When we first announced that we would and head off to Mexico City with our little one, the vast majority of people we knew back in Denmark would say ”WHAAAT – why would you ever go to such a city with your child?”

Mexico City (from now called CDMX) has been on my wishlist for a long as I follow various American travel bloggers, who adore the city, and on Lasses wishlist because he loved Mexico last time we were here and since then wanted to return.

And as with any other city, then there are good neighbourhoods and dangerous neighbourhoods. We were pretty calm and confident as we had done a good research pre-travel.

Roma Norte

We stayed in the neighbourhood Roma Norte and we LOVED it. We stayed there for two weeks and would return in a heartbeat. Actually we have been talking about returning and staying for some months during our time as a location independent family.

That being said there is obviously much more to CDMX than Roma Norte, but we mostly moved around there and in neighbouring Condesa. We did some excursions to Coyoacan, San Angel, Polanco and the historic center (which we didn’t like at all; too crowded, touristy and noisy). Bur mostly we just hang around Roma.

Roma Norte is an extremely calm and laid-back neighborhood perfect for families. Neighbouring Condesa is more or less the same. The streets are walkable and there are various squares and parks around to relax with a to-go coffee while kids can run around. There are plenty of coffee shops to work from and I’m sure there are many co-working offices as well. The huge park Chapultepec (bigger than Central Park in NYC) is a short Uber ride away and there you will find playgrunds, a ZOO (free!), thousands of squirrels, cafés and a lake.

Our favorite places in Roma Norte

Dosis was our favotire coffee shop in Roma. The coffee was great and so were the toasts (classic avocado, banana etc.) and banana loafs. Good WiFi and a nice location.

Parcela is an extremely nice family restaurant with a large playground. The decor is beautiful and it’s one of the few places where family restaurant meets stylish interior.

Rosetta is a hyped bakery with reason. The pastry and bread is delicous, however the little bakery on Calle Colima is always crowded, so take it to-go and enjoy on a bench in the sun.

Cucuruchu café was just around the corner from our first home in the city. Great coffee, great croissants and they already open at 7.30 (most coffee shops don’t open until 8.30 or 9 and as our little son was jet-lagged and we started our days around 4 a.m. we really needed that coffee!)

Churrería El Moro is a classic pick in CDMX. Everyone who reads international travel sections or follow any international blogger will have heard of El Moro. What surprised us though, was that despite the fact that this is a must go place for visitors, then it was actually busy with locals each day, who came for the daily chocolate and churro fix. Nice.

Our time there workwise

Workwise, I made a travel guide for a Danish newspaper while there, but that was about it. We had jet-lag and got a cold the first week there, so we just wanted to relax and settle in. It ended up more or less as two weeks of vacation where we just sneaked a bit of work and travel planning in while the baby napped.

Practical information

Getting there

Flying to CDMX is very easy from most of the world. Then from the airport to Roma Norte is easy as it is located on ”the right side” of the city in relation to the airport. Uber is available and the ride is aprox. 25 min.

WiFi

We had good stable WiFi in the apartment we stayed in and the WiFi in the cafés we went to was also good.

Budget

Accomodation

A simple, but decent one bedroom apartment in Roma Norte would be around 990MXN // 45€ per night (Airbnb)

If you want to splurge, then there are SO many nice apartments around. However I would not recommend going under the budget we had, as it will most likely be a crappy place where you won’t feel comfortable (especially with kids).

Food & drinks

A cappuccino is around 35 MXN // 1,60 €

A meal at the local taco shop around 300 MXN // 14 € incl. a soft drink for two persons

A meal at a nicer restaurant (like Parcela) would be around 1.150 MXN // 52 €

Supermarked

We did not cook much at home as the first place was crap (it really was), so we only spend around 1600 MXN // 74 € in the supermarked those 10 days (also includes diapers etc for our boy).

Transportation

Uber is available and we spend 58 MXN // 2,66 € on the shortest ride (5 min) and 128 MXN // 6 € on the longest ride (35 min)

Our 10 days in CDMX ended up costing more than budgeted, because we changed apartment halfway through the stay (the first apartment was incredibly cold and the three of us got a cold). So we actually payed double rent for a week.

Daycare/nannies

We didn’t use neither, so I wouldn’t be able to tell

Total expenses in CDMX for 2 persons + a toddler 33.000 MXN // 1.513 €

We quit our jobs by the end of 2018 to travel and work online. Read about our decision here