Last weekend, Luke and I were invited to try out a fun new bike tour in Mexico City, Bikes and Munchies. I’m not going to lie – I was a little bit nervous about riding a bike around the busy Mexico City streets, but it was by far one of the best tours I’ve taken in Mexico City since I arrived over two years ago.
Riding bikes around the back streets of Roma Norte
Airbnb Experiences in Mexico City
Airbnb experiences are still a pretty new thing here in Mexico City. If you aren’t familiar with it, it’s a great and usually reasonably priced way to get to know some locals and see the city their way.
They’re super simple to book – all you have to do is head to the Airbnb website, type in the city you are visiting, and then click “experiences” at the top underneath the search bar and a huge list of different tour options come up. In the past six months or so, tons have been added for Mexico City.
Starting the tour with a delicious tamal
Whether you want to learn how to make tacos, fresh Mexican bread, learn more about Mexican coffee, or you just want to eat amazing street food with a local tour guide, it’s all there.
New to Airbnb? Sign up with this link and you’ll get up to $40 off of your first booking on both homes and experiences!
Bikes and Munchies: A Bike Tour in Mexico City
The tour with Bikes and Munchies started at 10am, which is, in my opinion, the perfect amount of time to sleep in a little bit (you are on vacation after all), get showered, and get to the meeting point in the Juarez neighborhood.
The thing that I really liked a lot about this tour was how laid back it was. It’s several hours long, but not once did I feel rushed. After we arrived at the meeting point, we ordered a coffee (which is included in the price) and then went to sit down with all of the other guests on the tour.
A really delicious tlacoyo stuffed with refried beans and topped with cactus, cheese, and salsa
We shared the quesadillas so that there was plenty of room for more food!
The group was a good size, besides Luke and I, there were three other guests and two guides. We talked about the Juarez neighborhood, we were given a seriously great map of local food spots around the city, and we just got to know each other.
We enjoyed our coffee with some local tamales – a common breakfast food here in Mexico. It was by far the best tamal I’ve had in Mexico City. The masa was rich and flavorful, the fillings were well cooked and had just enough spice to wake up the taste buds. We were also given a big bottle of water to keep with us throughout the day.
These are the best churros in Mexico City and don’t make me choose one of the sauces because I love all three equally (except the cajeta, I love her the most)
After we finished our coffees and tamales, we were able to pick our bikes and make sure they were the right height. I’m pretty short, so I often find it difficult to get a bike that I’m not too short for. These bikes were made for shorties! I was able to put the seat down all the way and had no issues riding.
We then road around Juarez, Roma Norte, and Condesa stopping to eat quesadillas, tlacoyos, AMAZING mixiote tacos, native Mexican fruits, and then we finished the day with Churros at El Moro (there is nowhere else to have churros in CDMX in my opinion). It was the perfect amount of food to keep my going until dinner time, but I didn’t feel overstuffed either.
This is said taco – it is seriously one of the most delicious things on this planet.
The Tour That Keeps on Giving
One of the great things about this tour is that the two people who run it, Sven and Paola, have created a comprehensive map that you get to take with you once the tour is over. You only stop at a few of the places on the map during the tour, so once it’s over you have this awesome guide to food spots around the city to help you choose where to eat for the rest of your time in Mexico City.
The map covers the Centro Historico, Polanco, Condesa, Juarez, and Roma Norte. If this is your first time in Mexico City, these are likely where you’ll spend most, if not all of your time while you’re here.
The map lists good coffee shops, breakfast spots, street vendors, bars, and good Mexican restaurants. It’s pretty comprehensive, especially if you’re only going to be in the city for a week. It’s also a great way to get your bearings when you explore a new neighborhood.
With the map you’ll be able to find amazing places like this!
What to Know Before You Take the Tour
You definitely want to bring a bag that you can easily carry while you ride a bike. I used a big purse, which was fine for me to ride with. A small backpack is also a good option because you’ll be carrying a bottle of water as well as whatever you bring with you for the day.
If you’re coming to Mexico City during the wet season (June-October), then check out my Mexico City wet season packing list and make sure you have shoes that will keep your feet dry and a waterproof jacket. The rain usually doesn’t start until about 3pm, which is when the tour ends, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.
No matter what the time of year, the sun in Mexico can be very, very strong. You may want to consider packing a hat (especially if you are a guy with short hair). Otherwise, you’ll definitely want to pack some sunscreen and probably some sunglasses, too.
We took the tour on a Sunday, when traffic is basically non-existent in the city and many of the roads are closed to vehicles. If you are a little bit of a nervous bike rider like I am, then I highly recommend going on the tour on a Sunday.
This is what I wore on a chilly late-September morning. I later took off my sweatshirt because it got hot!
Other Mexico City Airbnb Experiences I Recommend
If you enjoy this Airbnb experience, there are a few others that I would recommend to make your trip to the city a fun and informative one.
If you really want to get to Xochimilco, but you’re traveling by yourself or want to enjoy the experience with a group of people, taking a tour is a great option. Many of the packaged tours you find on tour websites are packed with tons of other stops that end up making the tour an all-day event. I love this one on Airbnb where you get to experience Xochimilco like the locals do – partying on a boat with new friends.
If you want to learn more about Mexican coffee, this experience is a fascinating one. I met the guy who runs this tour, he also runs a cafe in Juarez, and he is seriously knowledgable and brews a mean cup of coffee, too.
Want to learn more about Mezcal? This tour looks amazing. While I haven’t taken it myself, I do love a bit of mezcal and think that a personalized tasting where you get to learn even more about it would be a really fun evening.
A friend of mine took this natural dying Airbnb experience and absolutely loved it. I learned a ton about this on a trip to Oaxaca and this tour sounded like a similar experience except that with anabel you actually get to do some dying of your own. This is an ancient Mexican tradition which makes for a unique experience on your trip to Mexico City.
If you’re looking for all-day tours to further afield places in Mexico City like Teotihuacan, Puebla or Basilica de Guadalupe, check out my article on tours in Mexico City.
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