 | Mexico City Xochimilco Reviews | Tips 1 - 10 of 37 |  |
There are two main 'embarcaderos' (boat landings) in Xochimilco, as well as a half-dozen secondary ones, and the canal system is extensive enough that traffic jams are rare.
Today, in fact, it can be quite overwhelming to pole along the canals in one of the colorful punts on a busy weekend, but a sense of excitement accompanies the smaller vessels that carry entertainers (marimba,mariachi...) or vendors (snacks, tamale, elote...) - Frida Kahlo also wrote about the marvelous produce and unusual local dishes she had found on the canals - that join visitors as they drift along the innumerable canals in the shade of towering ahuejote trees... Some vendors even boarding yours uninvited!
Along the canals were small gardens and homesteads with cackling hens and crowing roosters. Dogs perched precariously or even crawled into small boats along the shore to beg for handouts as the trajineras came by, and an occasional bony horse or cow grazing in a pasture...
The boat tour is highly entertaining, but for those interested in the history and techniques of chinampa farming, the nearby Parque Ecológico de Xochimilco (Xochimilco Ecological Park) is the place to go.
There is the Cuemanco boat landing and the largest flower market in Latin America (32 acre)...
Xochimilco is quite a different experience you just cannot miss. Directions: Xochimilco is due south, about 14 mi/22 km from the Zocalo. Xochimilco tours can be purchased at main hotels in Mexico City. Embarcadero 'Tren Ligero' station, then walk just two blocks east. If you go on your own, the easy way is ride a taxi.
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This place is called Xochimilco, where in ancient times, was a commerce-Lake where people used to trade their mercancies in small boats called "Trajineras".
Now, this trajineras, which are nice decorated with colourful flowers, are used as Party-vehicles. =)
Xochimilco is now a traditional place to make great parties while taking a ride through the lake, and having some drinks, buying food, handicrafts or even asking the Mariachi-trajinera to play a song.
There can be around 20-30 people in a Trajinera (so it gets cheaper) and you can buy everything (drinks, food, etc) before jumping in, in small grocery shops outside. Leave a Comment Address: XochimilcoDirections: When arriving to Xochimilco go to Embarcadero Nuevo Nativitas
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Another place you must visit is Xochimilco, a place with water canals where little boats (called TRAJINERAS) sail along, and where you can get Mexican food & music while being on the boat (or eat on "shore"), buy handcrafts and flowers, have a beer and just have a good time. Most foreigners ADORE this place. I strongly recommend it, it's fun and very Mexican! And they say it's also great to visit at night, even though you can't see the surrounding vegetation if you go there by night.
Keep in mind that the price for an hour ride on the trajineras is about 15 USD (the boat holds up to 12-15 people) and the rides are usually 2-3 hours long in order to make a good tour, and if you go there by night you will pay twice as much (but many people say it's really worth it because it looks very nice and it's a lot of fun). Leave a Comment
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I set out to Xochimilco taking the Metro to the end station Tasqueña, and catching the Tren Lijero (an additional 2 pesos) to the end stop, Xochimilco. It was about a 10-minute walk to the Embarcadero, where you pick up the trajineras (boats) that the boatsmen will push you through the canals if desired. I foolishly didn't bargain down from 300 pesos for the ride; however for the magnificence of the experience, it was worth it to me.
Xochimilco was founded in 900 A.D. and spoke the same language as the Mexica, Nahuatl. Much of the Valle de Mexico during the Classic and Postclassic period was lake. To create fertile ground, the Xochimilca built floating gardens called chinampas using damp-resistant wood from the ahuejote tree, mud, lilies and stone. Builing these chinampas, the Xochimilca created a systems of thousands of canals, that would allow easier access by canoe to these fertile gardens of vegetables, fruit and floriculture. Although the Xochimilca fought battles themselves, they were morphed/allied to the Mexica empire that used their agricultural technology in the Mexica capital of Tenochtitlan.
Anyhow, riding the trajinera, I just felt such peace and joy. People in smaller canoes would offer goods from jewelry, cloth to elotes (corn) and enchilada. I had lunch as a woman prepared a chicken enchilada in her canoe, which she attached to my trajinera. Other trajinera, with groups of maybe a dozen or 15 Mexicans, would invite a band of 8 mariachis to play/sing for them; I saw some couples dancing on the boats to spirited mariachi music; a marimba (wooden xylophone?) played well and energetically for another group of couples; a cellist sat in boat waiting to be called over. I felt such inner happiness at the beauty and joy surrounding me. My trajinera boatsman Marco made 2 stops, one at a market, the second at a garden; each boat is colourful and has a name overhanging. The whole experience makes me smile in remembrance and I have never experienced anything like it in my 33 years. Leave a Comment Directions: Tren Lijero to Xochimilco, follow signs to embarcadero
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i did this on my last day in mexico. i was supposed to spend more 'quality time' somewhere. but i found myself all alone wandering around, not knowing what to do really. then i remembered that a VTer told me that i should go to xochimilco with some friends. what friends? i technically had no one in mexico! and the people i knew started to run out of excuses to not meet me. i said fine. let's go to xochimilco wherever that was.
i was in zocalo, city centre. so i took the metro to the south end of the city for 45 minutes. then i changed to another train that took me to xochimilco for another 45 minutes. i got off the train, walked a bit, got lost another, and finally found my destination.
it was the very mexican boat voyage around a little canal with Miriachi to sing your favourite music for you. as i was supposed to be at the airport at 5pm, i had a little spanglish chat with the boatman. he was playing cards with his group, bored until i showed up, so i could their faces lit up. i negotiated the price for a 15-minute lift by the boat around the canal. he told me that he could only offer it for 30 min at least. but i couldn't. he was kind enough and still gave me a nice lift before i took off. it was a nice mexican farewell that would always make me remember the love and pain i experienced in such an amazing vibrant city.
costs of the boat lift:
$250: 45 min - 1 hour
$200: 30 min
£100: 15 min
and you still can negotiate a good bargain. Leave a Comment Address: xochimilcoDirections: take line 2 (blue) to the last stop Tasquena. then take the Xochimilco train to Xochimilo. leave the station and go strait. pass all the blocks then turn left until you find a big sign that reads 'Embarcadero', turn right and walk. here you are there.
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Xochimilco (pronounced So-Chi-Meel-Co) is one of, if not the most interesting thing you can do in Mexico City. For this reason, it is best that you go when it is in full swing - on a Sunday afternoon.
To visit the gardens, you rent a boat for the afternoon. While the boats used to come in various sizes, you now have to rent one size regardless of the number of people in your party. For the five in our party, the 20 person boat was excessive in size, but not in cost - I believe it was about 14 dollars.
The drivers will take you on a slow journey through the canals that make up the gardens. You will pass other boats filled with poeple, bumping into many of them in the traffic jam-ridden areas. Many boats have food on them - just pull up next to them to buy something. Others have bands, and for a dollar or two the band will ride next to you for a song!
The hardest part about this trip is getting there and away. While most taxi drivers know where the docks are to get on the boat, many do not go there without a passenger - in other words, if you don't arrange for a taxi to come pick you up after your trip is done, don't plan on getting one! There are no reliable taxi stands anywhere near the garden either, so you will not just get lucky, unless you are REALLY lucky, which our 1.5 hours of searching proved we were not.
This is an incredible experience - do not miss it if you can help it. Leave a Comment Address: XochimilcoDirections: Your taxi driver will know the way for sure!
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Xochimilco is located at the south part of Mexico City and I think it's a very interesting place for toursts since you can buy flowers, eat Mexican food and ride a trajinera, a colorful boat to take you to its canals for a 1.5 hour ride. Along the way there are vendors in smaller boats selling food, mariachis or drinks. A great world famous spot you can't miss! Leave a Comment
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Xochimilco is touted as the Mexican Venice. Its 180 km. tree-lined canals are plied by brightly colored and flower-decked trajineras, the local equivalent of the gondola and the amphibious cousin of the Philippine jeepney, complete with female names and the occasional religious praises distinguishing one from the other. We boarded one which had a long yellow picnic table and yellow chairs. There were 12 of us but it could have accommodated a few more. We were provided with a big tub of ice packed with beer and assorted sodas and juice for the journey.
As the boatman expertly guided us out from the crowded dock and into the waterway, I sat back and let the experience delight my senses. We glided gracefully past private houses along the banks which reminded me of those homes along the canals near Camden Lock. We were approached by vendors on their own punts selling everything from jewelry to candied apples, corn, toys, ponchos, and of course flowers. Xochimilco does mean “place where flowers grow” in the Nahuatl language. We cruised past other trajineras carrying picnicking families, tour groups, couples on dates, and marimba musicians.
And then there were the mariachis! We were serenaded by 2 different groups. They attach their boat to yours and then entertain you for $6 per song. The first group did just that, and played for us from their boat. Leave a Comment
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I've heard Xochimilco compared to Venice, and although that's quite a stretch, Xochimilco is a very interesting place. It is a series of canals in the southern part of the city where you can hire long colorful boats to take you out for as long as you want. It is a very popular destination for Mexico City families, especially on Sundays when you'll see huge groups of people relaxing and eating as their boats drift along the canals. People on smaller boats sell fresh-made food of all sorts, and other boats have mariachi bands that will serenade you for a fee. It's a great place to just relax and maybe have lunch. Leave a Comment
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We made the long trek out to Xochimilco to ride a boat through the last remaining canals in Mexico City. When we boarded our very own trajinera named 'Beatriz', we knew that this experience was worth the extra effort. We took an hour-long ride on the canals for 140 pesos and left from the embarcadero Nativitas. This embarcadero is a further walk from the others, but the prices are posted and are cheaper than the prices the guys closer to town were quoting us. We bought beer and some food to take with us on our ride.
We passed people in boats selling everything from tamales to mariachi songs. Also, there were various plant nurseries along the banks open for business. There were other tourists on boats and entire families having grand parties with the mariachi boats that they had hired. Our oarsman, Sergio, told us that it gets busy on the canals on the weekends.
I had no idea that the canals existed in Mexico City and recommend this experience to any visitor. Leave a Comment Directions: Instead of taking a cab: From the center, take the Metro to Tasquena and then take the Tren Ligero to Xochimilco, the last stop! Then walk for about 12 minutes to Embarcadero Nativitas.
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