Budget/Backpacker Travel Guide: Mexico City
Experience authentic local culture on a shoestring budget with hostels, street food, and public transport
Daily Budget: 530-1300 MXN ($30-72) per day
Complete breakdown of costs for budget/backpacker travel in Mexico City
Accommodation
220-550 MXN ($12-31) per night
Hostel dorms and bare-bones budget guesthouses cluster in Centro Histórico and around major metro stops. Shared bathrooms, common kitchens that reek of instant coffee and reheated beans, and creaky bunk beds that quickly reveal who wants to save money. The better ones open onto rooftop terraces where cool evening air carries distant cumbia from the street below. Worth it if you travel light.
Browse budget/backpacker accommodation →Food & Dining
200-400 MXN ($11-22) per day
Street tacos, comida corrida set lunches at fondas, fresh juices from market stalls, and tortas eaten standing at a counter with salsa dripping down your wrist. The mercados públicos are where you eat like a local for almost nothing. Mercado de la Merced fills the senses with the smoky char of grilling meat, the sharp tang of fresh lime, and the bright colors of chile displays stretching the length of a city block. Bring napkins.
Transportation
30-100 MXN ($1.70-5.60) per day
The Metro is the backbone of budget travel in Mexico City. Flat fare, fast, and covering nearly the whole city, though rush hour packs carriages tight enough to feel every jostle. Metrobús lines extend surface coverage. Peseros (shared minibuses) fill the gaps with grinding gear changes and shouted destination calls. They get crowded and confusing for first-timers. Use sparingly.
Activities
80-250 MXN ($4.50-14) per day
Free options are excellent here. The Zócalo, Alameda Central, the vast Chapultepec forest, and dozens of neighborhood markets and plazas cost nothing. When you do pay, national INAH museums charge modest admission fees, and the scale of what you see justifies every peso. The gleaming obsidian blades at Templo Mayor, the towering murals at the Palacio Nacional. Go early.
Currency: MXN Mexican Peso is the currency. Prices shown in MXN with approximate USD. Actual rates shift daily. Traveler rates at casas de cambio differ from interbank numbers.
Money-Saving Tips
Eat your main meal at lunch rather than dinner. Fondas and cantinas run comida corrida (a multi-course set lunch) for a fraction of the dinner price at the same restaurant, and the portions are often larger and more traditionally prepared. Simple switch, big savings.
Use the Metro for any journey over a few kilometers. It runs on a flat fare that is among the cheapest of any major capital, and the network reaches most tourist areas. Supplementing with Metrobús keeps daily transport costs minimal even if you cross the city several times. Move like a local.
Visit national INAH archaeological sites and museums on Sundays when Mexican residents receive free admission. Even as a foreign visitor who still pays, the crowds at popular sites thin out on weekday mornings, and some temporary exhibitions run at reduced rates mid-week. Timing matters.
Stay in Roma, Condesa, or Coyoacán rather than in hotels immediately adjacent to Centro Histórico landmark addresses. You typically get more space, better construction quality, and a calmer environment for a meaningfully lower nightly rate, with good Metro and Metrobús links keeping you connected to everything. Sleep smarter.
Drink agua de jamaica, horchata, or fresh juices from market stalls and buy purified water by the refillable bottle at neighborhood tiendas rather than paying for single-use bottles at tourist-facing shops, where the markup on water can be surprisingly steep. Hydrate cheaply.
Skip the hotel tour desk. Ride local transport to day-trip spots. TAPO bus terminal sends you straight to Puebla. Combis leave Indios Verdes metro for Teotihuacán. You pocket the convenience premium.
Circle two mornings around neighborhood tianguis. Each borough posts its own weekly schedule. Eat breakfast and lunch on the move. Smoked chiles perfume the air. Fresh corn masa steams beside you. Vendors shout over one another in cheerful rivalry. Prices sit far below any sit-down cafe.
Common Budget Mistakes to Avoid
Airport taxi booths bleed wallets dry. Hotel car services do the same. App rideshares cost far less. The Metro costs even less. The gap compounds across a week.
Skip tables facing the Zócalo. Ignore spots fronting Coyoacán's central plaza. Location markups bite hard. Walk two or three streets away. Better cooking waits there. Prices drop fast.
Airport currency desks offer poor rates. Hotel front desks are worse. Bring a small peso cushion. Change the rest at a city-center casa de cambio. Reputable shops sit in residential neighborhoods. Savings add up over a long trip.