The colorful trajineras—boats—in Xochimilco’s canals are one of Mexico City’s top tourist attractions. And they’re a lot of fun—you can hang out on a boat for an hour or two, drink an enormous michelada (beer cocktail), and ask a mariachi band on another trajinera to play a song for you.
But there’s another side of the canals that’s not as well-known, and we think it’s an even better time. You can book a sunrise tour with a guide to take you out to experience the serenity of the canals at dawn.
There are several companies that offer this tour. We’ve done this a few times, but we most recently booked with Royal Mobility MX, mainly because their reviews were good, they had a tour available on a day that worked for us, and the price was reasonable.
We were really happy with the experience they provided. Here’s how our trip went.
Xochimilco sunrise tour
We booked a private tour for four people, including transportation and breakfast, on their website a few days ahead of time. They confirmed the reservation soon after (not all tour companies do this) and sent us details about the pickup the night before.
Our driver arrived as scheduled at 5 am—if you want to see the sunrise, you have to get up early—and drove about 35 minutes from our apartment in Roma Norte to get to the launch area, a dark and isolated area of Xochimilco.
There, we met our main guide and two additional guides, as well as our trajinero (boat driver). Our guide gave us an introduction to the history of the Xochimilco canals, we climbed on board, and off we went, sipping on some coffee, tea, or atole (warm Mexican corn-based drink, give it a try—it’s delicious).
The driver navigates by pushing a long pole against the bottom of the canal, so the trip is silent other than your conversations and the sounds of the birds, frogs, and animals that are starting their day.
We made our way through the canals as our guide explained more about the history, culture, and ecology of Xochimilco and the people who have lived there for centuries.
One of the first things we saw was the Iztaccíhuatl volcano, which translates to "White Woman" in Nahuatl. It looks like a sleeping woman in profile, and sometimes her head, breasts, and feet are covered in snow, explaining the name.
Our guide told us that much of what is now Mexico City was once a huge lake, and that locals built artificial islands called chiampas so they could grow crops. Some of these chiampas are still in use today, but some are abandoned and the lake is slowly reclaiming them.
A few minutes before sunrise, we stopped and got off the boat at an area where we had a clear view over the volcanoes.
We watched the sun peek over the volcanoes and the mist started to disappear.
As the sun rose, our guide sounded a conch shell five times, then sang a song.
Once we were ready to head back, we reboarded the boat and enjoyed savory and sweet tamales and more hot drinks for breakfast during our return.
Want to give it a try? Here are a few points that will help you know what to expect.
Key tips
Wear warm clothes and layers, and bring a jacket or coat. It’s chilly on the canals before dawn.
We had to walk down about a half-dozen steep, rocky steps to reach the boat, which could be a challenge if you have mobility issues. The guides were helpful and made sure we all got on the boat safely.
Bring some cash to tip your guides and driver.
We never had a bathroom break, though we probably could have asked our driver to stop on the way back. You might want to go light on the coffee, tea, or atole if this is a concern.
The Mexico City traffic means the ride back after the tour takes a lot longer than the ride there. In our case, it took about an additional hour.
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Just added this to my Mexico bucket list, gracias!!
what company did you use?