eSIM for Mexico

In Mexico this eSIM gives you data on Telcel and AT&T, but some local services won't work with it. The official 911 CDMX earthquake-alert app requires a Mexican phone number, the Cancún taxi dispute affects which transport is safe to book, and phone-based virtual kidnapping scams mean your family should agree a plan with you before you leave.

A culture-focused first week: four days in Mexico City for the Aztec centre, the anthropology museum, Teotihuacán and Coyoacán, then a short flight to Oaxaca for Monte Albán, craft villages and the Mitla valley.

Length

7 days

Bases

2

When to go October to April is dry and mild in both cities, with Día de Muertos in late October and early November especially strong in Oaxaca; May is the hottest month and June to September brings afternoon storms.

1. 01

   Day 1 Mexico City

   Mexico City: the Zócalo and Templo Mayor

   → Mexico City airport to the Centro Histórico is about 30 to 60 minutes; use an authorised prepaid airport taxi or a ride-hailing app.

   Start on the Zócalo with the Metropolitan Cathedral and the Palacio Nacional, where Diego Rivera's murals line the main staircase; bring your passport for entry. Walk to the Templo Mayor, the excavated heart of Aztec Tenochtitlan, and its museum. In the afternoon, follow Calle Madero to the Casa de los Azulejos and the Palacio de Bellas Artes, then view it from the terrace across the road at sunset.

   Signal Telcel and AT&T 4G and 5G cover central Mexico City, and the Metro has signal in many stations. The 911 CDMX alert app needs a Mexican number, so learn the sound of the street earthquake sirens instead.

2. 02

   Day 2 Mexico City

   Chapultepec: the Museo Nacional de Antropología

   Spend the morning at the Museo Nacional de Antropología, focusing on the Mexica hall with the Sun Stone and the Maya and Oaxaca galleries. Walk through Chapultepec Park and climb to Chapultepec Castle for its murals and view down the Paseo de la Reforma. In the evening, walk the tree-lined streets of Roma and Condesa around Parque México.

   Signal Strong 4G and 5G across Chapultepec, Roma and Condesa. The museum's courtyard has good coverage, though the interior galleries are weaker.

3. 03

   Day 3 Mexico City

   Teotihuacán

   → Teotihuacán is about 50 km north-east of the city, around 1 hour by bus from the Terminal del Norte or by tour or ride-hailing car.

   Arrive at Teotihuacán, a UNESCO site, when it opens to beat the heat and crowds. Walk the Avenue of the Dead from the Ciudadela and the Temple of the Feathered Serpent to the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon; climbing rules change, so check on the day. Visit the site museum and the murals at the Palace of Quetzalpapálotl before heading back in the afternoon.

   Signal 4G is generally good across the site on Telcel. Bring water and sunscreen; there is very little shade and phones overheat on the pyramids at midday.

4. 04

   Day 4 Mexico City

   Coyoacán and Xochimilco

   → Coyoacán is about 30 minutes from the centre by taxi; Xochimilco is around 30 to 45 minutes further south.

   Visit the Museo Frida Kahlo, the Blue House in Coyoacán, with a timed ticket booked in advance, then walk to the plazas and the market in central Coyoacán. In the afternoon, head south to Xochimilco, part of the UNESCO site, and hire a trajinera boat through the canals and chinampas, the floating fields that survive from the Aztec era. Agree the time and route at the official embarcadero.

   Signal Good 4G in Coyoacán. On the Xochimilco canals the signal is generally usable, though data slows when the boats are crowded at weekends.

5. 05

   Day 5 Oaxaca

   Fly to Oaxaca: Santo Domingo and the markets

   → Mexico City to Oaxaca is about a 1-hour 15-minute flight; buses take around 6 hours. Protests sometimes block roads to Oaxaca airport, so check local news and allow extra time.

   Fly to Oaxaca and walk the UNESCO-listed historic centre. Visit the Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzmán, with its gilded interior, and the regional museum in the former convent next door. Book a guided visit to the Ethnobotanical Garden behind it. In the late afternoon, eat in the Mercado 20 de Noviembre and walk to the Zócalo for the evening.

   Signal Telcel 4G across central Oaxaca. The thick stone walls of Santo Domingo weaken the signal indoors.

6. 06

   Day 6 Oaxaca

   Monte Albán and the craft villages

   → Monte Albán is about 20 to 30 minutes from central Oaxaca by shuttle bus or taxi; the craft villages are within 45 minutes.

   Go up early to Monte Albán, the Zapotec capital on a flattened mountaintop above the valley, and walk the Gran Plaza, the ball court and the carved Danzantes stones. In the afternoon, visit San Bartolo Coyotepec, known for its black pottery, and San Martín Tilcajete or Arrazola, where families carve and paint alebrijes, the colourful wooden animals.

   Signal 4G on the hilltop at Monte Albán is generally good. Signal in the craft villages is weaker and can drop to 3G.

7. 07

   Day 7 Oaxaca

   Tule, Teotitlán, Mitla and Hierve el Agua

   → This is a full day of about 150 km round trip from Oaxaca; Hierve el Agua is roughly 1 hour 30 minutes from the city by road.

   Drive east through the Valley of Oaxaca. See the Árbol del Tule, a cypress with one of the widest trunks in the world, then visit a family workshop in Teotitlán del Valle to watch wool rugs being dyed and woven. Continue to Mitla for its geometric stone mosaics, and finish at Hierve el Agua, mineral springs that have formed white rock cascades. Access is run by local communities and sometimes closes, so check before you set out.

   Signal 4G holds as far as Mitla, then becomes weak or absent on the mountain road to Hierve el Agua. Download your route and arrange a pick-up time before you lose signal.