Mexico City is located in the Valley of Mexico, also called the Valley of Anáhuac, a large valley in the high plateaus at the center of Mexico, at an altitude of 2,240 meters (7,349 ft). It was originally built by the Aztecs in 1325 on an island of Lake Texcoco. The city was almost completely destroyed in the siege of 1521, and was redesigned and rebuilt in the following years following the Spanish urban standards. In 1524 the municipality of Mexico City was established, known as México Tenustitlán, and as of 1585 it is officially known as ciudad de México. (Information provided by Wikipedia. Click on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico_City for additional information.)
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Distrito
Federal - Mexico City |
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Destination Information for Distrito Federal
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Distrito Federal
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| Mexico City (in Spanish: Ciudad de México) is the capital city of Mexico. It is the most important economic, industrial and cultural center in the country, and the most populous city with 8,720,916 inhabitants in 2005. Greater Mexico City (Zona Metropolitana del Valle de México) incorporates 58 adjacent municipalities of Mexico State and 1 municipality of the state of Hidalgo, according to the most recent definition agreed upon by the federal and state governments.[s of 2008 Greater Mexico City has a population of 23 million people, making it the largest metropolitan area in the western hemisphere and the second largest in the world by population. In 2005, it ranked the eighth in terms of GDP (PPP) among urban agglomerations in the world. Along with São Paulo it is the only Beta global city with 8 points in Latin America. |
Location of Mexico City |
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| Rent a GPS for travel within
Mexico. This GPS Unit provides detailed
coverage of the following regions: Distrito Federal (Huixquilucan), Monterrey (Guadalupe, San Pedro Garza Garcia) and Guadalajara (Zapopan).
Additional coverage available in:
Distrito Federal (Acueducto, Adolfo Lopez Mateos, Colon,
Gobernador Curiel,
Guadalupe, Mariano Otero, Ocho de Julio, Pereferico,
Vallarta). For additional information, click on
International GPS Rental |
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Quality Inn Ciudad de Mexico Roma – This Quality Inn is located in
the city's historic cdnter and just minutes from Benito Juárez
International Airport. Other nearby attractions, points of intrest and
things to see and do include: the
National Museum of Anthropology
(Museo Nacional de Antropología) -
Castle of Chapultepec
(Castillo de Chapultepec) - the
Palace of Fine Arts Museum
(El Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes) - the
National Auditorium (Auditorium Nacional) -
Ciudadela Market with over 200 stalls featuring a huge
selection of arts and crafts - numerous historical landmarks, museums,
galleries, theaters, shopping malls, businesses and embassies. A variety
of restaurants and cantinas are located in the area, including the
Sarabela Restaurant & Lounge that is located on hotel
premises.
Amenities and hotel services include: free high-speed Internet access - fitness center - room service - valet parking - on-site computer with Internet access - business center - copy and fax services - meeting facilities. All guest rooms are air conditioned and come equipped with coffee makers, hair dryers, irons and ironing boards, and some rooms have whirlpool bathtubs and balconies. Non-smoking rooms are available. There is also a gift shop, multi-lingual staff, valet cleaning and currency exchange services are all provided on the property for added guest convenience. |
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Quality Inn MX City Torre Lindavista – This hotel is conveniently
located near many attractions, businesses, points of interst and things
to see and do including: Chapultepec
Park - the
Shrine of Guadalupe – Tlalnepantla –
Ecatepec – Xalostoc – Siemens – Scania - Kraft Foods -
Sherwin Williams. The
Mexico City International Airport
is less than 10 minutes and a bus station is only three minutes from the
hotel. There are several unique shops at two local malls, both within
walking distance, and a variety of restaurants and cantinas in the
surrounding area including the on-site
Cardiel's restaurant
serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Along with
expected standard amenities, this hotel offers many additional features
and services including:
room service - fitness center - business
center - a
computer with wireless Internet service - access and
copy
and fax
services - meeting rooms. All guest rooms are
air
conditioned and come equipped with coffee makers, desks,
hair dryers,
mini bars, cable
television and alarm clock radios. Some rooms feature sofa sleepers.
Non-smoking and handicap accessible rooms are offered.
For additional information, or to make reservations, click
on
Quality Hotels for affordable rates, real value and great comfort,
or on
Choice Hotels worldwide.
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| My preferred hotel chain is
Marriott |
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Getting To and Around Distrito Federal
Getting To Mexico
Mexico City is served by Mexico City International Airport (IATA Airport Code: MEX). This airport is the largest in Latin America in traffic, transporting nearly 25 million passengers per year. This traffic exceeds the capacity of the airport, which had historically centralized the majority of air traffic. The government has recently engaged in an extensive restructuring that includes the building of a second adjacent terminal and the enlargement of four other airports (at the nearby cities of Toluca, Querétaro, Puebla and Cuernavaca) that, along with Mexico City's airport, comprise the Grupo Aeroportuario de la Ciudad de México, distributing traffic to different regions in Mexico. Mexico City's airport is the main hub for 10 of the 12 national airline companies.
By Bus
The city has four major bus stations (North, South, Observatorio,
TAPO), with bus service to many cities across the country, and
one train station, used for commercial and industrial purposes
(interstate passenger trains are now virtually non-existent in
Mexico). It was recently announced that a Tren Suburbano
(suburban rail) will be built to serve the metropolitan area.
There are also several toll expressways which connect Mexico
City with several other major cities.
In the late 70's many arterial roads were redesigned as ejes viales; high-volume one-way roads that cross, in theory, Mexico City proper from side to side. The eje vial network is based on a quasi-Cartesian grid, with the ejes themselves being called Eje 1 Poniente, Eje Central, and Eje 1 Oriente, for example, for the north-south roads, and Eje 2 Sur and Eje 3 Norte, for example, for east-west roads. Two freeway ring-roads serve to connect points within the city and the metropolitan area: Circuito Interior (the inner ring) and Periférico, which connect to one straight freeway: the Viaducto (Viaduct) (connecting west with east, from Observatorio to the Airport). Traffic in this system is so dense that an elevated highway that runs on top and parallel to a part of the Periférico, had to be constructed and finished in 2007. This elevated highway is colloquially called segundo piso ("second level") of the Periférico.
(Information provided by Wikipedia. Click on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico_City for additional information.)
Getting Around Mexico
By Metro
Mexico City is served by the Sistema de Transporte Colectivo Metro, an
extensive metro system (207 km), which is the largest in Latin America. The
first portions were opened in 1969 and now the system has 11 lines with 175
stations. In 2008 it was announced that a twelfth line will be constructed along
with a suburban rail system similar to the French RER system. The metro
is one of the busiest in the world transporting approximately 4.5 million people
every day, surpassed only by Moscow's (7.5 million), Tokyo's (5.9 million), and
New York City's (5.1 million). It is heavily subsidized, and has the lowest
fares in the world, each trip costing Mex$ 2 (around € 0.13 or US$ 0.19) and
taking each passenger to almost any place in this enormous city from 05:00 am to
00:00 h.). Several stations display Pre-Columbian artifacts and architecture
that were discovered during the metro's construction. However, the Metro does
not extend outside the limits of the Federal District and, therefore, an
extensive network of bus routes has been implemented. These are mostly managed
by private companies which are allowed to operate buses as long as they adhere
to certain minimal service quality standards.
The city government also operates a network of large buses, in contrast with the privately operated microbuses, with fares barely exceeding that of the metro. Electric transport other than the metro also exists, in the form of trolleybuses and the Xochimilco Light Rail line. The city's first bus rapid transit line, the Metrobús, began operations on June 2005 in Avenida Insurgentes (a second line is under construction on Eje 4 Sur). As the microbuses were removed from its route, it was hoped that the Metrobús could reduce pollution and decrease transit time for passengers. Also, since late 2002, the white and green taxis have been joined by red and white ones as part of a program to replace older vehicles with new ones.
(Information provided by Wikipedia. Click on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico_City for additional information.)
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The Historic Center (Centro Histórico) and the "floating gardens" of Xochimilco in the southern borough have been declared World Heritage Sites by the UNESCO. Famous landmarks in the Historic Center include the Plaza de la Constitución (Zócalo), the main central square with its time clashing Spanish-era Metropolitan Cathedral and Palacio Nacional, and ancient Aztec temple ruins Templo Mayor ("Major Temple") are all within a few steps of one another. (The Templo Mayor was discovered in 1978 while workers were digging to place underground electric cables.)Chapultepec park houses the Castle of Chapultepec, now a museum on a hill that overlooks the park and its numerous museums, monuments and the national zoo and the National Museum of Anthropology (which houses the Aztec Calendar Stone). Another magnificent piece of architecture is the Fine Arts Palace, a stunning white marble theatre/museum whose weight is such that it has gradually been sinking into the soft ground below. Its construction began during the presidency of Porfirio Díaz and ended, after being interrupted by the Mexican Revolution in the 1920s. The Plaza of the Three Cultures in the Tlatelolco neighbourhood, and the shrine and Basilicas of Our Lady of Guadalupe are also important sites. There is a double decker bus, known as the "Turibus", that circles most of these sites, and has timed audio describing the sites in multiple languages as they are passed.
(Information provided by Wikipedia. Click on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico_City for additional information.)
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Restaurant and Dining Suggestions
There are several restored haciendas that are now restaurants, such as the San Ángel Inn, the Hacienda de Tlalpan and the Hacienda de los Morales, all of which are stunning remnants of Mexican history and house some of the best food in the world.
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Books, Maps, Travel Guides and More
Coming Soon, In the mean time, if you have anything you believe should be added to this section of Getting Away, please send it to Jim at Getting Away. mailto: jimbruner@gettingaway.com
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