Layover at Mexico City Airport (MEX)

Mexico City International Airport sits five kilometres east of the Zócalo and about an hour from it by bus, so a short connection here usually comes down to Terminal 1’s 900-metre concourse, the three hotels attached to it and the capsule rooms rented by the hour, rather than anything in the city.

Terminal 1 runs 800 metres from one end to the other

The older of the two buildings is a two-storey block 800 metres long, with international operations at the eastern end and domestic at the western, 33 gates on air bridges and another 20 stands reached by bus. Volaris, Viva, American, United, Lufthansa, Air France and KLM all work out of it, along with most of the Latin American carriers, which is why it feels busier than its floor area suggests.

Three hotels connect to it, the Camino Real and the Courtyard by covered walkway and a Hilton on site, and all of them sell day rates rather than only overnight stays. Cheaper than any of them is the capsule operator on the landside concourse, which rents a pod by the hour with a two-hour minimum and sells shower access on its own for around 150 pesos. Food runs around the clock on both levels, the Wi-Fi is free and unlimited on the CDMX_AICM network, and the lockers on the lower level are open 24 hours.

No walking between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2

Three kilometres separate the two buildings, with a live airfield in between, so every transfer is a vehicle ride. The Aerotrén covers it in about five minutes and costs nothing, but it runs only from 5am to 11pm and admits only passengers who can produce a valid boarding pass, carrying hand baggage. Finding it is the slow part: the signs point to the Puente de Pilotos rather than to anything with “train” written on it, and 20 to 30 minutes is realistic for the whole transfer once you add the walk and the wait.

The alternative is the connection bus, 16 pesos, running 24 hours, open to anyone whether they are flying that day or not, and happy to take oversized luggage the Aerotrén will not. It is on the public airport road, so it takes anywhere from 10 to 25 minutes. Terminal 2 itself opened in 2007 and is the smaller building at 288,000 square metres, all 30 of its gates served by jet bridges; Aeroméxico, Delta and Copa are the airlines here, and a 287-room hotel sits on its upper level.

Five kilometres to the Zócalo, an hour on the bus

The distance is misleading. The airport is only five kilometres east of the Zócalo, but the Quetzalcóatl route on Metrobús Line 4 threads the historic centre’s streets to get there, so the ride runs 45 minutes to an hour depending on traffic, and the same again coming back. The fare is 30 pesos, cash is not accepted anywhere on it, and you tap a contactless bank card, a phone or a Movilidad Integrada card at the turnstile. Buses leave from gate 7 at Terminal 1 and gate 2 at Terminal 2 every seven to ten minutes, 4:30am to midnight. A booked shared transfer into the city cuts the road time and skips the fare-card problem entirely, which is worth it when the connection is tight.

Metro Line 5 also stops at Terminal Aérea, one level down from the Terminal 1 kerb, for 5 pesos, but it needs a change at Pantitlán to reach the centre and the city’s mobility rules keep anything over 80 by 50 by 30 centimetres off the trains. Terminal 1’s arrivals concourse and the queue at the bus turnstile both bunch up around luggage when several international flights land together, which is the argument for leaving the suitcase in a locker before you decide anything.

Four hours between flights is roughly the line. Below it, the terminal is the better use of the time, since immigration alone can swing from eight minutes to nearly an hour depending on how many long-haul arrivals land at once. Above it, and with hand luggage only, the Centro Histórico route around the Zócalo is close enough to be worth the road time, and free enough that nothing is wasted if you have to turn back early.