Hi All!

I'm taking a flight this Friday from Atlanta to Cancun and have a layover in Mexico City from 9 pm till 11AM Saturday morning. Any ideas on how to kill time there (besides the typical reading eating and ipod). I'm a little hesitant to go out exploring in the middle of the night .

Also, do they let you sleep and linger for this long in the airport???

Thanks!!!
Kim

I don't know what policy is with the new terminal (T2) at MEX. There is a hotel on-site, but I don't think it's cheap. Fourteen hours is more than enough time to make it into the city. I'd check my bags or use a locker in the airport, and get a pre-paid cab into town. Hostal Catedral is quite cheap (I think dorms are $5-6 per night), and very central. An pre-paid cab will cost less than 150 ($10 at today's exchange) pesos from the airport to the hostel - you should be able to arrive shortly after 10pm. There are also budget hostels in Roma, Condesa, and Zona Rosa - all similarly-situated neighborhoods with respect to the airport. It would be a shame to spend Friday night at the airport.

If you're traveling without bags, you could even take the subway from the airport to the center for $0.15. Let me know if you're interested in specifics - I spend a lot of time in Mexico City.

That's really helpfull Felix. Thanks

Here's a map of the Metro. The airport is on the yellow line - Terminal Aerea is the station. Hostal Catedral is on the blue/purple line - Allende and Zocalo are the two closest stations. Only take the subway if you check your bags at the airport, appear confident, and are familiar with navigating other subways (you'll need two connections to the blue line). Otherwise, take one of the pre-paid taxis (called 'sitios') that you reserve at the booths at the terminal's exit. Your first time there, don't ever take one of the regular taxis. You often need to give the drivers directions in Spanish - that's if they aren't pirate taxis.

The "sleeping in airports" site has some pretty detailed info on the Mexico City Airport.

We've all had to do it at some point...I had to sleep in the Atlanta airport one time. Not a good time! But hey, at least your overnight stay is planned, rather than being a surprise

What no one seems to mention is that a single night in Mexico City is very likely to result in a nasty attack of soroche, or altitude sickness. I would probably just hang out at the airport and deal with the headache as best I can until my flight out.

Corvinus wrote:What no one seems to mention is that a single night in Mexico City is very likely to result in a nasty attack of soroche, or altitude sickness. I would probably just hang out at the airport and deal with the headache as best I can until my flight out.

While I've heard of this in places like La Paz or Lhasa, I've never heard stories of newbies to DF getting altitude sickness. I don't think it's that common at 7200 feet / 2200 meters.