Going to Mexico City?
Don't Pay Gringo Prices.
Tourists routinely pay 3–5× the chilango rate — from the airport taxi to the Xochimilco trajinera. This guide shows you every fair price, and the 12 CDMX traps visitors fall for, with exactly what to say to avoid each one.
Prices updated June 2026 · One-time payment · Money-back guarantee
The quiet overcharge
It starts the second you walk out of AICM. A sitio taxi quoted "fijo, señor" at 500 pesos to Roma — Uber would be 180. The plaza-front restaurant brings chips, salsa, and guacamole you didn't order and charges 220 for them. The Xochimilco trajinera quoted "per person" instead of per boat.
None of it feels like a scam in the moment. It feels like Mexico City. And then your weekend budget is gone by Saturday afternoon while the chilangos next to you ate the same tacos, took the same Uber, and paid a third of what you did.
CDMX is one of the best food cities on Earth. You just need to know which prices are real.
What a day in Mexico City should actually cost
Based on real chilango prices for food, transport, and sightseeing — not tourist-menu prices.
Hostel dorm, street food, Metro everywhere.
Budget hotel, mix of fondas + Roma/Condesa restaurants.
Boutique stay in Roma/Condesa, sit-down meals, paid sights.
What visitors arrive for
The four prices nearly every visitor asks about within 24 hours of landing — chilango vs what you'll typically be quoted in tourist areas.
| Item | Local | Tourist |
|---|---|---|
Taco al pastor per taco | $1 | $4 4.0× local |
Uber, 5 km Roma → Centro | $4 | $12 3.0× local |
Michelada per glass | $3.50 | $10 2.9× local |
Airport transfer (AICM → centro) Uber vs sitio taxi | $12 | $45 3.8× local |
Xochimilco trajinera: 600 MXN per HOUR per BOAT (the whole boat, not per person) — tourists routinely get charged the same rate per head.
The full guide costs out an entire day, stop by stop.
This is 4 of 22 items in the full guide.
What's inside the guide
You're about to make dozens of small spending decisions in a city designed to round every one of them up for foreigners. Here's what the full guide gives you:
- The 12 CDMX tourist traps — and exactly what to say to avoid each. From the AICM sitio taxi to the Xochimilco per-person scam to the counterfeit 500-peso note. Real tactics, real scripts.
- Every fair CDMX price — all 22 items, chilango price vs. tourist price, side by side.
- A first-90-minutes arrival cheat sheet — AICM to the city, getting cash safely, and the one phrase that stops sitio drivers from quoting you tourist fares.
- A full day costed stop by stop — the classic Centro → Coyoacán → Xochimilco circuit, what it should cost, and where people get overcharged.
- Daily budgets for 3 travel styles, so you know if your trip is on track before you land.
- Works offline — pull it up at the mercado or in the Uber, no signal needed.
Counterfeit 200 and 500 Peso Notes in Change
You pay a 150 MXN street-food bill with a 500-peso note. You get back 350 in change — including a 200 that turns out to be a fake. Counterfeit 200s and 500s circulate widely, and ATMs at tourist spots have been documented dispensing them. You then can't spend them and just ate the loss.
That's one. The full guide has eleven more — including the ones that cost real money.
Less than one overpriced AICM taxi. Less than the chips you didn't order. If this guide doesn't save you more than it costs, we'll refund you — just ask.
One-time payment · Instant access · Works offline · Money-back guarantee
The full guide
Unlock the full price table + 12 trap warnings
Every one of the 22 prices, plus the 12 specific CDMX tourist traps with the exact phrase to avoid them.
