I got the World Cup presale lottery last year and purchased tickets to all three Korea games. Thought they'd be in the US, maybe one could even be in Boston. Nope, all three games were in Mexico... 😅
There's no direct flight from Boston to Guadalajara so naturally, I planned a convoluted route through Cancún and CDMX.
Cancún 🇲🇽
For $577 I got three nights at the Canopy Cancún. Most people do the all-inclusives, but this was too good to pass up: daily breakfast for two, $175 resort credit, and I burned my $300 Amex FHR credit. With free breakfast and the credit, it almost felt like an all-inclusive..? 👀
Staying here allowed us to get off property and explore which ended up being better anyway.
Isla Mujeres is a short ferry ride from Cancún. Some travel site ranked it #1 destination in Mexico (Guanajuato was #2 last year), so I'd always been curious.
Cancún beaches were slammed with seaweed from the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt, nobody was in the water. Isla's water was clear.
First stop was Punta Sur at the southern tip, with cliffside trails and massive iguanas. Then a taxi to Playa Norte up north with lots of restaurants, bars, cafés, yachts, and packed beach. On a second trip to Isla, we swam at Playa Centro and walked around downtown.
A food highlight in Cancún was sikil pak, a smoky spicy pumpkin seed dip from the Yucatán peninsula. I'd never even heard of this, and I couldn't stop gobbling it down.
One funny thing: a big earthquake hit Cuba while we were working at the hotel. The whole room shook. A little scary, mostly exciting. Then the sun vanished and a torrential downpour with lightning came out of nowhere. Two disasters in one day!
Mexico City 🇲🇽
Cancún to Guadalajara with a 28-hour CDMX layover; packed the day from morning to night. Andaz Condesa was ~$1500 cash for the World Cup opener, but I got it for 15k Hyatt points. Room came with a gift bag with accessories for the match.
Morning run into Bosque de Chapultepec, where all 48 World Cup countries had booths to promote food, drinks, and culture. Tried Uruguayan wine, Vietnamese coffee, and spicy chips and blueberry pie from good ol' America.
Museo de Arte Moderno is right there in the park with a strong permanent collection for a small museum - Frida, Rivera, Orozco, Tamayo, Ledesma... The Varo exhibit was the highlight: Spanish-Mexican Surrealism, self-portraits tangled up in mysticism and magic.
Dinner at Quintonil. CDMX traffic is brutal, so out of curiosity we took the metro (30¢ ride to two Michelin stars). I thought it resembled the subway in Milan.
Quintonil showcases Mexican flavors and ingredients; they started out the dinner asking for dietary restrictions and if we specifically were okay with insects in the meal. 😶🌫️
Sikil pak made a reprise here as the sauce on a crisp lettuce salad. Highlights: trout with adobo de chicatana; a reimagined pibil pork tamal that may have ruined all other tamales for me; pan de elote dessert.
The insects weren't really visible as they were ground into sauces and garnishes, but they showed us the four kinds at the end.
#3 on World's 50 Best in 2025. 9.9 on my Beli.
We capped off the night at Handshake Speakeasy, best bar in North America 2025. Good vibes from staff, clean and balanced cocktails, and clever riffs on classics. Favorites were the matcha yuzu and the fig martini.
Next morning, a quick jog to Odette Condesa for pastries before the airport. If you go, please get the raspberry kouign-amann and matcha galleta.
Next up: a week in Guadalajara for Korea at the World Cup! 🇰🇷⚽️