first-time snowbirds in mexico ‘22
We escaped the cold + depressing covid restrictions of Ontario to live a snowbird’s life in Mexico. This was our first of hopefully very many snowbirding experiences, we left for 4.5 weeks and are already thinking of how we can make this an annual adventure. We sandwiched a trip to Mexico City with time in Tulum. Keep scrolling for the places we stayed, where we wandered, where we ate, and what we’d do differently next year.
Tulum
Where we stayed:
There are so many areas in Tulum to stay in, and we’ve tried a lot of them. Where I would recommend staying would be based on what you’d like to experience. Our first bnb is closest to the town center which, was convenient for being close to the large grocery store (Chedraui), and for the bike ride to the beach. The bnb was super cute and well-priced it had a lovely courtyard and small pool. The next area we stayed in is called Aldea Zama — this is nice for us tourists looking for simply sunshine and the comforts of home — healthy restaurants to eat at and more of a condo-like neighbourhood. Convenient as well for the bike ride to the beach, but there is a stretch of road that isn’t lit up at night, so you are a little isolated here in the evenings (unless you want to cab, of course). The last neighbourhood we stayed in was La Veleta, and the bnb we booked was the last one of our trip… Wow, it was incredibly well designed and considered. This area is the least accessible to the beach via bike but there are plenty of fun resto’s/bars and places to rent ATVs to get down to the beach area.
Why not stay at the beach? The beach has mostly boutique hotels that are $$$. Not for us but would be amazing to stay there for sure.
*this place was so incredible (see a reel I created highlighting the property here), highly recommend going to the Airbnb hosts profile and seeing his other properties in Tulum.
Where we ate:
We ate a lot of our meals at home as we were staying in Tulum for a while. There is so much fresh produce in Mexico! **definitely pick up some microdyne and wash your fresh produce in iodine**
The Real Coconut, Beach — delicious resto at a boutique hotel on the beach (they also have a yoga studio here so P and I would bike down in the AM, do a yoga class, and enjoy their incredible bone broth + acai bowl… omg).
Matcha Mamma, Aldea Zama — unreal acai bowls in Aldea Zama
La Taqueria, La Veleta — yummy tacos in outdoor patio setting with jenga at the tables + good music
La Pizzine, La Veleta — pizza + cocktails in w/ a wicked setting/vibe
Gypsea Market, La Veleta — tasty healthy eats in café setting (nice for going to get work done at)
Prieto, in town — delicious bullet coffee + smoothies
Palo Santo, in town — salad spot but $$$
Botanica Garden Café, in town — tasty / healthy brunch spot
Elemento, in town — go on a night with live music
What we did:
Bike down to the beach, this was our main to-do. When staying near the bike path we loved to bike down early and catch the sunrise. We would share a set of air pods and cruise to our favourite tunes at the time (we thought this was a real life hack). Most notably: Yes Sir, I Can Boogie by Baccara - a real choon!!
The beach in Tulum is split up into two areas: the hotel side and the public side. Perks to both! On both sides, you can find places to rent day beds and lounge (they typically have a min spend for the day and after a few cocktails / snacks you’ve earned your stay). Some places we loved revisiting:
There is an airstream bar near Playa Pescadores with delicious tacos + margaritas, good music + happy staff!
Coco Beach Club — tasty cocktails and before New Years this place had the least expensive day bed fee
Chringuito — we took the ATV here and enjoyed their food and drinks, this part of the beach is so beautiful. Recommend locking in a day bed and going for a long walk all the way to the end where it’s so much more secluded.
One tip: When biking to the public side, I don’t recommend parking your bike at the first bike parking lot - it gets insanely busy here. Keep going for a while and find a less busy spot.
Mexico City
Where we stayed:
We split up our week in Mexico City in two airbnb’s. We read/were told that Roma Norte + Condesa were the best neighbourhoods to stay in (for walking everywhere and being in beautiful areas of the city). So our first bnb was in Roma Norte, we liked the proximity to everything here and the bnb was really nice but it felt kinda cold and dark and I’d rather stay somewhere more colourful next time. It was lovely though! Our next bnb was in Condesa and I loved this place, especially the rooftop patio. I had to log a day’s work here and it was ideal. We did more walking from our Roma Norte bnb but that’s cause we lost two days with P being sick and me having to get some work done.
airbnb’s:
Roma Norte - Dib
Condesa - Fine Balance
Where we ate:
We were entirely overwhelmed by the number of recommendations we were given on where to eat in Mexico City. Here’s the top ones we hit:
Makan — kinda hard to find - there’s no street signage but you walk into this unmarked building, into the back and there’s a really cool labyrinth of patio spaces where there are three restaurants. we loved the vibe here and shared many delicious plates.
Lardo — brunch/coffee/pastries - the guava pastry is famous.
Polpo — this was one we just stumbled upon while looking for a wine bar in Roma Norte (it had 5 stars so we hit it and really liked it). Very cute.
Panaderia Rosetta — early coffee in Roma Norte + delicious pastries, real cute place.
Hotel Condesa — rooftop patio cocktails + snacks
San Angel Inn — our guide for the Luis Barragan tour told us about this place. It’s really cute, like a fancy authentic restaurant + in San Angel neighbourhood where there are colourful homes on cobblestone streets. Very lovely — highly recommend a gin martini from here.
What we did:
Luis Barragán’s Architecture Tour — We did a tour with the Travelling Beetle and it was really great. A pretty $$ but we really enjoyed it. I wish we had time to see his studio (Casa Gilardi) next time though!
Casa Organica — An ecological and architectural destination that architect Javier Senosiain built for his family and actually lived in for 25 years. This was just a mind-blowing experience. It was pretty well booked up but was told by an ig friend to email them and see if they can squeeze us in! Check out this reel from our tour, here.
La Lagunilla Market — Sunday at NOON. Our Casa Organica tour guide told us about this placel. It was very cool, like a massive flee market with vintage clothing, furniture, art… We didn’t know why he said to go at noon until it had been about an hour of being there and it was REAL busy! Lol So many cool things to look at, we picked up some artwork for the crib but I wish we could’ve taken more things home with us.
Places I wish I had more time to explore:
JO HS — art studio
Museo Jumex (contemporary art museum)
National Museum of Anthropology
Castillo Chapultepec
Frida Kahlo + Diego Riviero Studio
Getting around Mexico City:
Uber’s are ridiculously inexpensive. Our longest uber was ~ 30 mins and cost around 9 bucks?? Ridiculous — it was actually the uber we took to Casa Organica.
I am sure that is plenty to digest! The moments that stand out most are certainly Casa Organica, walking the streets in Roma Norte (most notably near Panaderia Rosetta — the masssssive tropical plants among the wildly different architecture), Luis Barragan tour, gin martini in the courtyard at San Angel Inn.
More highlights from the trip here, here & here!
Traveling in Mexico + Covid:
In Mexico, there are no strict covid restrictions (regarding masks, quarantine + the rest), and it’s really up to you to keep yourself and others safe. When we went in December 2021 — we didn’t need to show proof of negative PCR/antigen test to enter. At the end of January, when we flew back to Canada, the airline informed us we needed a negative PCR test (unless you had a positive PCR test from 14 - 180 days before travel), these rules have since changed, and you no longer need a negative PCR (March 2022). In Tulum, there were plenty of pop-up PCR/antigen test clinics (for a fee, of course). People are still wearing masks in town (especially in Mexico City).