Mexico’s HEADY delights
Forget all-inclusive resorts, the real heart of this South American stalwart can be found in hidden townhouses and the most magnificent street food of your life
IN MEXICO City, also known as CDMX, a flag that appears larger than an aeroplane is blowing in the wind of the historical centre’s square. Dogs bark, horns blast, the camote snack cart whistles.
You can haggle for glittering lamé wrestling masks as you chomp through your tenth taco. The sun pours down, and there’s nowhere quite like it.
But similarly to the most exciting and mystifying capitals, a grid-ish system leads you from one adventurous moment to the next with ease. One minute you’re sipping horchata on the pavement, speaking in broken Spanish with three generations, the next you’re lost in a high-ceilinged bookshop dusting off classics.
High above sea level, two inland metropolises offer wildly different feels, textures and altitudes. CDMX’s cool stony architecture and high altitude (2,240m above sea level) keeps hotter days and months in check, whereas the slightly lower valley which holds Oaxaca City has a more tropical feel, despite there being no water.
Sharp contemporary design nestled within dusty, storied streets is lost on neither city. In CDMX, you might follow a day at Mercado Roma or Mercado de San Juan for even more raw authenticity — including fried grasshoppers and offal tacos alongside actual pet stores and candle stands — with mezcal and dinner at the exquisite Circulo Mexicana. In fact, book a room for the night. Both an architectural delight and stately wonder, this 19th century townhouse is both brutalist and comfortable beyond comparison.
Wide and sumptuous, near futon-level oak beds contrast with concrete and dotted-around foliage, with plush moreish organic honey cosmetics at your disposal. A divinely spacious rooftop serves darling huevos rancheros after which you can dip in the pool and sauna, and enjoy spectacular views of the Metropolitan Cathedral, the National Palace, the Templo Mayor, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Plaza Alameda Park and Plaza Garibaldi.
Mix up all the sensible and historic sightseeing with something a bit more silly and rapturous — especially if you’re in a group or have kids, or like to get a bit dancey and rowdy.
Xochimilco’s floating canals just south of the city allow tourists and celebratory locals alike to breeze along on brightly painted vessels — shout-out to our lovely Lupita — and buy margaritas, snacks, sombreros and songs from entire Mariachi bands as you go.
You will dance, you will laugh until you cry, you will almost drink a worm from the bottom of a mezcal bottle you bought from an offlicence beforehand. Other top spots for boozing back in the city on mezcal with a slice of orange are Limantour and Contramar. Expect good prices, dark lighting and trippy music.
Over in Oaxaca City, aka Oaxaca but within the state of same name, another inland territory of heady delights awaits me. After a one-hour flight (tip: pack light — the airports have the same hectic nature of busy bus stations), the green pastures and dusty mountains surrounding the valley of Oaxaca are really something. The abundance of fields, farms — namely corn and agave plantations — that surround Oaxaca City are lush and flourishing year-round.
Sample the delights of this fertile land in a way that hits your palate in a whole other way to CDMX’s taco trucks and hip dining rooms.
There’s still a heap of revered restaurants but the quesadillas with stringy cheese and pure cocoa drink champurrado need to be guzzled. For an elegant dinner to remember, and decent prices, book a table at tomato salad and mole heaven Levadura de Olla and watch the magic table turn around when rain hits the inside/outside terrace.
By day, tourists need no instruction. All markets offer wonder and calamity in all their glorious measure, while the old churches and hole-in-the-wall bars will make you gasp and sip all day and night. Listen out for the sound of the gas truck, which sounds like an icecream van, and don’t forget to pick out some ceramics to take home with TLC.
Without doubt, Hotel Sin Nombre is Oaxaca City’s most talked about boutique hotel with both privacy, light, views and dining top drawer. You’ll enter through an old dusty wooden door off a loud street, and be entombed by a snug and cool reception, small gallery/ library and central atrium with skylights and floor cushions galore. Rooms are quaint yet spacious with glorious design, and a rooftop offers a wide selection of mezcals, chatty servers and unbeatable panoramic views of the valley, as well as a chic pool with neon artwork to cool off in.
With a recommended three days in each city, I hope my winter sun perambulations leave your Mexican curiosities piqued.