Travel Tips
Getting to the Symposium
For those arriving by plane, there are two airports that serve the Mexico City metropolitan area: the Benito Juárez International Airport, located about a 30-minute drive from the Symposium venue, and the Toluca International Airport, about a 110-minute drive from the Symposium's main venue at CASUL. Many airlines servicing the Toluca airport include a 45-minute bus-ride from the airport to the Santa Fe area in western Mexico City.
In all cases, when taking a taxi from the airport, make sure to buy a ticket for the taxi service at one of the airport's taxi counters that you will find after you exit customs; good options include Yellow Cab, Nueva Imagen, and Sitio 300. All these are safe and inexpensive (should be less than $300 pesos to Colonia Roma).
Uber is also a great airport-to-hotel option. As the blogger Laura Bronner puts it, "Uber in Mexico City is cheap, convenient, and safe." Once the address of your accommodations is in your Uber app, it will be easy for you to request pickups there and return there from the many places worth visiting around the city.
We advise that all international travelers contact their cell phone carriers before departing their home countries in order to set up the best possible rate for calls, messaging, and data while you are in Mexico. It is often advantageous to do this before traveling.
Discounted Accommodation
The Symposium has arranged with two of them for special conference rates: the NH Collection Reforma, located on Calle Liverpool 155, and the Hotel Reforma Royal, located on Calle Amberes 78. Both hotels are in the Zona Rosa, less than a ten-minute walk from the CASUL, and each around the corner from the other. They are both very comfortable and convenient, and offer excellent options in two different price ranges, which are each very reasonable by international standards.
Recent Articles about Mexico City's Attractions
From THE GUARDIAN, February 17, 2019
"Roma sets the scene: the magical Mexico City district behind the film"
Alfonso Cuarón’s award-winning movie takes place in a gritty, colourful barrio that has retained its stylish eclecticism.
From THE GUARDIAN, September 3, 2018
"A local’s guide to Mexico City: 10 tips"
To understand this anarchically alive metropolis it’s best to visit its disparate neighbourhoods, which tell their own stories and where great food, art and culture await.
From VOGUE, March 16, 2018
"Wandering Colonia Roma, the Williamsburg of Mexico City"
When it comes to a place as steeped in character and culture as Mexico City, it may prove impossible to try to squeeze everything into one trip. I should know, I tried.
From THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, November 10, 2017
"Mexico City, North America’s best-kept travel secret"
It's like Europe without the crowds and jetlag.
From THE NEW YORK TIMES, November 10, 2016
"My Mexico City Is Everyone’s Now"
Mexico City comes at you fast, in multitudes, on streets lined with funky bars, glass towers, rundown houses, taco stands, cantinas, designer shops, fancy restaurants, artsy hotels. Life is lived out on the streets, in plazas and parks, in the mercados and commercial strips, in the elite colonias and poor barrios that spread far into the mountains. Few places are as maddening, as beautiful and mysterious, as mystical.
From THE NEW YORK TIMES, January 7, 2016
"Mexico City: A metropolis that has it all"
The Mexican capital is attracting travelers seeking some of the world’s best cuisine, museums and forward-thinking design. With young people from around Latin America and Spain streaming into the city, and the Mexican peso hitting record lows against the dollar, the city — daunting and endless as it is — radiates energy. Certainly, there is no more exciting place to eat. Enrique Olvera, who reinvented Mexican cuisine at Pujol, has inspired a generation of restaurants in his wake; recent openings include Fonda Fina in La Roma and Fonda Mayora in nearby Condesa.