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Comment by username223 | Hacker News Reader

Mexico City as #1? Really? Having been there recently, my main objective was to get the hell out of the teeming city and its pool of horrible smog without being killed by the crazy drivers. The rest of Mexico is quite nice, but stay out of the cities.

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I had the opposite experience. Such a beautiful city with rich history and culture. Driving was pretty sane. There is indeed air pollution but its been getting lower as the years go along. It is not a perfect city but one of my favorite cities to go visit.

I'm surprised by parent and gp. Mexico City is beautiful and interesting and full of things to do, but driving a car there is a nightmare. My first fifteen minutes behind the wheel there changed my view of traffic and laws forever.

I suggest visiting without a car. If you need one to get to places outside the city, rent only when you're leaving and ask for exact advice about the easiest way out of town.

If we want to be specific about driving, I would not unless its unavoidable. It never even popped in my mind that the complaint about drivers was in reflection of having driven there. If thats the case, agreed. It is so easy and cheap to take a radio taxi I would never even think of taking a taxi. Plus for $100 you can usually get a private car for the day with a driver.

I was there to hike up the nearby volcanos, so taxis weren't practical. I gather there are some amazing museums and churches, but the city's main outdoor features seemed to be smog, litter, and protruding rebar.

Mexico is a great outdoor city. The parks and bike routes are great and abundant and mountains surround the city. Weather is good year-round. Lots of day hikes around the city are easy to get to without a car. Popo or Izta or La Malinche or Nevado de Toluca might require a car ride but you can climb Cerro de San Miguel (14000') or El Águila (14000') from a bus stop. (Popo (18000') is closed anyway because it's an active smoking volcano and Izta (17000') requires a carload of mountaineering gear even if you can find a ride.)

> Izta (17000') requires a carload of mountaineering gear

Having just hiked it, this is not true during the dry season. You do cross a small glacier, but all you need for that is YakTrax, if anything.

Same here, I love D.F and can't wait to go back.

I'm pretty sure it's not a sorted list...

According to this, the #1 is the "top choice".

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/10/travel/faq-52-places-to-go...

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