La Merced Market Exploration: Experience Authentic Mexican History and Cuisine
4.9
257 Ratings
Ciudad de México
Immerse yourself in the vibrant atmosphere of La Merced Market, where you'll discover the rich history and flavors of authentic Mexican cuisine. Taste traditional dishes, meet local vendors, and explore the bustling market that is unlike anywhere else in Mexico.
Duration: 4 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • La Merced - The colorful, chaotic Merced Market serves thousands of shoppers daily. On this tour, you’ll visit our favorite food stalls, meet some talented market vendors, and learn the market’s history. You’ll finish knowing why La Merced is unlike anywhere else in Mexico.
  • Centro Historico - At the end of this tour, we’ll spend some time strolling through the streets of a newly revived part of the centro, an area filled with buoyant bars and cafés and boasting a lively urban art scene.
What's Included
  • One coffee, beer or another non-alcoholic beverage
  • Traditional Mexican candy
  • One agua fresca
  • As much food as you can eat (enough for a large breakfast and lunch combined)
What's Not Included
  • Transport to/from the meeting and end points of the tour
  • Souvenirs
  • Tip for your guide
  • Additional personal beverages, outside what’s included on the tour itinerary
Additional Information

The vibrant and bustling La Merced Market is a daily hub for thousands of buyers. With this tour, you’ll get a chance to explore our preferred food stands, engage with skilful stall holders and delve into the market’s past. By the end, you’ll understand what sets La Merced apart from the rest of Mexico.

We commence our journey at the Downtown Historic Center, from where a swift two-stop subway ride will take us to the La Merced market. From there, we navigate the market’s busy ‘banquetón,’ the area dedicated to prepared food, sampling tacos, aguas frescas and tamales along the way. Next, we meander through the massive fruits and vegetables section, uncover—and sample!—ancient ingredients like grasshoppers and agave worms. After a brief pause, we exit the market and take the subway back to the Historic Center. Here we wind down the tour with a cool beverage and a bite in a recently revitalized district you won’t want to miss!

Seasoned travellers are best suited for this tour.

Location
El Nuevo Café Bagdad
Plaza Juan José Baz
In front of El Nuevo Café Bagdad in the Historic Center. It is important to be aware there is a "Café Bagdad" in Roma Norte, this is NOT the right location. You can write "El Nuevo Café Bagdad" into your Uber app, and it will take you to the correct place.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.9
(257 Ratings)
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Chrishoiboi
May 29, 2024
Best local market tour! - Clara was simply the best! She was so knowledgeable, patient and kind. The foods that she let us try were completely new to us. She definitely has the passion to show off the more local spots of her city. 10/10 would recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Galsteph
May 29, 2024
Fantastic & delicious experience - We had a GREAT tour of the Merced Market guided by NICO of Eat Mexico. He was friendly and super knowledgeable. His professional cooking and culinary history background provided great cultural and culinary context. We were the only two people who booked that day so had a private tour. We loved the how and why information alongside the delicious food stops. Arrive hungry as the items are filling. You eat as you see and go. Nico was great at managing expectations - what’s coming, flow of your, even practical matters such as bathrooms, directions etc. We forgot about tipping him - a big oversight since he was so great.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Lies_g
May 6, 2024
We had a great time on... - We had a great time on the food tour with Clara! She guided us around, explained all about the food and the market. We recommend going on the tour!
Review provided by Viator
498carag
May 6, 2024
The best tour I've ever been on. - This was, hands down, the best tour I have ever been on, anywhere in the world. My daughter (age 17) and I both agreed that it was the highlight of our trip to Mexico City and I haven't been able to stop talking about it and recommending it to others. In fact, this is the first tripadvidor review I've done, but I really wanted to give back to the company for giving us such a fantastic experience. So what made it so wonderful? (1) First and foremost, our guide, Adrian. He was engaging and passionate, and knew so much about the food, the culture, and the history. And yet, it never felt like a lecture, more like a conversation. He was confident in navigating the market and seemingly had friends everywhere. (2) The variety of food. It was a great mix of traditional favorites and unusual (to me) choices. Some of the places you may have heard of (McTeo and Five Brothers) are stops, but we also visited some of the guide's personal favorites. No joke that you will be stuffed. My daughter and I skipped breakfast and shared many dishes, and we still had to really push through to eat the tacos at the end - which were delicious. (3) The market. It is NOT a market for tourists, but rather a vibrant, central part of the daily lives of the hundreds of thousands of people who visit every day. While there are unsavory parts, we never felt unsafe thanks to Adrian's guidance and navigating. It's hard when you are a foreigner to truly experience local culture, so visiting the market was special. For those who are adventurous and curious, this tour is for you.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
428mikaelam
May 6, 2024
Amazing tour, highly recommend - This tour was phenomenal. We had an excellent tour guide (Adrian) who made us feel comfortable and excited. We loved all the food we tried, and the variety was great- each of the stops was different and interesting. We were able to be adventurous (with the pre-Hispanic ingredients) thanks to Adrian's guidance. Highly recommended!!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Fbt7938of
May 4, 2024
Exceptional intro to Mexico City food - Our guide, Yimnah, was incredibly prepared and passionate. We had food we would never discover on our own. She shared history tips and she explained thoroughly every dish we had. The experience could not have been more satisfying.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
97robiny
May 2, 2024
Wonderful tour - Yimnah was a fantastic guide -- she was super friendly, incredibly knowledgable about the history of the market, and led a delicious tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Matf925
Apr 29, 2024
Sampling the best of the local markets - Yimnah was a fantastic and knowledgeable guide and helped us sample the best of the market. The brisket taco was probably the best taco I’ve ever had, and it was amazing getting to sample a plethora of mole.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Y4998olerich
Apr 22, 2024
Amazing Tour with Yimnah! - Absolutely amazing tour by Yimnah! She was incredibly informative, so nice, and picked amazing spots to eat. We left full of food and admiration for La Merced. Cannot recommend enough!!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Barbinarizona
Apr 15, 2024
Nico is an outstanding guide - Hubby and I did a private tour of La Merced with Nico. What an amazing experience. Nico, with his culinary studies background and restaurant experience is a wealth of knowledge of food history. We ate atole, a fried tamale, one of the best tacos we’ve ever had, agua Fresca, a mole tasting, a quesadilla with squash blossom and huatacholte, and a unique steamed taco. We ended the trip with a tasty Turkish coffee and a beautiful Lebanese restaurant. This is a MUST do if you like food anthropology and tasty food. Oh, we tried some insects too… not too bad but I wouldn’t seek them out. Nico was a spectacular guide and really led an excellent multi hour conversation with us.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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