Spend a quiet day in the gardens of Xochimilco aboard a boat near Mexico City and visit the Frida Khalo Museum.
Visit Mexico can quickly tire you so much there are things to do, but especially so much noise and agitation to endure in this huge city... To escape from all this for a day or an afternoon, nothing better than a day boat ride on the floating gardens of Xochimilco .
Flickr – Christian Córdova
It is better to go there when the sky is blue to even consider eating on the spot. Preferably go to spring (April-May). Xochimilco , which means "place of the flower field" and its floating gardens (called) chinampas ), are a maze of canals and islets built by the Aztecs. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You will certainly fall under the charm of these gondolas with roof, orchestras of mariachis, very colorful flowers and delicious Mexican food that give the Xochimilco canals a small air from Venice to Mexico!
The gondolas (or boats) that are called trajineras are multicolored. When you arrive at the gardens of Xochimilco, you will be impressed by the large number of these small boats. One cruise on the canals of floating gardens 2 to 3 hours.
Flickr – Owen Prior
You will first join your trajinera by going from boat to boat as if each one of them served as a seaman. The boats are traditionally baptized with the name of a woman and so there is a lot of Patricia, “Angelita” and “Terisita”, but others have more original names. On board, you can eat if you have a picnic (or not, read more).
Flickr – Dennis
Throughout the walk, other boats will come to meet you to offer you flowers, drinks, to eat, and even a song! You will have the opportunity to take pictures with mariachis in traditional costume wearing darkros.
The banks of the river are populated with flowers, trees and orchards and it is sometimes possible to see people. One of the most fascinating places of your cruise will be your passage in front of the island to dolls who is chinampa (island) of Julián Santana Barrera. There are many dolls that have been recovered from the city's trash. It is in fact this « curiosity » that attracted the media then the tourists to the floating gardens of Xochimilco. This adds a strange touch to your joyful ride.
Flickr – Aaron Forrest
It is then time to leave, unfortunately, but your day may not be over. Enjoy this excursion to visit the Frida Khalo Museum in his Casa Azul , it is on the way to floating gardens (between Mexico and Xochimilco). You can also discover the National University . From here you will be able to observe the Olympic stadium opened in 1968 at the Olympic Games in Mexico City.
Know that for less than 27€, you can organize all this in the same day with a shuttle coming to pick you up at your hotel. To book, just click the button below:
Have you visited the gardens of Xochimilco?
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