CENTRO HISTORICO MEXICO CITY - 5 HOUR MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHTS TOUR
Your first time in Mexico City?
Start it right with an intelligent, guided introduction.
This is the safest, most relaxing way to explore the must-see cultural & historic highlights of the historic center of Mexico City.
In this compact 5 hour round-trip tour of Centro Histórico and The Zocalo, you'll learn about México City's incredible history and how it affects its people today.
With a private guide & chauffeured hotel pick-up/drop-off, the maze of Mexico City simply couldn't be made easier, safer or more fun!!
Think of this tour as your passport to becoming a literate, informed visitor to Mexico City (whilst you metaphorically have your nails painted!)
Discover The Black Jesus, Diego Rivera murals, and the mesmorizing traces of the ancient Aztec City of Tenochitlan
(they make the Romans look trifling in comparison!)
This is an essential introductory tour of Mexico City's Center that will become like a Rosetta Stone for understanding all that you see and do during the rest of your stay.
We safely navigate you away from the mayhem to get you to the finest treasures and architecture of the city.
Javier was most knowledgeable and provided us with the history of the areas we visited as well as introducing us to sights, sounds and tastes of modern life in Mexico City. The tour was a delightful introduction to Mexico City by someone who clearly knows and loves the city.
WHAT HAPPENS DURING YOUR PRIVATE CENTRO TOUR
This private five hour tour focuses on the Must-See Highlights of Downtown Mexico City: the Zocalo Plaza, Cathedral, National Palace, UNESCO Templo Mayor (original location of The Aztec Calendar Stone), Bellas Artes Palace and their surrounds.
Be safely and intelligently guided through THE most important channels of Mexican history and culture.
No need for iron-man fitness. The major highlights are within a geographically-compact, historically-potent area.
This tour discovery happens both with a chauffeur and on foot. Your guide-driver will pick you up from your hotel/bnb in luxury transport and safely drive you to the center of downtown Mexico City. You will then be in a fabulously compact area which has a high concentration of historic and cultural points of interest.
Your guide always asks what you have already seen in Mexico City, and/or in Centro Histórico, so they can avoiding repeating any sites you may already know. We have both first time and repeat visitors on this tour so we 100% adjusted the itinerary to you.
Your guide will ask you about your interests.
Love churches? Noted!
Don't like churches? Noted!
They then adjust the itinerary to you.
.
During the next four hours, or so, your private guide will ensure you see the most important cultural sites of downtown and explain their importance in terms of the past and the present.
They will also explain anything modern and interesting you come across along the way. Like a good friend, they are there to answer ANY questions about ANYTHING you are curious about.
And if you want to pause for a snack, or lunch, or a cold beer, or coffee, or fresh juice, or a sugar boost, or a cigarette, they are happy to make time for this. Whenever you wish.
If you want to buy something, your guide is there to ensure you are charged the correct price and to check that quality and origins of the item are authentic.
At the end of the tour, your guide-driver drives you safely back to your hotel or bnb. This is a 100% private door-to-door service.
We have spent alot of time designing our 5 hour tour of Centro Histórico as the perfect hosted introduction to Mexico City. You'll see the most important buildings and archeological sites with educated insight and relaxed poise. The Aztecs, Conquisatdors, the Mixtecas, Diego Rivera murals and neo-colonial & deco architecture are all found here!
With this tour, you'll have the comfort and security of your hotel or Airbnb pick-up and drop-off in luxury private transport, so that every step of the way is 100% taken care of!
"The Ruler's Animals" in the Florentine Codex. Ask your guide about Moctezuma's zoo!
Very interesting and educational tour of Historico Centro. Santiago was a terrific guide, mixing history, current events and political discussion (which we welcomed) very nicely.
PRICES
Your tour price does not include tickets because not every visitor wants to see the same thing. Some people love Rivera murals & churches. Others don't. So why would we include pre-set fees for attractions that you may never end up seeing?
Total for a 1 - 4 person group = US $299
Total for a 5 - 7 person group = US $398
Total for a 8 -11 person group = US $489
*Prices are in US dollars & don't include tax.
*Price does not include food, drink, entrance fees, or any random shopping items you pick up along the way!
*We recommend contacting your bank BEFORE trying to book online, because overseas banks frequently have a block,, or high alert, for any payments linked to Mexico.
Our guides Javier and Cesar were fabulous. So informed about their city and fun to travel with. The tours were all well paced with plenty of time for photos and good food along the way.
MEET YOUR MEXICO CITY CULTURE & HISTORY EXPERTS
Our cultural & historic guides are licensed, knowledgeable, and have personality!
Javier, Cesar, Carlos, and the Santiagos each have over 20 years experience guiding in Mexico City. They have personality. They are NOT cardboard cut-out guides delivering robot speeches. They know their job is to give you solid information on anything and everything that interests you, be it a random question about why there are so many organ grinders in Centro Histórico, or whether the Aztecs ever met the Mayans, BUT they also know that people don't want to be talked at all day long! That is to say, the overall flow and feeling of the tour is as important as the number of facts you acquire.
Javier and clients pause for Mexican style hot chocolate.
Our guides understand that giving you the chance to pause, and observe, and absorb are important too. That's why they are on the Stylewalk MX team.
Anyone can churn out facts, but these guys are cool. They are real people, with real lives. They love their city, but they are not in love with the sound of their own voices! They are flexible to YOUR needs. The focus is YOU and YOUR experience. We call it being professional. You would call it relaxing, informative, and fun.
Javier has over twenty years experience as a professional cultural & historic guide. He is up-to-date on new research & discoveries.
Javier Tapia is our Head of Transport and Cultural Tours. Javier is a professional licensed guide (officially authorised by the Mexican Government) and has been working as a tour guide in his hometown of Mexico City for over 20 years. He has a really great attitude, his tours always have great flow and he is highly respected in the tour community as the Treasurer of the Tourist Guides Union, located in Centro Histórico Mexico City.
When Javier is not on tour, he is found out walking his SIX (!) dogs, or going for a country cruise on one of his luxury Harley Davidsons (yes, like all fanatics, he collects them!)>
Is there really a water crisis in Mexico City? It looks very green!
What do the Mexican people think of Trump?
You can ask your guide anything.
Cesar has been working as a licensed guide since 2002. He is the master of making any tour flow smoothly.
César Tapia is Javier Tapia's younger brother. César has been working as a professional licensed guide (officially authorised by the Mexican Government) alongside Javier since 2002.
César is best known for his great sense of humour, his readiness to adapt to any situation, and his deep passion for Mexican history. When he is not on the job, he loves to take his dog for a walk and, like Javier, he has a definite soft spot for taking his cruiser style motorbikes out for a spin in the country.
Our guides love their city, but they are not in love with the sound of their own voices!
They know the priority is the flow and feel of the day, so they adapt the amount & style of content to you.
Our visitors love Santiago SNR for his winning combo of personality and knowledge.
Santiago is our oldest and most experienced guide. Don't let his age fool you. He has the physical and mental stamina of the Energizer bunny. Not that he has anything to prove. If you want get take your time to get more in-depth into local history, or you are traveling with a family that takes things slowly, Santiago adjusts to you. Santiago loves meeting new people and he loves his city, so being a guide is the perfect job for him. It's just as well he discovered that so early on in life. We think it's kept him in great shape!
Santiago is particularly loved by our GLBTi visitors, who like his professionalism and non-judgement.
Yup, you guessed it! Santiago Jnr learned the ropes from his dad, Santiago Guerrero (see above), and frankly there is no better person in the world he could have learned from! Santiago Jnr has over 25 years experience as a guide. He specializes in pre-hispanic and colonial history and is adored by our visitors who have toured with him.
No standing out like a sore thumb. No maps, no taxis, and no language problems!
Seeing the historic center of Mexico City with a private guide is a breeze.
As an official licensed guide, Carlos has over 30 years experience providing tours for the St Regis, Hyatt Regency and the Four Seasons. Another history buff and collector of strange and interesting facts, he never stops researching new findings in the city or exploring new options for his return clients.. You should also ask him how many Harleys he owns. Or maybe ask him about where he took David Bowie. back in the day....
Discover the cornerstones of Mexico City's pre-hispanic and colonial history in one compact, relaxing session.
Pause for a break, whenever you wish.
Or don't stop at all.
It's completely up to you.
Very interesting and educational tour of Historico Centro. Santiago was a terrific guide, mixing history, current events and political discussion (which we welcomed) very nicely.
MEET THE REVOLUTIONARY HEROES!
Heard of the name Pancho Villa, and wondering why the Mexican people love him so? Noticing a lot of Zapata on T-shirts, street art and tattooes? These are perfect topics to chat to your guide about!
According to one of Pancho Villa's last surviving widows, he was married no less than 26 times.
"It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees."
~Emiliano Zapata~
Ever seen Marlon Brando in the film 'Viva Zapata'?
His mustache was a bit lacking, but he did win Best Actor at Cannes, 1952.
Curious fact.
There were many 'soldaderas' (female soldiers) in the Revolution. But Colonel Amelio Ávila was the first TRANS-soldier in Mexican military history. He was famous for shooting people who called him 'her'.
On a tour like this you definitely get to understand more about the history and culture of the city and explore places that you would otherwise walk right past.
A STARTING POINT ITINERARY
This is a private 5 hour tour. We are happy to adjust the tour start time to you! The only limits we keep in mind are the opening hours of the museums and government buildings. For this reason we don't recommend a late afternoon start time.
10 am
Your guide driver picks you up at your Hotel/bnb in a luxury private vehicle.
* Your guide-driver checks in with you about what you may have already seen in Centro, and asks if you have any new requests.
* As you pass any significant monuments or urban features on the journey into Centro, you guide will highlight these for you.
10:30/10:45
Arrive in Centro. Here you leave the car with a valet and start walking. This is your chance to get some great photos and learn about sites such as the Cathedral, The Zocalo Plaza, The National Palace, and the Templo Mayor.
* Ask Q's, be curious about anything, learn some expert history and culture in an easy-going, approachable way.
* Stop for photos, a coffee break, tacos, a cold beer, whenever you want!
15:00/15:15
Depending on where you are staying, its probably time to start heading back
16:00
Your guide driver drops you off at your Hotel/bnb drop-off in a luxury private vehicle.
Hotel pick-up & drop-off applies to all main hotel & Air bnbs in the central neighborhoods of Roma, Juarez, Anzures, Cuauhtémoc, Condesa, Polanco, and Centro. If you are outside of these areas, please advise us.
Access to the Diego Rivera mural in the National Palace can be affected by unforeseen government mandates. We do our best to stay on top of this and program other murals for you, if Rivera is on your wishlist.
Very interesting and educational tour of Historico Centro. Santiago was a terrific guide, mixing history, current events and political discussion (which we welcomed) very nicely.
CAN YOU SEE CENTRO ON YOUR OWN?
Centro Histórico is a treasure trove, but we have to warn you Mexico City is a little complex.....
What you need to know about downtown Mexico City is that it is hectic, and full of people! BUT you HAVE TO see it. It's a fact. If you don't see the seat of the 8 Aztec empires for yourself, you'll only get half the picture. No matter where you go in Mexico City, you'll be missing the wikipedia that sits behind the why and how of everything. And this tour is a perfect overview of Mexico's fascinating and multi-layered past. With some expert help, you will be able to see downtown as the very blueprint where most of Mexico's Conquistador history took place. You will have your eyes opened as to how Mexico was formed as a country and a nation.
So getting back to that hectic thing. There are many things we recommend you DO on your own in Mexico City. Seeing downtown without a guide is NOT one of them. Your guide helps the importance of these cultural sites come alive. And importantly, your guide makes things calm, they help you navigate your way through the masses, they find an appropriate place to talk to explain what you are seeing, and they ensure you are safe, and well taken care of.
They also have a vested interest in getting you in and out in the most logistically sensible way possible.
Hotel pick-up & drop-off applies to all main hotel & Air bnbs in the central neighborhoods of Roma, Juarez, Anzures, Cuauhtémoc, Condesa, Polanco, and Centro. If you are outside of these areas, please advise us.
Centro is better with a local expert to keep you out of the mayhem.
Director Laura Ainscough says this about Downtown Centro Historico, Mexico City:
"I love cities. I am right at home in them. The bustle of Shinjuku, the in-your-face character of Lower Manhattan, the white collar masses of Sydney's CBD. They're fun and lively.
I do not love downtown Mexico City.
if it weren't for the fact that it has the most important museums, cultural sites and historical capsules of Mexico's entire history were located there, I would be happy to never visit downtown Mexico City ever again in my life. But the catch is, it DOES have all those things, and so it would be a crime NOT to visit.
So why isn't it like other cosmopolitan downtowns in the world? Traditionally downtown was a ghetto. Only the poor lived there (without sewerage or electricity) and due to various governments, it has existed for a long time without forward thinking regulation, which has created urban congestion (both pedestrian and vehicular) and it's not a comfortable place to hang out and watch the action in the streets. Hawkers set up wherever they want no matter the inconvenience to the public, and the vibe is low-end commercial hustle. Remember Centro Historico is NOT the business district of Mexico City. It's NOT where you find the offices of Deloitte, Price Waterhouse & Cooper, or Cocacola..
So yes, things ARE changing. Slowly. Carlos Slim has a progressive vision for the area, but the realization of that is many years away yet. And yes we have some superb luxury hotels and restaurants in downtown, but that doesnt make the streets an awesome place to chill.
So why am I telling you all this? Because in other cities it is totally normal to go and hang out in downtown and discover everything on your own. And there are plenty of places in Mexico City where I would recommend you go solo and chill! But Downtown is definitely not one of them. There is so much chaos and noise, that it can hard to breathe in the history. That's why I strongly recommend that visitors to the city go with a guide. But a fun guide! Someone who really knows what they are talking about and makes this interesting. One that is genuinely looking out for you in terms of buffering you from beggars, musicians, & hawkers, and one that knows how to get you in and out with ease. Thy will maae all the difference in terms of the look-feel of your day, and HOW MUCH you actually learn!
You have to see this part of Mexico City. It IS a must. But just remember to do so intelligently. It's not the same as other parts of the world. It has its own rules, and as a foreigner, you WILL stick out. You will be noticed. Before your trainers have even touched the pavement! "
Very interesting and educational tour of Historico Centro. Santiago was a terrific guide, mixing history, current events and political discussion (which we welcomed) very nicely.
ARE THE AZTECS STILL PRESENT IN MODERN LIFE?
We have spent a lot of time designing our 5 hour tour of Centro Histórico, so it is the perfect hosted introduction to Mexico City.
You can see breathtaking architecture, the remnants of a Zapata shoot out, ciphers to historical massacres,and get a solid insight as to why Aztec figures, motifs, and legends still feature in the city today.
Meet Cuauhtémoc.
A.k.a Descending Eagle.
The very last Aztec Emperor.
Eagles were one of many central symbols to the Aztec people, and remain a recurring theme in national iconography today.
A shaman cleansing, anyone?
Whatever you are keen to try, your guide is always there to advise and assist!
We have spent a lot of time designing our 5 hour tour of Centro Histórico so it is the perfect hosted introduction to Mexico City.
You'll have the chance to see breathtaking architecture, the remnants of a Zapata shoot out, prime archeological sites, and ciphers to historical massacres.
All with relaxed poise, and educated insight.
(Our guide's) passion for Mexican culture and history was so contagious. He brought buildings and murals alive for us as we toured places like the Catedral Metropolitana and the Palacio Nacional de Mexico.
He also walked us through the city streets, discussing the history and cultural influences of buildings and streets through the eyes of a person who has experienced much of the changing political and social climate.....
PRIVATE TOURS ARE 'PRIVATE' AREN'T THEY?
Just a little bit of friendly advice based on some friends' experiences of taking 'private tours' with other companies in Mexico.
Just a friendly piece of insider advice....
A lot of companies in Mexico City claim to offer 'private' tours, but they have a rather creative definition of 'private' and on the day, you'll find yourself on tour with strangers.
We want to mention this so you can be clear on what we are offering. When you tour with us, your luxury transport is ONLY for you, your expert-guide is ONLY for you, and your itinerary is 100% tailored to you.
We travelled to Mexico City with our children ages 11 and 14 and chose Stylewalk Mexico for three excursions and airport transfer services. Prior to each tour we received a reminder of the time of departure, a map of our meeting place if it was different from our hotel, restaurant reservations made for our connecting tours and a photo of our guide along with safety information. We found the city and tours to be safe and exceptionally well run from our booking experience with Victor to the individual guides making our holiday a wonderful experience.
In the 19th & 20th centuries, common belief was that "the Aztecs were the Romans of the New World, the Maya its Greeks."
Alistair Smart - The Telegraph.
(Our guide's) passion for Mexican culture and history was so contagious. He brought buildings and murals alive for us as we toured places like the Catedral Metropolitana and the Palacio Nacional de Mexico.
He also walked us through the city streets, discussing the history and cultural influences of buildings and streets through the eyes of a person who has experienced much of the changing political and social climate.....
READ OUR TRIPADVISOR REVIEWS
We did 2 days of tours with Cesar and we had a great time. He arrived at our location early and gave us a lot of information before even arriving to each destination without being overwhelming (as many guides can be at times).
HOW DO I BOOK? (AND THEN WHAT HAPPENS?)
Your booking is reserved via our secure online booking platform.
Here's what to expect...
>>Click on the orange booking button.
>> Identify which tour slots are available in our live bookings calendar.
>>Remember these are private tours. Once you book a timeslot, the tours is yours and yours alone.
>>Reserve your preferred time/day with our secure online payment gateway.
>> Receive an instant booking confirmation! Your tour is 100% yours!
>> You'll receive detailed info about your private guide and their mobile number (via email) the night before your tour so that you can be in touch with any last minute communications you may have
>>The day of your tour, your guide picks you up from your accommodation at the agreed time and you head off together to see the highlights of the historic center of Mexico City.
OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS FOR HISTORY LOVERS
GUEST REVIEWS
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We travelled to Mexico City with our children ages 11 and 14 and chose Stylewalk Mexico for three excursions and airport transfer services. Prior to each tour we received a reminder of the time of departure, a map of our meeting place if it was different from our hotel, restaraunt reservations made for our connecting tours and a photo of our guide along with safety information. We found the city and tours to be safe and exceptionally well run from our booking experience with Victor to the individual guides making our holiday a wonderful experience.
We spent three days touring Mexico City and surrounds with StyleWalk MX on private tours for a party of 3. Our guides Javier and Cesar were fabulous. So informed about their city and fun to travel with. The tours were all well paced with plenty of time for photos and good food along the way. We visited over the three days the Centro Historico tour, Teotihaucan / Basilica tour plus a personalised 8 hr tour of the south of Mexico City including Frida Khalo Museum, Dolores Museum, Coyocan area and markets plus the Xochimilco Floating Markets. The booking process was easy and the follow-up emails were excellent and helpful. Cannot recommend Stylewalk enough! Gracias!
Our tour guide for the day was Javier who was excellent. We thoroughly enjoyed the day visiting Casa Azul (Frida Khalo museum), an open market, the Coyoacan neighborhood and the CentroHistorico district. Javier was most knowledgeable and provided us with the history of the areas we visited as well as introducing us to sights, sounds and tastes of modern life in Mexico City. The tour was a delightful introduction to Mexico City by someone who clearly knows and loves the city.
