Estado de México Travel Forum

Or, which area recommended. Thanks for your tips.

not sure what you mean by "pub", but if you mean cool bars, The opera is a cool bar/restaurant/cantina, that used to be frequented by poncho villa right near the zocalo! if you hire a trusted cab/driver and make sure he waits for you, you should be safe. the hotel bar at the habita hotel, in the very chic polanco area, is really cool too.

If you stay close to Garibaldi you should be ok. There are nice cantinas in "old" Puebla also.

Thank you for all.

Plaza Garabaldi and the adjacent streets are probably one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in all of Mexico City. Do not walk these areas after dark unless you're with someone who lives in the city and is well-aware of current conditions.

Generally, Centro Historico is not an area to stay in - particularly after dark, if it's your first visit or if you're traveling alone. I'm familiar with the city/area (lived close to Centro Historico in the past) and even I don't do that.

There are cantinas in other parts of the city, such as in Condesa or Roma, and those two colonias are better suited for wandering about. Though, after dark in much of the city, you shouldn't be doing that on your own unless you've had a lot of prior experience.

Enjoy the trip!

Empty dark streets and plazas, plus alcohol is a bad combination in Mexico City (and many other large cities in the world). If you are traveling alone the risks are even greater. Although I think having the driver wait might be a little extreme, the idea of making sure that you have a safe way back to your hotel is important. Most, if not all, respectable bars-restaurants-clubs will get you a safe taxi for return to your hotel. (I would include the famous Bar Opera as one of these places.) If you want go to a sleezy, clip joint type of place, you are alone or like to drink a lot, then having your own driver probably would not be a bad idea.

Mexicans are generally friendly, but alcohol + weapons + machismo can cause things to get violent. You would probably have to be pretty aggressive to have any of this violence directed at you, but there is no glory in being the innocent injured bystander. This is more of risk at a grittier place of hard drinkers then your more common and attractive places in Mexico City.

The definition of "local" might be difficult to apply in this large city. There areas like around Condesa, Roma, Plaza Garibaldi and the Zona Rosa where there are concentrations of clubs, bars and restaurants, but they do not really offer a community pub feel. If by "local" you mean places with a strong Mexican flavor they are not uncommon because of the Mexican tourism to the big city, but paradoxically, as you might expect, lots of most popular clubs for Mexicans offer foreign music and decor. I have been in many places full of Mexican patrons where the entertainment or background music was not at all Mexican As in lots of cities, the action may pick up late at night (after 11PM) and go into the early morning. People often arrive and almost always leave by car. As suggested above, you should be aware that dark empty street areas just beyond tourist areas or outside drinking clubs and bars can be particularly dangerous late at night.


I love Plaza Garibaldi, but going during the day is worthless. To get the real feel you have to be there between 9 (or 10) and midnight preferable on a day of relaxation. After midnight the streets around the plaza become empty and fairly dangerous especially for people coming out of the various clubs and bars. This is NOT an area to be wandering around down dark streets at night.

This is also true of the dark empty streets of the Centro Historico and perhaps could be said of all streets in Mexico City. Good luck. bob