Getting There

Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juarez, 6km (4mi) east of the Zocalo, is Mexico City's only passenger airport. There are at least 25 airlines providing direct service from US and Canadian cities, and many others provide one-stop connecting services. Only a few flights from Europe fly to Mexico nonstop; US airlines require a plane change in the USA.

Four long-distance bus terminals in the city are divided among the four points of the compass. Buses go to and from various destinations all over Mexico. Trains, which have been on the decline for decades, aren't quite as readily available. Only three trains were running to/from Mexico City at the time of writing, and their future was doubtful.

Getting Around

Mexico City has a good, cheap, easy-to-use metro (underground railway). Peseros (mini-buses), buses and trolley buses ply all main routes and are cheap and useful. The metro system is the quickest - and most sardinelike - form of transport in the city. Ride it and be one of the 4.7 million people daily who do. The gray-and-green peseros are no walk in the park, either, but between 10am and 5pm they're not so crowded. Neither buses nor pereros run between the airport and the city center; if renting a car is not an option, you can use a taxi or the metro.

Taxis are plentiful, but they are increasingly notorious for robberies. In fact, crime levels make precautions advisable on all forms of transport. The metro, buses and peseros are favorite haunts of pickpockets and thieves, particularly when they're crowded.