Get FREE email communications from Fodor's Travel, covering must-see travel destinations, expert trip planning advice, and travel inspiration to fuel your passion.
Condesa, Roma, Centro Histórico, Coyoacán, and Polanco stand out as Mexico City's hippest neighborhoods. If you're looking to do some barhopping and want to foot it, you can do so in La Condesa. The Zona Rosa has lost ground to Condesa, Roma, and Polanco in the past few years, but it's still packed on Friday and Saturday nights, and everything is within walking distance. Niza, Florencia, Londres, and Hamburgo streets are teeming with bars and discos.
Night is the key word. People generally take in dinner and a show at 9 or 10 pm, head to bars or nightclubs at midnight, then find a spot for a nightcap or tacos somewhere around 3 am. (Cantinas are the exception; people start hitting them in the late afternoon and most close by 11 pm.)
You should have no trouble getting around on your own Always take official hotel taxis, sitio (stationed) taxis, or use the safe taxi apps Yaxi or Uber; it can be expensive to barhop this way, but your safety is worth the cost.
Craft cocktails are served in this tiny but fashionable bar ideal for a date or catching up with a close friend. Owned by tour guide Anais Martinez, the space has a hip and charming allure, with a location in the welcoming and laid-back neighborhood of Narvarte Oriente. Small snacks are available to accompany the fine cocktails and wine.
Centro's branch of one of the city's best craft beer bars has a handful of outdoor tables on a pretty pedestrian street and serves up to 150 beers, roughly 80% of them made in Mexico. Look out for beer brands like Colimita, Wendlandt, and Insurgentes.
A small mezcalería located in the Hotel Downtown, La Botica is easily the best place in Centro Histórico for a mezcal. Though mezcalerías have proliferated in the area in the hopes of luring in tourists, few serve as respectable a selection in such a pleasant spot, with a list of 35 distillates from across the county and balcony views over the street below.
One of the city's classic watering holes has attracted top personalities since it opened in 1870. Don't forget to have your waiter point out the bullet hole in the ceiling allegedly left by Mexican revolutionary hero Pancho Villa. Come at night for live mariachi and good tequila.
This expansive rooftop bar at the edge of the Plaza de República combines elements of modernist chic, tiki bar greenery, and Mexican crafts in a way that, against all odds, works beautifully. Combine that with extraordinary views of the Monument of the Revolution and this makes for a great place to spend an afternoon or evening over beers (or something stronger).
