routes.

Compared to the normal RTP buses, the Metrobus Mexico City is nicer and – best of all – avoids the traffic! In what was a real genius move by the local authorities, these big red buses have their own lanes, which means that even when the roads are really congested, you just glide by.

That doesn’t mean you’ll escape the rush hour madness though. We’ve noticed that the Metrobuses are just as popular with the commuter crowd as the Metro, so try and avoid peak times.

The buses are easy to spot and cover popular attractions like the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Palacio de Bellas Arts, and the Monument to the Revolution. It’s a more scenic option for how to get around in Mexico City, as you can watch the metropolis go as you ride.

Line 4 also goes all the way from Mexican International Airport to downtown. Just bear in mind that this route is a bit more expensive (though still very affordable), and you must change at San Lazaro station to join the main line.

Another thing to note is that Metrobuses only accept TMI smart cards, which you tap onto the reader as you board. You cannot pay by cash!

The Metrobus runs longer hours than the Metro, starting at 4.30 am and finishing at midnight from Monday to Saturday. On Sundays and public holidays, it starts up slightly later at 5 am.

#4 Ecobici

The most active option for how to get around Mexico City, Ecobici is a bike-sharing service operated by the local government. The scheme allows you to rent out a bicycle for 45-minute periods, picking them up and dropping them off at one of the designated stations. 

There are now more than 500 places where you can pick up an Ecobici spread around CDMX, with approximately 6,000 bicycles in total. We often use the ones around Chapultepec Park to go on a scenic ride through the lungs of the capital, but you can pretty much find them anywhere that a tourist could want to go.

Although the health and environmental benefits of cycling in Mexico City are obvious, you have to weigh that up against the fact that many of the roads aren’t particularly bike-friendly. That’s especially true for some of the capital’s busiest avenues.

If you aren’t a confident cyclist, one option is to use the Ecobici Mexico City service on a Sunday morning, when the Paseo de la Reforma is closed to vehicular traffic. This is one of our favourite stretches for biking in Mexico City. It takes in lots of cool sights, from the Angel of Independence statue all the way down to Alameda Central, the capital’s oldest public park. 

Before using the Ecobici service, you must register for an account and supply payment details via the website or app. We found it straightforward to do, just make sure you complete it all ahead of time, so you aren’t standing at one of the stations furiously tapping into your phone on the day!

When you want to use an Ecobici bicycle, you can either tap your TMI smart card, scan the QR code on the bike using the app, or type the bike ID into the app. To return the bike, just push it into an available dock and make sure the light turns green.

The Ecobici service is available from 5 am to half past midnight.

#5 Driving 

We’re going to say upfront that driving is not a good option for how to get around Mexico City. As we’ve mentioned already, the traffic in the capital can be quite bad. This inevitably leads to road rage incidents and some very aggressive drivers.

Then there’s the expense to consider. Even though we’ve found vehicle rental to be reasonably affordable, it’s still a lot more costly than using public transport.

On top of that, you have to think about things like petrol and insurance, which is mandatory in Mexico.

While we wouldn’t bother to rent a car for travel around Mexico City, it is worthwhile hiring a vehicle if you plan to visit nearby towns or natural attractions. Some of our favourite day trips from Mexico City are best undertaken by car, including Queretaro and Pena de Bernal.

If you do opt to get a car, make sure your accommodation comes with parking. Finding a spot to leave your vehicle in CDMX is one of those added headaches that you just don’t need! 

#6 Taxis

Taxis are dodgy. Of all the methods for how to get around Mexico City, this is the one we always avoid – for lots of reasons.

There are numerous stories floating around about tourists hailing a cab off the street, being taken to a quiet location, and robbed. While those incidents might be few and far between, you can almost guarantee you will be overcharged.

Even in the airport, where they have kiosks where you prepay for a taxi to prevent you spending more than you’ve should, we’ve had bad experiences. One time, we were quoted a price at one kiosk that was clearly too much, so we went to another kiosk and were quoted a fare that was more in line with our expectations. This kind of behaviour doesn’t exactly breed confidence in the system!

Taxis are usually more expensive than an Uber anyway, so why spend more for a lesser quality of service? Plus, if you don’t speak Spanish you can get into a pickle explaining where you want to go, whereas with an Uber you enter those details into the app beforehand.

If you really want to use a cab or can’t find another option for how to get around in Mexico City that suits your itinerary, prebook a car online through a reputable company. Sadly, it’s the only way to guarantee you don’t fall victim to an unpleasant scam.

#7 Cable Bus Mexico City

One of the more novel ways of getting around in Mexico City, there are currently 2 Cablebus lines in CDMX, although there are plans in the works for more.

Opened in 2021, it was built to connect poor hillside communities with the downtown area in hopes of reducing inequality and knitting the capital closer together.

The Cablebus is one of the most breathtaking forms of transport in Mexico City, as you are essentially suspended over the city in a gondola. We particularly recommend a trip on Line 2, one of the longest cable car lines in the world, which travels over brightly painted houses and rooftop murals in Iztapalapa.

Iztapalapa itself is notorious as one of the most dangerous parts of CDMX, but the Cablebus journey is safe. If you feel nervous about the trip though, or want to explore more of the neighbourhood, we went on an excellent tour with a resident from the area who helped us understand more about the local community.

#8 Walking

Rounding out our list of how to get around Mexico City is the age-old method: your own two feet! 

As we mentioned earlier, you won’t be able to rely entirely on walking for getting around Mexico City unless you plan to stick to just one section of the capital. The metropolis is simply too large and sprawling for that. 

However, you can certainly rely on strolls for most of your trip. It doesn’t cost a thing and it’s good for the environment. Plus, there’s no better way to orient yourself while soaking up the atmosphere of the different neighbourhoods. 

We’ve had some wonderful experiences walking around Mexico City in places like Condesa and Coyoacan, passing pretty plazas thrumming with community activity. It’s also how we’ve discovered some of our fav taco stands!

For fit people and those who don’t get footsore, it’s possible to follow a walking route that goes all the way from the Palacio Nacional to Chapultepec Park. Travelling through safe areas, the trek passes must-visit places like the Palacio de Bellas Artes, the Mercado de Artesanías La Ciudadela, and the Roma Norte colonia.

It’s a lot to pack into one day, but if you don’t want to miss a single street scene, it’s a fun option to consider.