Mexico City In December: Weather + Tips

Mexico City in December is a cheerful place. As the countdown to Christmas begins, the streets become filled with colourful fairy lights, bright red poinsettias, and candlelit processions.

December is one of the best months to visit Mexico City. Although we do find, the streets can get quite hectic with local families either doing their shopping or enjoying the various events that pop up around the capital, that just contributes to the good mood feel.

December in Mexico City is also a great time to be a tourist. Aside from participating in the unique celebrations, visitors can look forward to weather that’s perfect for outdoorsy activities, from exploring neighbourhood streets to embarking on culinary tours.

In this post, we’ve brought together all the essential info you’ll need to make an informed decision about whether to book a December trip to CDMX, including weather data, clothing tips, and outing suggestions.

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Is It Worth Visiting Mexico City In December? Our Opinion

What we like most about December in Mexico City is the almost guaranteed good weather. During the day it’s neither too hot nor too cold, but just right. It’s also peak dry season, which means it very rarely rains – and when it does, it’s fairly light.

With that kind of forecast, we can confidently plan our days out. While in the rainy months it’s always a good idea to have a backup pan in case the skies open, in December, you don’t really need to worry about having to cancel or rearrange things like bike rides and day trips to ancient sites.

The other thing we really like about December is the buzzy Christmas atmosphere. We often spend time at the Zocalo throughout the year to enjoy the free events that pop up there. In December, that means Christmas rides, seasonal stalls, and sparkling decorations.

There are some uniquely Mexican Christmas traditions that we haven’t seen anywhere else in the world. That alone makes December an awesome time to pay a visit to CDMX!

Pros & Cons Of Visiting Mexico City In December

We’ll go into a lot more detail about planning for Mexico City December weather further down, but here’s the short version.

Pros Of Visiting Mexico City In December:

✅ Christmas spirit. The capital is awash in bright lights, Christmas trees, and festive events from about mid-December onwards. 

✅ Dry weather. You won’t get more rain-free days at any other time of year. December is dry as a bone!

✅ Mild temperatures. Compared to a lot of other places, winter in CDMX is very temperate. We’ve seen quite a few people with T-shirts on in December, though we usually have a sweater on standby.

Cons Of Visiting Mexico City In December:

⚠️Colder nights. Temperatures can drop off sharply in the evenings and stay chilly through to morning. 

⚠️Can get expensive. Flights and accommodation are generally good value at the beginning of December, but around Christmas and New Year, things get quite pricy.

How Is The Weather In Mexico City In December?

Don’t expect any snow if you spend Christmas here! Mexico City weather in December is a gentle, temperate month. Overall, we’d say it’s got one of the nicest climates for the season anywhere in the world.

☀️🌡Temperature In Mexico City In December

December is usually the second coldest month of the year in CDMX. Before you start packing the parka, however, we’ve got good news: it’s still pretty mild, at least during the day.

The Mexico City temperature in December has average highs of about 73 degrees Fahrenheit (23 degrees Celsius). We’ve found that to be a really pleasant heat for doing things like walking around neighbourhoods to check out the distinctive architecture and shovel down tacos from street stands.

You’ll still want to pack some jumpers and coats for the evenings, though, as the thermometer drops precipitously at night. Average lows get down as cold as 43 degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius).

☔ Rainfall

For people who hate the rain, visit Mexico City in December! We barely see a drop when we’re in town at this time of year.

To put our anecdotal experience into statistical fact, December has on average just 3 days with rain and accumulates 10mm throughout the month. It’s the very height of the dry season for the capital, so you probably won’t need to plan for any indoor activities.

Having said that, the museums in CDMX are awesome, so don’t stay away just because it’s dry outdoors!

🥵 Humidity

Although December isn’t the least humid time of year in Mexico City, it’s not far off.

Relative humidity hovers around 54%. In other words, it’s not going to be a factor when deciding what to pack or where to go.

Our Favourite Things To Do In Mexico City In December

Most of the time, we like to take advantage of the mild, dry weather to spend a good chunk of our December days outdoors. There are also some great Christmas-themed activities taking place to get you in the mood for a Feliz Navidad!  

📍 Teotihuacan Pyramids

Visiting the ancient Mesoamerican pyramids of Teotihuacan tops our list of what to do in Mexico City in December – well, at any time of year, really!

The biggest attraction, literally, is the 65.5-metre-high Pyramid of the Sun, which towers over the rest of the site. It’s connected to the 43-metre-high Pyramid of the Moon and the Citadel by the dramatically named Avenue of the Dead, which runs through the centre of the ruins.

Together with some smaller platforms, these structures form part of one of the biggest pre-Columbian habitations that you can still see today.

Walking among these buildings is a jaw-dropping experience, especially when you consider how old the whole place is.

The founding of Teotihuacan was so long ago that nobody’s quite sure who actually constructed this once great metropolis! With around 2,000 years of history, it declined in power sometime during the 6th and 7th centuries, as it was overtaken by rival civilisations.

Our favourite way to experience the city is by hot air balloon. Several companies run day trips that will take you from CDMX centre out to Teotihuacan early in the morning so that you can see the first rays of the sun lighting up the various stone buildings. 

December is a good time to book onto one of these tours since the sky is usually clear. Just don’t forget to dress warmly – it gets chilly up there, particularly in winter!

After the hot air balloon ride, we were given breakfast before some of the group were taken back to town. We chose to stick around instead to explore Teotihuacan on foot, which offers a different perspective on this unique UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Don’t worry about making your own way. Public transport is quite convenient to the area, with a regular bus running to and from the Northern Bus Station (Autobuses del Norte).

📍 Mexican Cooking Class

Cooking classes are our go-to wet weather activity, but we also like them in December as a way to get into the Christmassy spirit. The ones we’ve tried are usually very social and a great way to meet other people who are as obsessed with food as we are!

This class is one of our top recommendations because it covers several different dishes, including salsas, tamal, white mole, and cornbread. At the end, everyone sits down together to eat what they’ve cooked, accompanied by a mezcal or a glass of wine.

Aside from learning how to cook some Mexican staples, one of the highlights for us was learning about the cultural context of the recipes from the chef.

The tour also features an awesome trip to the Mercado Medellin, where the recipe ingredients are sourced. Although Medellin is one of the easier, safer city markets to explore on your own, it’s more fun with the chef, who is about to give a bit of culinary history as well as some shopping pointers. Plus, you get to taste a few morsels here and there as you go!

📍 Bike Tour In Mexico City

December is the ideal time of year to hop on a bike and explore the capital. Humidity and temperature are both low, so you won’t find yourself getting overly sticky, as we sometimes do at other times of year.

There are a ton of different tours you can take, but one we tried quite recently that’s a good intro to the capital is this option via Viator. Compared to other bike tours we’ve been on, this one is probably the most thorough. 

Over the course of 4 hours, you cover almost all the neighbourhoods we’d recommend visitors see – the exception being Coyoacan, which is quite a bit further south and would take 40 minutes to reach by bike! 

Starting off in uber-trendy Roma Norte, the guide led you down the city’s main road, Paseo de la Reforma, passing the Monument to the Revolution and the city’s oldest public park, Alameda Central.

The trip briefly covers the Palacio de Bellas Artes and the Zocalo, both of which you’ll want to come back to and explore in greater depth later before looping back to the Angel of Independence statue and going northwest to ritzy Polanco.

Here, you get to try tacos at one of our fav taco joints, El Turix, then head south through Chapultepec Park, finishing off in our part of town, Condesa.

For first timers, the little bits of trivia that the guide supplies are super informative and help to paint a picture of the city’s history. If you want to try and save a little money though, you can go on your own self-organized tour using the city’s bike-sharing service, Ecobici.

It costs 123 pesos ($7 US) to use the system for a whole day. There’s a limit of 45 minutes per session, but that’s plenty if you’re planning to make multiple stops to see the sights.

📍 Food Tour In Roma Norte

Another way to take advantage of the good weather is to go on a food tour. Not only do you get to chow down on delicious mouthfuls of local cuisine, but you also get a bit of neighbourhood history thrown into the bargain.

Our best experience so far was a food tour that took us around Roma Norte. This colonia is filled with trendy restaurants and great street food, so it was always going to be a gastronomic winner. 

Lasting about 4 hours, we got to try a mix of eats and were introduced us to a couple of places that are now among our stable of regular hangouts. Café Barajas is an awesome place to sample the unique Mexican speciality coffee called cafe de olla, served in a traditional clay pot, while Broka cooks up some of the best birria in town. 

Along the way we learned a lot about the history of the colonia through exploring some of its best landmarks. 

All in all, this tour’s a solid option if you want to get to know the coolest neighbourhood in town through its buildings and its bites.

Alternatively, you can do bit of a self-guided exploration of CDMX’s finest street food. We’ve got a load of recommendations on taco stands and other antojitos for you to devour. Just plan your own route and get eating! 

📍 Christmas In Mexico City

Mexicans celebrate Christmas in their own uniquely colourful way. In CDMX, that means poinsettias, pinatas and Las Posadas.

The most prevalent of the three Ps are the poinsettias, which decorate streets and storefronts throughout the city. Here, people call the plant noche buena, which literally means ‘good night’ but is used to refer to Christmas Eve. 

Although they are a popular Christmas plant all over the world thanks to their combination of red and green colours, few people know they are actually indigenous to Mexico. 

They’re particularly prominent along the Paseo de la Reforma, which is lined with the plants as well as seasonal stalls in the weeks running up to Christmas.

Just as historically significant, pinatas are also abundant at Christmastime. You probably think of them as general celebratory items, but they were introduced to Mexico by Catholic priests as a way to bring the local Mesoamerican rituals in line with the Christian church.

Most of the pinatas around CDMX stick closely to tradition and are essentially a central pot surrounded by seven points. Each point is said to represent one of the seven deadly sins. Smashing your way through these sins may not clear your conscience, but it’s certainly satisfying!

Pinatas play a part in Las Posadas, a festival that takes place from around December 16 to 24, although the exact dates of the celebrations in Mexico City vary from year to year. Based on the biblical story of Mary and Joseph seeking a place to stay, processions of people walk through the streets nightly, singing carols and eventually smashing pinatas.

The processions usually take place in different parts of the city on different days, so keep your eyes peeled for the publication of the schedule.

One place that is always abuzz with Christmas spirit is the Zocalo in the Centro Historico. We often come here for free events, but it’s never quite as lively as it is in the leadup to Christmas. Flashing lights and elaborate decorations are a given, but in recent years, we’ve seen the city’s main square host a Ferris wheel and an ice-skating rink.

What To Wear In Mexico City In December

To save you the hassle of fretting over what to pack for Mexico City in December, we’ve put together this short list of essential winter items.

✅ Jumpers. Our usual routine involves evening walks, so we always have plenty of sweaters handy in December to stay warm.

✅ At least one jacket. Jackets obviously take up quite a bit of space in your luggage, but during the winter months, it’s a good idea to have at least one to throw on over your outfit. That’s especially true if you plan to go on a hot air balloon ride, as it gets quite brisk in the upper atmosphere.

✅Blouses and T-shirts. During the heat of the midday and afternoon it can be quite warm if you’re dashing about town. Think in layers!

✅Jeans. Never a bad option, jeans feel comfortable in the highs and lows of December temperature. Plus, it’s what a lot of locals seem to wear throughout the year, so you’ll blend right in.

✅Trainers. These everyday staples are great for walking around any metropolis. We sometimes wear sandals on warm days in our neighbourhood (Condesa), but the streets in the Centro Historico can be a bit dirty for open-toed shoes.

✅Sling bag. Robin often has his trusty bum bag strapped across his chest. A lot of CDMX is no more prone to pickpocketing than any big city, but it just gives us that sense of security knowing our money and other valuables are in a safe place!

When Is It Rainy Season In Mexico City?

Mexico City’s rainy season starts in mid-May and carries on into the beginning of October. July and September are usually the worst times of year for downpours, with relatively heavy showers striking the city around two-thirds of each month.

You won’t need to worry about any of that in December. In the past few years since we started living here part time, it’s always been super dry!

What Is The Best Time To Visit Mexico City?

That depends on who you ask. December and January have the lowest rainfall, which is great for outdoor activities. However, they’re also the chilliest months of the year.

March and April have plenty of sunshine, with average highs of 81 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius). That’s also when the city gets a purple makeover, as the jacaranda trees go full bloom.

The end of May and the beginning of June as well as September are often a good time to visit if you’re in the market for deals. It’s outside of school holiday time and the weather is wetter, which deters plenty of people.

What Is The Worst Time To Visit CDMX?

We’ve already mentioned that you get quite heavy showers in the summer through to September, which can put a dampener on any outdoor plans.

If you hate crowds though, the worst time of year to visit CDMX is probably around March, April, and Dia de los Muertos (November 1-2). These times of year may be some of the best in terms of weather and/or excitement, but they’re also the times of year when prices shoot up.

Mexico City In December: The Wrap-Up

There are some days when we could wish for warmer weather in Mexico City in December, but overall, we love this time of year. There’s something truly infectious about the atmosphere. We could be imagining it, but people just seem more cheerful. Or maybe that’s just us!