Chapultepec in a New Light: A Mexico City Cycling Tour

(5 reviews)

Mexico City audio tour: Chapultepec in a New Light: A Mexico City Cycling Tour

This is a 3.5mi cycling tour

It takes an average of 60 mins to complete.

Mexico City

Mexico

$19.99

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About the Tour

Chapultepec Park is one of Mexico City’s most beloved green spaces. On this cycling tour through the city’s most beautiful park, you’ll take in art, history, curious facts, and the outdoors on a route created by a novelist and a bike expert.

The tour starts at Pedal and Crank Bike Shop, around the corner from Chapultepec Park. As you enter the park, you’ll find out how Chapultepec (which means “hill of the grasshopper“) evolved from a sacred Aztec site into the cultural heart of Mexico City. You’ll cycle along shaded avenues and beside tranquil lakes, and hear how this 866-hectare oasis became the park it is today.

You’ll get to know secrets about the last Aztec Emperor and the Poet King of Texcoco. We’ll also share funny facts about the two fountains commissioned by a Spanish Ambassador, and the story behind the Fountain of Temperance, the elegant public monument that was salvaged from a demolished government building. The tour ends at the Canadian Totem, a towering cedar artwork that became a symbol of 150 years of Canada–Mexico friendship.

Some of the questions we’ll answer along the way are:

Who is the mysterious colonel buried in Chapultepec?
Why does Chapultepec turn purple during the spring?
Which landmark once served as the secret garden of Maximilian and Carlota?
Where could you find the Aztec portal between the world of the living and the world of the dead?
What inspired the face of one of the Quixote sculptures?
When did the Chapultepec Zoo have a kilometer-long line of people outside?

We created this tour after deciding to find out the stories behind Chapultepec Park’s most iconic monuments and spots – the ones we ride, walk, or jog along every day, like many other city dwellers who live around here. We also wanted to show you one of our favorite places in Mexico City.

Whether you live here, have visited before, or this is your first time in Mexico City, this 60-minute tour is for anyone who wants to see Chapultepec Park with fresh new eyes.

Tour Producer

EnBiciArte Tours

2 tours

Diana Coronado is a Mexican writer of children books, novels and movie scripts. She has lived in different continents and traveled to many countries. When she finds herself in a new place, she enjoys doing research to fully appreciate the uniqueness of every city.

Raúl Martínez is a bike expert and loves to ride through Mexico City not only to avoid traffic, but because it gives him the chance to appreciate hidden details otherwise unseen when driving. In 2019, along with his twin brother Jesús, he founded the bike shop Pedal & Crank, the best in the San Miguel Chapultepec neighborhood.

EnBiciArte was created because of their friendship and their shared love of Mexico City. They want to design interesting, entertaining and fresh tours that blend the expertise of each: writing and riding. They try to move away from trendy neighborhoods and into the city’s parks and streets which are full of art, history and barely known stories.

Preview Location

Location 31

Monumental Fuente de Nezahualcóyotl

From here, I recommend riding slowly to the end of the fountain or sit on one of the benches while we analyze the monument ahead of you.

This fountain was designed by the sculptor Luis Ortiz Monasterio and inaugurated in 1956. It is inspired by the aesthetic of Tenochtitlán... From here, I recommend riding slowly to the end of the fountain or sit on one of the benches while we analyze the monument ahead of you.

This fountain was designed by the sculptor Luis Ortiz Monasterio and inaugurated in 1956. It is inspired by the aesthetic of Tenochtitlán with classical and geometric elements, and pays homage to the great governor of Texcoco, King Nezahualcóyotl – the same who planted the ancient tree we visited earlier.

His full name was Acolmiztli Nezahualcóyotl, which means "puma's arm" and "hungry coyote", animals that symbolize fierceness and cleverness. Both names honor the personality of this governor, a brilliant and versatile man.

The first thing that draws the attention is the perpendicular configuration. The longest wall is made of river stones. The water comes out from 72 discs that honor the city-states that formed the Triple Alliance - Texcoco, Tenochtitlán, and Tlacopan – which came together to defeat the lord of Azcapotzalco.

The carved low-relief scenes tell the story of the King of Texcoco, from his birth to his coronation and up to his death.

On the platform at the end of the monument, our eyes are caught by the stoic figure of Nezahualcóyotl on a pedestal, which resembles an altar, carved in stone from Xaltocan, a municipality in the state of Tlaxcala.

Engraved on the wall are sculptural reliefs of the Triple Alliance. These representations are based on Aztec codices and are made of riverstone over tezontle, a type of volcanic rock.

On the right-hand side of the platform, the monumental carved sculpture represents a brazier. It has inscriptions that allude to the ruling years of King Nezahualcóyotl and stone carvers, known as tlacuilos.

Nezahualcóyotl was a great king who stood out for being a fair, organized, and intelligent governor. He divided the city of Texcoco into neighborhoods and built gardens, palaces, temples, and roads. More importantly, he figured out a system of dikes to prevent floods, an impressive engineering achievement for the time, and helped design the aqueduct that transported drinking water from Chapultepec to Tenochtitlán.

On top of that, he was known as the Poet King for his beautiful and profound poems about nature and life.

If you're not in front of the statue of Nezahualcóyotl, at the end of the monument, please continue towards it. Read More

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Major Landmarks

Pedal and Crank Bike Shop
Monumento a José Martí
Los Pinos
Moctezuma's Baths
Quinta Colorada
Fountain of Temperance
Avenida Heroico Colegio Militar
Altar a la Patria
Chapultepec Castle
Obelisco a los Niños Héroes
Memorial Squadron 201
Audiorama
Calzada del Rey
Fuente del Quijote
Paseo del Quijote
Quijote en las Nubes
Calzada de los Poetas
Lago de Chapultepec
CDMX Letras
Casa del Lago Juan José Arreola
Chapultepec Zoo
Fuente de las Ranas
Monumental Fuente de Nezahualcóyotl
Canadian Totem

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Getting There

Route Overview

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a set starting point. It’s how we give turn-by-turn directions and tell a story greater than the sum of its parts.

Start location
Gobernador José María Tornel 44, San Miguel Chapultepec I Secc, Miguel Hidalgo, 11850 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Total distance

6km
Final location
Calz. del Rey, Panteón Civíl de Dolores, Miguel Hidalgo, 11580 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Distance back to start location

742.2m

Directions to Starting Point

This tour starts at the bike shop Pedal & Crank, where you can rent a bike. The store is a 10 to15-minute walk from La Condesa or Avenida Reforma. You can also access by subway (Juanacatlán Station) or Metrobus (Parque Lira or La Salle stations).

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Tips

Places to stop along the way

The San Miguel Chapultepec neighborhood is a great area to have breakfast, lunch or dinner in many of his great restaurants or cafes. My favorite place for breakfast is Marne, don’t forget to try one of their delicious pastries. At Deli Lou you can buy delicious baguette sandwiches if you plan to have a picnic at the park. The best Mexican popular street food is at El Comal Oculto. And if you have some time after the tour, visit the contemporary art galleries in the neighborhood, stop for an ice cream at La Galería Café, and end up with dinner at Barrón or a glass of wine at El Brutal. If you are food adventurous and want something more authentic, go for Tacos Morán!

Best time of day

Chapultepec Park is open to the public from Tuesday to Sundays from 5am to 7pm.

The bike store Pedal & Crank is open Tuesday to Friday from 9am to 7pm. Weekends from 10am to 3pm.

The Audiorama, one of the landmarks inside Chapultepec, opens from Tuesday to Sunday from 9am to 5pm.

The tour takes 50 minutes to ride, but you would want to stop in many of the landmarks to look around, take pictures or rest from the bike. Depending on your pace, but I normally take around 1.5 to 2 hours or more if I have company!

Take into account that Mexico does not have Daylight Saving Time and the sun sets earlier than in other countries.

Weekdays are great to avoid crowds.

Precautions

Don’t forget to bring your phone charged and headphones for a better experience. Download the tour previously using wifi, or at the bike store Pedal & Crank.

Bring comfortable clothes and shoes for biking. Water and a snack might be a good idea to bring as well. You can even consider buying a sandwich and bringing a book to have a picnic at the end of the tour!

This section of Chapultepec tends to be safe. However, street smarts are always important. You might not need to chain your bike, but don’t leave it out of sight or unattended at any time.

Mexican drivers not always follow the traffic lights. Be careful when crossing the streets.

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