A trip to Xochimilco can go one of two ways. Xochimilco can be a boring tourist trap where you sit on a boat in the hot sun for a few hours. On the other hand, it can be an amazing day spent with friends boozing and cruising along an ancient Aztec waterway. I’ve had both experiences at Xochimilco. When you get it right, Xochimilco is an absolutely roaring good time. It’s one of my favorite ways to spend a day in Mexico City. Day drinking, floating lazily on the river, and surrounded by vibrant music, good vibes, and people having fun. What more do you need?!
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Things To Know Before Going to Xochimilco
There are a few essentials you need to have before heading to Xochimilco. The most important is a good canal crew. Each of the boats can fit between 12 to 15 passengers. You will want to have as close to that number as possible. When you are on a boat lazily floating along a river for several hours, a variety of human energy is absolutely necessary to keep things lively and spiced up. On paper, Xochimilco looks like it can be a peaceful and relaxing activity. Do not be fooled. Xochimilco, especially on the weekends, is one of the best parties in all of Mexico. It is hard not to get FOMO when all the other boats filled with locals and Mexican tourists float past you bumping banda and reggaeton. It is best to be on their level.
Next up, booze and cash. While you can buy drinks from the alcohol vendors on the river, it will be cheaper to bring your own. In case you run out, have some cash handy to buy more. Some of the vendors also sell snacks and small meals, essential for soaking up all the tequila and mezcal in your system. One can also spend money to buy a song or two from a mariachi band. It’s a lot more fun if people are pitching in for mariachi bands and shots of tequila along the way. Xochimilco is cash only. Make sure to have plenty on hand.
Sunscreen, a hat, and lots of water are also essential in case you get a particularly hot day. There’s always shade on the boat, but basking in that sizzling Mexican sun hits different when you’re a little buzzed.
There is not much else that you need to know before going. The routes along Xochimilco’s canals are basically pre-set. You can do an expedited circuit of around two hours, or you could go full send up to around six hours if you want to make it to the Island of the Dolls — much more on that later. There is not much customization otherwise. The boat captains know what they’re doing. Just trust them and go along for the ride.
Best Time To Visit Xochimilco
Xochimilco is one of the few things that I’d recommend going when it’s at its most touristy. The weekends are prime time for a day out on the canals. This is when Mexican tourists come out in full force, and they always bring the party. I know, I know. Tourist crowds can be annoying, but the energy at Xochimilco is electric and palpable on the weekends. The more people there are, the better. And, honestly, the slower the boat goes, the less likely you are to fall into the canal when you’re drunkenly dancing on the slippery surface.
Oh, and before you go…
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How To Get To Xochimilco
The easiest way to get to Xochimilco from downtown Mexico City is by Uber. If you’ve squadded up like I’ve suggested, then the cost shouldn’t be too bad. On average, it cost about $250-350 Mexican pesos (about $15 USD) for the ride from downtown Mexico City. Split four ways, that’s around $4 each. Public transportation also works, but there aren’t direct buses or trains that leave from Mexico City’s more touristic areas. It can take close to two hours by public transport. Google Maps works just fine if you want to look up the best route. Type “Xochimilco Embarcaderos” as the destination so that you end up at the canals starting point instead of the elsewhere in Xochimilco town.
Another option is to book a tour to Xochimilco. If you don’t have your own group, it might be worth booking a tour. You might actually end up saving money as opposed to booking all your own transportation and a boat for yourself. If you plan on going solo, then going with a tour guarantees you’ll already have people to share the fun with. Here are a few Xochimilco tour options from GetYourGuide.
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How Much Does A Trip to Xochimilco Cost?
As of 2026, the standard rate for renting a boat and hiring a captain in Xochimilco is 750 pesos per hour, or about $43 USD. The price has gone up quite a bit in recent years, but that is the government-regulated rate, so don’t pay more than that. Luckily, that cost is for the entire boat. The more people that you get on board, the lower the costs go per person. The first time I went to Xochimilco, there were just four of us. We only booked the boat for two hours because we didn’t want to spend a lot of money, and it worked out to 250 pesos ($15 USD) per person — this was back when it cost 500 pesos per boat, not including the tip to the driver at the end. The second time I went, I wrangled together a group of 10 people, and then picked up two more local Mexicans once we arrived to the port.
We reserved the boat for five hours, splitting the cost 12 ways. For five hours on the boat, it worked out to be cheaper than my first visit to Xochimilco. This is why having a squad is crucial. It makes cruising these ancient Aztec waterways a lot more fun and significantly more affordable. With all those savings, there is more money to go towards important things like beer and tequila for boat ride.
You can bring your own booze on the boat to further save money. However, if you don’t, never fear. There are dozens of smaller boats floating through the canals with beer, tequila, cocktails, food, and more. Of course, it’ll be a little pricier than if you were to buy it at an Oxxo, but it’s still not too expensive.
The only other thing you could possibly spend money on at Xochimilco is mariachis. On average, a song will cost you 150 Mexican pesos. That’s about 10-20 pesos per person on your boat if you split the costs. Asking for multiple songs might also bring down the cost per song. This is Mexico. Bargaining is always possible. Bring cash because obviously none of the boat vendors or mariachis take card.
Island of the Dolls: Is It Worth It?
If the canal party is Xochimilco’s soul, the Island of the Dolls is its dark side. Officially known as Isla de las Muñecas, this is one of the strangest and most unsettling places I’ve encountered anywhere in the world. The island is a small chinampa, an ancient floating agricultural platform that Xochimilco’s canal network was originally built around. As its name suggests, it is covered in hundreds of deteriorating dolls. Dolls hanging from trees. Dolls nailed to fences. Dolls missing eyes, limbs, and heads, weathered by decades of rain and sun into something that crosses from kitschy into nightmarishly eerie.
The story behind the Isla de las Munecas: a local caretaker named Julián Santana Barrera found a young girl drowned in the canal near the island in the 1950s, and began hanging dolls to honor her spirit and ward off evil. He collected them obsessively for fifty years, stringing them throughout the island. In 2001, Julián was found dead. He drowned in the exact same spot where he’d found the girl. The island has belonged to his family ever since, who maintain it as an attraction for dark tourism.
It is deeply weird. I mean that as the highest possible compliment.
There is one very important caveat, though. The Island of the Dolls is located deep in the canal network, far from the main tourist embarcaderos. A proper visit requires departing from Embarcadero Fernando Celada or Embarcadero Cuemanco rather than the more central Nativitas dock. The round trip takes a minimum of three to four hours. Operators who sell “Island of the Dolls tours” that last two hours are typically taking you to a small replica chinampa near the main canal, not the real thing. For the real deal, plan for a full day.
If you have the time for both, start early and do the Island of the Dolls first before joining the main canal festivities in the afternoon.
How To Have A Good F’in Time
Now that you’ve got a squad, a boat, a captain, and lots of booze, you are ready for an excellent day at Xochimilco. The rest is up to you. Bring the energy and be open to whatever surprises await along the canals of Xochimilco. Keep those feet dancin’ and the Tecates flowing. You have to be actively trying to be boring if you’re not having a good time at Xochimilco. Disfruta la vida weyyy!
Related: The Ultimate Mexico City Bucket List: 47 Things To Do
Beyond the Boat Party: Other Things To Do in Xochimilco
Most visitors treat Xochimilco as a one-note experience. Show up, get on a boat, drink, leave. You know what, hell yeah. That’s completely valid. But the area has a few other things worth knowing about if you want to extend the day or build a fuller Xochimilco itinerary.
The Ajolotario (Axolotl Sanctuary) is a hidden gem and one of the most specifically Mexico City experiences available anywhere. The axolotl is endemic to the lakes of Xochimilco and critically endangered in the wild. The sanctuary rescues and breeds them in an effort to prevent their extinction from the very lake system they evolved to inhabit. Entry is 100 pesos, it takes about 45 minutes, and it’s fascinating even if you showed up knowing nothing about axolotls. You’ll leave knowing considerably more, and you’ll want one as a pet. You cannot have one. Best you can do is a stuffed one. I have one named Alfred the Axolotl.
Coyoacán pairs naturally with a Xochimilco day since the two neighborhoods are close to each other geographically. Coyoacán is the colonial bohemian barrio that was home to Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and briefly Leon Trotsky — the Frida Kahlo Museum (La Casa Azul) is one of the most visited sites in Mexico City. An afternoon in Coyoacán after a morning on the canals is a natural full-day Mexico City itinerary that covers two of the city’s best experiences in one shot.
In Town For Dia de los Muertos? Don’t Miss Xochimilco
Xochimilco has two seasonal events that elevate it from a great day trip into something unmissable, and both are worth building your Mexico City dates around if you have any flexibility.
La Llorona
La Llorona is a theatrical haunted trajinera experience that runs through October and into early November in the lead-up to Día de los Muertos. Named after the Mexican legend of the weeping woman who drowned her own children and wanders the waterways wailing for them, La Llorona transforms the Xochimilco canals after dark into a theatrical horror experience — actors appearing from the water and the canal banks, elaborate sets constructed along the route, dramatic lighting turning the normally festive canal into something significantly more menacing. It runs on weekend evenings and sells out weeks in advance. Tickets go on sale through the Mexico City government’s cultural events platform.
Dia de Los Muertos
Día de los Muertos on the canals themselves is a different experience. The trajineras are decorated with marigolds and the canal route passes ofrenda installations set up on the chinampas. Less theatrical than La Llorona but more cultural, and a reminder that Xochimilco’s relationship with death and the afterlife runs considerably deeper than the doll island’s tourist appeal. Both experiences are a world away from the daytime party canal. Both are reasons to visit Xochimilco more than once.
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Also, be sure to check out my complete itinerary for backpacking in Mexico with 77 jam-packed pages covering over 33 different destinations in this amazing country!
My Complete Mexico Backpacking Itinerary
By popular demand… Here is the complete itinerary for one of my favorite countries in the world, Mexico. In this 77-page guidebook, I cover 30 of my favorite Mexican destinations, including how to get to each city, where to stay, and the best things to do in each city. I also include tidbits of useful information like things to know before going to Mexico, as well as my favorite party destinations, cities to work remotely, and a bucket list for…
Where To Stay in Mexico City
Mexico City has a ton of amazing hostels to choose from, but these are a few of my favorites. They are all great options for meeting people to embark on a Xochimilco adventure with.
Do you remember which boat you rented that let you pay by the hour? All the tours I’m seeing online are for at least 4-5 hours. Thanks!
Thank you the Partying traveler, reading this was very helpful. Looking forward to a new experience.