Mexico City bus tour

During a brief visit to México, D.F. (Mexico City), Mexico, on Friday, Dec. 21, 2012, my wife and I decided to try a hop-on/hop-off bus tour to see areas outside of the downtown’s historic center.

Several bus tours are operated by Turibus (México, D.F.; phone 514 11360 or 01800 280 8887). For 140 pesos (near $11) each, we took their tour “Circuito Chapultepec — Centro Histórico,” which over about 3½ hours makes two dozen stops. At the stops, recorded commentary in several languages was available via headphones and came over the speakers in Spanish.

In addition to the driver, there was a conductor who primarily handled tickets, directed passengers, answered questions, etc. You can enter and leave the bus as often and where you like all day. 

We purchased our tickets from the conductor on the bus at the Zócalo stop (No. 9). We then rode for 20 minutes in fairly light morning traffic, got off for a 4-hour visit to the Museo de Antropología (stop No. 17), then hopped back on for a 3¼-hour journey back to El Zócalo square.

We should have known better. The taxi ride to our hotel from the airport had been our first indication of the gridlock that is Mexico City’s traffic. We heard more car horns in five minutes than we heard in the previous five days in relaxed Mérida.

During our stay, we noticed that the downtown gridlock began around 8:30 a.m. on weekdays and later on weekends. We aren’t night owls, so we don’t know when the traffic cleared up.

That gridlock made our final three hours on the bus miserable. We and our fellow riders were subjected to annoying car horns and plenty of exhaust fumes throughout. We often would go for blocks at a pace slower than that of a pedestrian.  At least we weren’t driving.

There’s nothing Turibus, or a competitor, can do about the traffic. Overall, Turibus provided good service. And I have no better alternative to recommend other than taking this tour first thing on a weekend morning. 

STEPHEN O. ADDISON, Jr.

Charlotte, NC