Can you give me an idea of the cost of living in Mexico city?

Question

I'm going to Mexico city for a couple of weeks to stay with a friend and I'm trying to work out how much cash to take with me. Can anyone tell me the GBP £ prices of eating out, buying beer/spirts in a bar/club and how much travel by public transport costs?

I can't find any information websites that give this level of information.

Thank you.

Answer 1

Change your dollars to pesos at the airport in Mexico City. You will get a better exchange rate there. The rates are posted outside each exchange house and rates vary from one to the next, so shop around before you change. The Mexico City airport is small and all the money exchanges are on the same end of the airport.

Dining out in Mexico is fairly inexpensive if you eat in the local neighborhood restaurants called  hosterías, comidas corridas and fondas. These are the places where Anthony Bourdain would eat and the food is typical Mexican fare. Don't expect the people there to speak anything other than Spanish and because of local ideas, or lack thereof, concerning hygiene it is a dice toss. The more middle class and tourist oriented restaurants are more expensive than similar quality restaurants in MOST places in the USA, but less expensive than Europe.

Many restaurants in Mexico charge what they call "cubierto" meaning literally they are charging you for silverware (well stainless steel).  If you see something on your bill that says "servicio" or "cubierto" don't bother leaving a tip as that is supposedly destinmed to the service crew, unless you just liked them and want to leave more. In places where the establishment does not add the tip to the bill the standard is 10%. Public transport is relatively inexpensive and you can get pretty much withinn two blocks walking distance of anywhere in the City by metrobus or the "Metro" (underground).

Prices in bars vary. Depending on where you are Mexican beer runs from 20 - 40 pesos; beeing from just under 2 to a little less than 4 US dollars. If you come across a beer called Potro ( blue bottle , picture of a colt on it) drink it. The only beer in Mexico for those with discriminating taste in beer. Imporst of course cost more.

Liquor and wine vary also. Many places give a better price on liquor if you buy an entire bottle rather than by the shot. If you are out with several friends and expect to be in the same place a long time this might be an option. Most shots run 45 - 90 pesos depending on what you are drinking.

If you are planning to eat out a and go out nights and still want money for tourist attractins and souvenirs I would say bring $1000 dollars for 2 weeks. If you are careful you could scrape by on $750.

Answer 2

Mexico City is a very large and crowded city.  It is great to visit, but you will have to be extra cautious moving around, especially in public transport.

First the exchange.  One pound it is worth about $200 Mexican pesos. A bit more, but it is a nice round number to remember.

There is a wide range of prices for meals.  You can eat a complete meal (appetizers, soup, entree, desert and water) for $40 pesos.  There are tons of little restaurants that offer these type of menus.  They are called: Comida Corrida, and are designed for the office workers.  BTW their "lunch is way late, it is served around 3:00pm

In the other end of the spectrum they have very nice, and expensive restaurants.  You can easily find places to spend $100 USD per couple, before alcohol.  If you are going to eat out or at the hotel I would budget around $30 USD per person per day.

Drinks are relatively cheap, and many clubs offer unlimited alcohol with the cover fees (obviously not top quality stuff, but does the job.)  A beer at a bar cost around between $1 to $2 USD But in an average I would say about $5 usd per drink at a bar or club.  Like I said before it is a land of contrast, you can find places serving Johnie Walker Blue Label for $50 USD per drink.

To enter a club with drink can be around $25 USD a bit higher if they have a show, like a live band.

Traffic is horrible.  A ride that without traffinc would take 15 minutes it normally takes close to an hour and some time two hours.  I am not exagerating here.  You will have to see it to believe it.

They do have tons of public transport, but it can be very tricky.  I have riden in a bus hanging outside in a window due to lack of space.  It is very tricky to find bus routes and such.  I would recomend to stick as much as you can to "official" taxis.  Take them at your hotel or get as soon as you can the telephone number of a cabbie company.  Taxis in the street are not safe.  Do not ever flag a taxi in the street.  Taxi rides should cost between $5 USD to $20 USD at the most.  Do not take a taxi for a long ride (i.e. pyramids) unless you agree on the total price in advance.

Another transportation you could use is the underground.  They have fairly good maps system of them and it is fairly safe.  Obviusly do not flash expensive watches, cameras, or phones, etc. They even have "tourist" police on many of the most popular stations that speak fair english.

Do not dream about renting a car to drive.  Not a good idea at all.

They have good tour companies that can take you to close places like the Pyramids, Xochimilco (floating gardens), etc.

Mexican money or credit cards is the prefered method of payment.  British pounds will only be taken at your hotel, exchange houses or banks.  US Dollars will be taken in limited places.  Travelker checks are fairly common, but more often than not people finish changing them at hortel and bank before useing them.  Many ATMs will take your british card and dispense local currency at a fairly goor rate of exchange.  I usually travel light on cash and get as much as I need with the ATM.

Sounds worse than it is:

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw...

http://www.igougo.com/travelcontent/dest...

http://www.bulldogcafe.com/nosotros.html

http://www.hardrock.com/locations/cafes3...

http://www.wcities.com/en/record/,29445/...

http://ipod.wcities.com/city/mexico_city

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We know you are British, but is easier to put prices in US Dollars.

Answer 3

If you're coming from Britain, Mexico will be really really cheap for you.  

Eating out... depends on where you go, but a regular cheap meal would be about 2GBP, and for a fancy meal, about 15GBP.  

Beer and spirits... beer is usually between 20 - 40 pesos at a bar, roughly 1-2GBP, martinis would cost around 7GBP.

Transportation... subway is extremely cheap, about 2 pesos, which is like nothing in GBP (maybe 10p), cabs are more expensive, but depends where you're going (try to take Sitio cabs only, you can find them at taxi stands or at hotels, they are much safer than getting one off the street... probably 3-5GBP average ride).  Buses usually cost about 5 pesos average (25p), but are usually very crowded.  

So for 2 weeks, maybe bring about 20-50GPB per day, depending on how much you usually spend.  Have a nice trip.

Answer 4

mexico is fairly cheap i would say, for bus and taxi fare, it will be about 300$ not even but it is cheap......that should last you for a while. bars are ok, count on a drink being 2 dollars to 5  and in some places a dollar. you will need 300 dollars . i am only saying because a few weeks you will be siteseeing, bargianing, shopping, food, bars and other things, so 600dollars is good. put your money not all on you and divide it up. pickpocketing and stealing are common, so be careful and more than ever, watch your own self. women are winding up dissapearing and ending up dead, so we alert.and watch where you leave your passport.