Mexico · budget cars
Cheap car rental in Mexico City
The lowest daily rates on car rentals in Mexico City, Mexico. Expedia Cars compares budget brands against the majors — economy cars and the majors side by side.
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What things cost in Mexico City
A comida corrida of soup, main and agua fresca runs roughly 90 to 150 pesos in Roma or Centro. Tacos al pastor sit around 20 to 30 pesos each, so five plus a beer is a cheap dinner. The Metro is five pesos a ride with no day-pass equivalent on offer. Antropologia is 210 pesos for foreigners. Short Uber hops across Condesa rarely pass 90 pesos.
What first-timers get wrong in Mexico City
Buy a Movilidad Integrada card for fifteen pesos the moment you land, because Metrobus accepts no cash whatsoever and Metro rides cost five pesos each. Skip street-hailed taxis in favour of Uber or DiDi. Restaurants expect ten to fifteen percent, added by hand rather than automatically. Teotihuacan and the INAH museums lock their gates on Mondays. Altitude, not the food, flattens most arrivals on day one.
What's actually worth your time in Mexico City
The Templo Mayor excavation beside the Zocalo earns its ticket because you walk the Mexica city Cortes buried under the cathedral. Teotihuacan, about ninety minutes northeast from Terminal Norte, deserves a whole morning before the sun reaches the Pyramid of the Sun. Castillo de Chapultepec repays the climb for Juan O Gorman's murals. The Angel de la Independencia on Reforma is a traffic-island photo stop.
What to eat in Mexico City
Al pastor is this city's proof of Lebanese migration: El Vilsito in Narvarte is a working auto shop by day and a trompo-lit taqueria after ten at night. Tostadas at the Coyoacan market counter, tlacoyos off comals in Roma, and quesadillas that arrive with no cheese unless you say con queso. Barbacoa is a Sunday morning ritual, and El Moro fries churros past midnight.
Mexico City after dark
Roma Norte and Condesa carry the mezcal crowd, with Licoreria Limantour and Hanky Panky behind an unmarked door, and they fill closer to midnight than to ten. Plaza Garibaldi and Salon Tenampa put mariachis on the floor for a per-song fee. Old Centro cantinas such as La Opera, with its ceiling bullet hole, close early. Most bars call last orders around two or three.
When to go to Mexico City
| Best months for cheap-cars | Avg daily high | Rain days |
|---|---|---|
| February | 25°C / 77°F | 1 days |
| January | 23°C / 73°F | 2 days |
| March | 28°C / 82°F | 2 days |
The month to avoid is July — around 23°C (73°F) with roughly 27 rain days. Prices and crowds track the weather here: February is the sweet spot, July the month most people skip.
Pack for peak season: Summer clothes, plus one light layer for air-con and evenings, Evenings turn genuinely cool — pack a warm layer for after dark, Comfortable walking shoes — every guide on this site assumes you'll use them.