I’ll admit I’m biased, but Christmas might be my favourite time of year to be somewhere else. Cities put on their best lighting, locals are out doing the traditions they grew up with, and you get to see a place doing something it genuinely cares about rather than performing for visitors. Spending December in Mexico City was pure magic. The Zócalo is draped in festive lights, the markets overflow with vibrant poinsettias (nochebuenas), and the crisp evening air smells like cinnamon and warm fruit punch.
I’m a planner by nature, which is a polite way of saying I read far too much before I go. And if you are a tourist visiting for the first time, the logistics of the holiday can be surprisingly stressful. So I’ve done the legwork for you! Mexico City is deeply family-oriented, meaning the city’s usual non-stop energy takes a sudden pause. From securing a dinner reservation on Christmas Eve to figuring out what is actually open on Christmas Day, here is everything you need to know to plan a flawless holiday trip during the holidays.
Why the 24th matters more than the 25th
Mexico celebrates Christmas on the night of the 24th, Nochebuena, when families sit down to a late dinner (romeritos, bacalao a la vizcaína and tamales are the usual dishes) and the city arranges itself around getting people to that table. The 25th is for leftovers and recovery. That sequence explains the pattern of closures: December 24 is not a public holiday, but many businesses shorten their hours or close by late afternoon anyway, while December 25 is a statutory day of rest, which is where the formal closures (the federal fine arts museums, Costco, the Cinetecas) cluster.
Getting around on the 24th and 25th
Public transport keeps running on both days, just on holiday schedules, so it’s worth knowing the cutoffs before you plan an evening. In 2025, the Metro ran from 5:00 to 23:00 on the 24th, but the Metrobús finished at 21:00, so if you’re having dinner across town at 20:00, don’t count on a bus to get you home. Christmas Day starts later and runs later: the Metro opened at 7:00 and ran until midnight, and the Metrobús ran from 5:00 to midnight. The table below has every service, including the Tren Ligero, Cablebús and Ecobici.
Public transport schedule
| Service | December 24 | December 25 |
|---|---|---|
| Metro | 5:00 to 23:00 | 7:00 to midnight |
| Metrobús | 4:30 to 21:00 | 5:00 to midnight |
| RTP buses | 5:00 to midnight | 7:00 to midnight |
| Trolleybus | 5:00 to 22:00 | 6:00 to 23:30 |
| Cablebús | 5:00 to 22:00 | 7:00 to 23:00 |
| Tren Ligero | 5:00 to 22:30 | 7:00 to 23:30 |
| Ecobici | 5:00 to 00:30 | 5:00 to 00:30 |
Uber and Didi
For everything the schedules don’t cover, Uber and Didi are the fallback, and for us they worked well. When we went on Christmas Day, both were running almost exactly as normal, with prices only slightly inflated, which makes them a handy way to reach the Zócalo or the ballet without counting on the Metro. Christmas Eve is the evening to plan ahead, since the Metrobús had already stopped by 21:00 in 2025, so have an app ready before you need it.
A couple of things are worth knowing about both apps. December is surge season in general: in 2023, riders in Mexico City were posting about dynamic fares at least double the usual price, with complaints that the pricing seemed to last the whole month, so check the fare before you confirm and consider waiting a few minutes if it looks inflated. It’s also worth opening both apps, since two local travel guides put Didi at roughly 10 to 20 percent cheaper than Uber, with the gap widening when Uber surges.
What’s Open & Closed on Christmas Eve?
The morning on Christmas Eve runs close to normal. But as soon as lunchtime hits, everything seems to immediately start to slow down. The streets empty, the traffic dies down, and businesses close their doors as early as 12 pm. So on the 24th, get anything that needs an open door done before about 14:00, and have your dinner sorted before dark.
Museums and Tourist Sights
The federal fine arts network (INBA) runs many of the best museums in Mexico City. This includes the Palacio de Bellas Artes, MUNAL, the Museo Tamayo, the Museo de Arte Moderno, the Museo Nacional de San Carlos, the Diego Rivera Mural Museum and the Casa Estudio Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo, among others. On December 24th, museums in this group are open from 10:00 to 14:00 but, most importantly, closed completely on the 25th. So if you have one of these museums on your list, be sure to be there before doors close in the afternoon.
If you’d rather spend the morning outside the city, the pyramids at Teotihuacan are a great option, because they’re one of the few big sights that stay open over Christmas. The site sits in the State of Mexico, and its name comes from Nahuatl, roughly “the place where the gods were made,” which suits it. INAH confirmed it would open on both the 24th and the 25th in 2025, on its usual 8:00 to 17:00 schedule, with last entry at 16:30. So you’ve got a full day to wander the avenues and climb, with plenty of time to be back for dinner. While Ubers and Didi might be less frequent and potentially at peak pricing, they are generally still available.
Groceries and shopping
The good news is that supermarkets stay open on the 24th, and they run long hours to keep everyone stocked for the big dinner. In 2025, Chedraui ran from 7:00 to 21:00, City Market from 7:00 to 20:00, Costco from 9:00 to 17:00, and most Liverpool branches from 10:00 to 20:00. Walmart and Soriana were harder to pin down, since different outlets reported different closing times (anywhere from 20:00 to 23:00 for Walmart), so a quick call to your nearest branch is worth it. OXXO and 7-Eleven generally keep their usual hours, but the ones in our area did close a bit early, so always lean toward closing early and getting things done before 2 pm.
Mercado de Jamaica
For anything that makes a room look like Christmas, Mercado de Jamaica is the place to go: poinsettias, trees, lights, nativity figures and the traditional star-shaped piñatas, which you can watch being made inside. In 2025, the vendors selling trees and ornaments were still there on the 24th, according to a local news report, though it was their last day, so don’t expect the best selection. Go early, and see the main guide for the poinsettia story and the piñata history.
Mercado Michoacán
If you’re cooking your own Nochebuena meal, Mercado Michoacán in Condesa is a good place to shop. It sits where Michoacán, Tamaulipas and Vicente Suárez meet, in a small art deco building, and it sells only food, as it has since the 1940s. It’s an easy stop if you’re staying in Condesa or Roma, and a pleasant one: you can walk off the morning among the neighbourhood’s parks and buildings.
Where to Eat Dinner on December 24th?
We went looking for dinner on the evening of December 24 and found that most of the city had gone home to eat its own. Even McDonald’s was shut, which I had honestly assumed was impossible, and so was every pizza place we tried. So sadly, we ended up eating ramen from a 7-Eleven. It was a decent dinner and a useful lesson.
If you’re looking to go out for dinner, the most reliable option is a hotel or restaurant running a set Christmas Eve menu. This must be booked ahead to ensure a spot! If you want a party atmosphere, La Mansión at the Marriott Reforma served a five-course dinner with an open bar and a DJ that carried on until 1:00.
For something calmer, Cedrón in Condesa serves a three-course menu with an emphasis on good food and conversation around the table. Hacienda de los Morales, a colonial-style hacienda with lush gardens, offered a four-course dinner with live music, plus a Christmas verbena with buñuelos and punch if you’d rather dance. For a Christmas Eve with a view, Miralto sits near the top of the Torre Latinoamericana and looks out over the whole city.
Attending Mass at the Metropolitan Cathedral
The Metropolitan Cathedral holds Mass on the 24th and 25th, and the traditional midnight Mass is known as the Misa de Gallo, so check the cathedral’s timetable for the hour. Expect fireworks across the city around midnight and into the early morning, which is worth knowing if you’ve booked a street-facing room.
What’s Open on Christmas Day in Mexico City?
Christmas Day is quieter than the 24th, but it’s far less empty than the closure lists make it sound. The places that stay open are mostly the ones that cater to visitors, and to families looking for something to do the morning after the big night.
What stays open
The Museo Nacional de Antropología keeps a Tuesday to Sunday schedule (9:00 to 18:00), and since December 25, 2026 falls on a Friday, the ordinary timetable would have it open. In our experience, tickets can sell out, so book online ahead of time.
The museum opened in 1964 around a courtyard dominated by El Paraguas, a huge concrete canopy held up by a single column, with water falling from its edge, and the Mexica hall holds the Piedra del Sol, found in 1790 at the foot of the Metropolitan Cathedral. Our self-guided tour walks you through the route.
The Museo Soumaya is open every day of the year, including the 25th, and admission is free (10:30 to 18:30 in 2025). Because so few museums are open, the lines get long, and Soumaya’s are the longest, so aim to be there well before opening.
Chapultepec Forest
Chapultepec Forest keeps its regular opening hours: the First Section from 5:00 to 18:00, the Second and Third Sections around the clock, and the Fourth Section from 10:00 to 19:00. And while it’s open and there are lots of locals meandering about, the museums are closed, and the vendors are few and far between. But the grounds are a lovely place to wander either way, with the Fuente de Nezahualcóyotl and the Fuente de las Ranas among the open-air stops.
The Zócalo is the most dependable place to find the Christmas spirit when everything else has shut. In 2025, the free festival ran from December 20 to January 4 and was in full swing on the 25th, with the light tunnel, the nativity scene and the three poinsettia trees. The 2026 dates hadn’t been announced when this was drafted, so confirm them if the Zócalo is the point of your trip.
Teotihuacan was open on the 25th too in 2025, on the same 8:00 to 17:00 schedule as the 24th, so if the pyramids are on your list, you have two days to choose from.
The Ballet Folklórico de México’s Christmas show, Navidades en México, begins its run on Christmas Day at 19:00 on the esplanade of Chapultepec Castle, and it was one of the best things we did. Tickets ran from 1,180 to 1,586 pesos plus fees in 2025. The three acts take you from a live nativity with farm animals to a traditional posada, piñata included, and it gets properly cold out there at night, so bring a real layer.
What closes?
The whole INBA museum network (Bellas Artes, MUNAL, Tamayo and the rest) closed on December 25, 2025. So did Costco, along with the Cineteca Nacional, the Cineteca de las Artes and the Cineteca de Chapultepec, which also closed on December 31. Liverpool’s hours depended on the branch.
Many restaurants in our area opened their door in the afternoon, and we found more restaurants were open on the 25th, than on the 24th. But as always, if there is somewhere you need to go, be sure to make a reservation in advance.
Are there any Christmas Lucha Libre Shows?
CMLL, the company behind Mexico City’s famous lucha libre shows, usually sticks to its regular weekly schedule, so there’s a good chance of a card on Christmas Day. It did hold a Christmas show at Arena México on December 25, 2024, but nothing is confirmed for 2026, so keep an eye on CMLL’s official channels.
A Christmas Eve and Christmas Day CDMX Itinerary
On the 24th, pick a single morning plan, either an INBA museum before it closes at 14:00 or Teotihuacan, and do any grocery or gift shopping before the stores’ early closing times. Book a hotel or restaurant dinner ahead, because turning up on the night is how we ended up with 7-Eleven ramen, and have a ride-hailing app ready for the trip back in case the Metrobús has already stopped.
On the 25th, choose one museum (the Anthropology Museum if you have pre-booked tickets, Soumaya if you can arrive before it opens) and spend the afternoon in Chapultepec Forest, where the Anthropology Museum and the castle sit within the First Section. If you want the festival lighting at its best, go to the Zócalo near dusk on a weekday, and the 25th is a Friday this year. If you have tickets for the Ballet Folklórico, the show starts at 19:00 at the castle, and latecomers are not admitted, so the lights and the ballet are a choice rather than a double bill.
Weather in Mexico City in December (Yes, You Will Be Cold)
Don’t let Mexico’s tropical reputation fool you. Mexico City sits at about 2,240 meters (7,350 feet), and December is the dry season, so the days are mild and sunny, with highs around 20 to 22°C (68 to 72°F) and almost no rain. Then the sun goes down, the thin air cools quickly, and nights drop to somewhere between 5 and 9°C (41 to 48°F). The swing from midday to bedtime is the thing to pack for.
What to Pack
The answer is layers. A jacket you can take on and off is the most useful thing in your bag, because you’ll want it for the evening events that make December worth the trip, like the lights in the Zócalo and the Ballet Folklórico at Chapultepec Castle, both of which are outdoors. We were comfortable as Canadians, but plenty of locals in the audience clearly hadn’t dressed for it. Pack a couple of comfortable sweaters too, since many buildings in the city, including some hotels and rentals, don’t have central heating, and you may want one for lounging indoors. Sunscreen is worth tucking in as well, because that midday sun at altitude is stronger than it feels. You can leave the umbrella at home, since rain in December is rare.
Looking back, the quiet of Christmas Eve in Mexico City turned out to be part of the charm. The city went home to its families, and we ended up with 7-Eleven ramen, a good story, and a better understanding of what the holiday means there. A little planning goes a long way: book your dinner, stock up before the stores close, save the museums and the Zócalo for the 25th, and keep a ride-hailing app handy for when the buses stop. Do that, and you’ll find the city still has plenty to offer, even on its quietest days. I’m looking forward to seeing how other cities do Christmas, and I’ll share what I find, so stay tuned for the next one.
Happy travels, Adventurers!
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