Lgbtq+ History: Plazas And Secrets

I was thoroughly disappointed to receive a cancellation notification at 8:47 AM for an experience set to start shortly after, especially given that I was already in an Uber traveling from Roma Norte through Mexico City's notorious traffic. While I completely understand that safety concerns and official police alerts regarding Independence Day preparations and demonstrations near the Zócalo require adjustments, Independence Day happen annually. It seems logical that the organizers should have anticipated the cordoned-off zones and street closures well in advance rather than canceling at the last minute while guests were actively en route.

This tour provided us with the historical context of the city, as well as information about life here as a gay person. Carlos adapted the tour to us (we wound up having a private tour) and made it very unique and special. Lots of information in a 3-hour tour!

Nice tour, Carlos is knowledgeable and likes to teach. Showed me around the area and explained about the bars and history.

The tour was not interesting. He talked about the Catholic Regime and how so many people were ruled by fear. It was not a “lax tour” it was filled with heavy topics such as politics, religion, and discriminatory propaganda. The guide was very pompous about his knowledge and shamed and wrong answers to questions. It made me not want to participate. The tour was only about 8 blocks of walking. And to travel that little in such a long time period made it difficult to pay attention. There was very few talk and discussions about women and no mention about transgender individuals. It really should just go over the history of gay men and there acceptance in society

Our walking tour was cancelled due to protests in the city center and they never refunded us even though they guaranteed they would. They owe me $180 and ghosted me on WhatsApp, email and will not return my calls. I’ve tried to contact them and they are ignoring me. This is not a trustworthy tour company!!

The operator cancelled the tour 1 hour before it was meant to start. We were already on our way to the tour and the last minute cancellation made it difficult to arrange something else for our day. The operator gave no reason for cancelling nor did they answer our calls or messages to confirm the cancellation was accurate. This is very poor business management and incredibly disrespectful to your customers.

This was a great walk. Carlos balanced the history of Mexico City through a queer lens with great anecdotes, fun facts and genuine enthusiasm. Highly reccomended!

Had an amazing tour with Carlos, who is a walking encyclopedia of history and cultural knowledge. He's a great storyteller and I learned so much that I need to take a siesta to relax and try to process it all! I enjoyed learning about Mexico and the country, which Carlos clearly loves, and how it began and grew with respect to world events and gay influence - and much more. Note: I am ally (not LGBTQ+) and this is one of my favorite tours I have ever taken, and definitely one of the most educational! Just book it!

Carlos led us on two amazing tours over two days-- the gay plazas tour and the african walking tour (not listed here in the dropdown). Starting with a super informative and grounding introduction to the history of the United Mexican States, to the lasting impacts of that history on society and culture today. The tours were engaging and time flew by! My friends and I are coming back to take more tours to continue our exposure and learning!

My husband and I really loved meeting Carlos. He is an amazing teacher and a walking encyclopedia of gay, Mexican, and world history. I even learned so much about the US that we were never taught in school. A very worthwhile tour. Five stars

Carlos was such a fantastic and knowledgable guide! The tour is very well thought out with lots of fun reveals and great use of location. Over the tour he gives not only an overview of how LGBTQ+ life was perceived and experienced, but also wove the story of Mexico itself. We learned as much about the development of the Mexican empire, economy, and architecture as we did LGBTQ+ life! I would have preferred more up-front clarity abut the length and scope of the tour. I was under the impression the tour would go until about 1/1:30 but it ended at 2. It also was unclear from the description what year range would be covered by the tour content, we went from the formation of the Mexica empire through the 19th century. We definitely recommend this experience to anyone considering it, you'll get both a foundational and unique perspective on Mexico's history and be left with an excitement for more!

Carlos is a great storyteller, the tour is paced really well -- breaks at cantinas are well-incorporated into the whole experience (and tasty!). Priced a little high but well worth the investment!

Carlos was excellent guide and very knowledgeable about Mexican history. He took us around various sites and was great at explaining Mexican culture and history. We will recommend this tour.

Wow. This went sideways real quick. We actually missed the tour because the confirmation and ticketing emails were misleading, which led us to the wrong meetup location. The location on the actual ticket/QR code is not actually the meet up location. Turns out that is just an advertisement for another tour they offer. I am not sure why an ad for other tours would include very specific meetup instructions, including a picture of the wrong door. Turns out, there is another email you receive the day before the tour that has the actual meetup instructions. Shame on me, I did not see that because I don't check email on vacation. Again, I had a downloaded ticket/QR code, so I thought I was set. Why not include the real meetup location on the actual tour confirmation and ticket? It's confusing. I realized things were off when no one was gathering or host at the meet up location. That's when I dug thru email and found the updated instructions. We were 30 mins away and already late. So, we bagged it and just did other sites. Not the end of the world. However, when I asked for a refund, I got this very aggressive, condescending, defensive response. Please see attached photos, and you can decide if this is quality customer service or not. I run a service business too, and I would never treat a client like this. Refund and move on, but no, this company will call you a lier. Fun!

Carlos was a fantastic tour guide! His knowledge about Mexican history and Mexican gay history was impressive. Will definitely take more tours from him when we return to CDMX.

This is an excellent walking tour and Carlos is a great guide. He's knowledgeable, entertaining, and engaging. He is serious about the subject and there's serious history here, but the tour is never dry. I've studied Mexican history and I've visited CDMX many times, but this tour brought me to places I'd never been and I learned a lot from an LGBTQ perspective. I will definitely take another of his tours on my next visit to Mexico. Highly recommended.

My tour with Carlos was unforgettable. Essentially a full semester university class, if you could find one this specific. It put me, an eager student of Mexican-US history, right in the middle of what I was learning: walking the streets, looking up at horrifying drawings on the sides of buildings (which i would have never noticed on my own), getting behind-the-scenes views of clubs, and best of all, Carlos tweaking the tour to include my specific interest, the 1930s and '40s. He even took me to a historic cafe (back then a cantina) from the time period, and introduced me to a muralist currently painting murals in Centro!  I have been on many TripAdvisor tours, most recently in Spain, and I can say that I have only had two other guides who have had the level of expertise that Carlos has and have been as enthusiastic about teaching it. An added bonus was having this tour in the exciting month of Mexico's Independence, with the upcoming change of power to Mexico's first female president, and its November celebrations of its Revolution which freed workers of many aspects of their suffering and gave them a voice. The voices of the workers were apparent each day in marches in Centro, often to the Zocalo. You never knew exactly when a street would be closed to accommodate them but I always go with the flow when I have the privilege of being a guest in an international capital city at such a historical time.

Carlos was very personable and knowledgeable. He inquired about our personal interests and incorporated them into the tour. We really enjoyed the tour and would highly recommend to anyone interested in learning more about LGBTQ+ history of the city and history of CDMX in general. This tour is a must do!

Sorry for the lengthy review but it explains in details what happened to us and why my 1 star. They deserve 0 stars in our opinion and experience. Also allowed almost a week to take emotions out and relate facts as they happened.. Facts below. I’ve been using Viator for all my travel since 2013 and I consider them a facilitator between me and the tour company like I use American Express. If there is an issue, I expect them to intervene, if not why use them. In all my travels I’ve never had an issue and never needed Viator to intervene. This is the only time I’ve needed them and they failed miserably. I will never use them again. I had a tour in Mexico City to see the plazas and some of the monuments and learn about their gay history. The tour was supposed to start at 10:00 AM Sept 1, 2024. Meeting point was very close to Zocalo a huge plaza and actually zocalo and several monuments within zocalo were part of our tours per their schedule, (please look at the schedule in their web site). The tour even assigned 20 minutes on our own in Zocalo to see the sites. Our taxi ride was supposed to be 14 minutes, around 9:30 we went to the taxi stand, they were right by the hotel, once we were out of the hotel we noted a huge demonstration marching close to our hotel. Since we are TOURISTS how could we know there was a huge demonstration to commemorate the change of the president. When we go to get a taxi they tell us they will not take us to the “centro” since the address we gave them was very close to zocalo in the middle of the historic district and most streets were closed and the crowd was walking towards Zocalo and the plaza. This was the same answer to the 2 taxis behind him. Sadly enough we did not listen to the taxis, we then ordered Uber that was 12 min away again due to road closures and the people marching in the streets 12 minutes turned into close to 18 due to the obvious. He told us he could not get to the address but would leave us as close as possible. As we are taken to our drop spot and now in the Uber I texted with the company told them we were late and they said the tour starts when you get here, no rush. Now I realize why they were so accommodating. Once we get to our destination the Uber driver tells us the walk is a 10 min walk from here just cross the plaza. We had Google maps and start walking to realized the plaza (Zocalo, remember part of our tour 20 minutes at that site was on our own) is covered with tens of thousands of people, the equivalent to SWAT present and a huge police presence. Now the walking was much worse since the groups holding flag and arguing peacefully between them made things tense and hard to walk through. As we are trying to go through the crowd and get out one of the side streets one of us ( we were four) was surrounded by 6-7 ladies and a guy came from behind and stole his phone from his pocket. Cash, credit cards, drivers license and phone all in one. We were scared at that point and finally reached a side road and walked as fast as we could to be away from the crowd. I texted them what happened and we took an Uber that took 45 minutes to get to the hotel again due to the manifestations. At that point the tour was not on our minds but cancelling credit cards, phone etc and SAFETY. Things Mexico University Tours thought was a mistake. I guess we were to go on with the tour including Zocalo where we were robbed !!! They told us if there was anything they could do to let them know ( in their reply) Next 3 hrs we cancel all credit cards and phone. No financial harm done except from the iPhone and thankfully we were safe. We go for a drink and start just talking about how dangerous was to have a tour knowing this was going on. More so when part of the tour was that same place with the crowd. As tourists we were unaware of this, the magnitude of it, the way to get to them etc etc. Thinking back we should have never gone, but we had no idea what we were getting into as tourists, you rely on the locals. I then reached our to Viator and after several emails their reply was that the tour company refused to give us a refund because ( this is copied from their email) 1. They've received your message 10 minutes before the start time stating you are still looking for taxi. True, due to the manifestations and explained above as explained to Viator in a previous email. 2. At the tour start time at 10am, they've received your message stating you are in an Uber arriving 15 minutes late. True, and they said the tour starts when you get here they knew the issues 3. Scheduled gathering point was more than 1km away from the start point of this tour. Not true, it was 350 meters by Google maps (welcome to trace it - Zocalo to 15 Republica de Argentina, Mexico City) and all roads surrounding the area were close to access. Again we are not locals so have to rely on Uber and google maps or an email from Mexico University Tours explaining the complexity of the access to their office and to our tour route due to the massive political manifestation. They NEVER said a word about it until 10AM when the send an email saying it was not dangerous to be out in the manifestation, never talk about how to get to them or what roads or areas to avoid. But I guess if they did they have to tell us to avoid the plaza where most of out tour was taking place as per their schedule, not mine. Then how can they offer the tour... 4. Tour operated as scheduled. Not true, There was no hurry on their side. Also see the tour description included Zocalo and the surrounding areas same area we were robbed and it was covered by an ocean of Mexicans impossible to take a tour there. Not safe more so after what they exposed us to and the outcome... 5. All other participants were able to join the tour. Not true either. We were only ones if there was more people they would have departed and not said take your time we start when you get here. I do not believe they left a guide behind as they told Viator. I might be wrong but is irrelevant based on everything else that was going on there. They issue here is our safety that was breached and the fact that we were robbed because of what we were exposed to. Truthfully it was irresponsible from them to schedule a tour at the time, date and place scheduled. Canceling or offering an alternative date would have save us from being robbed and ruining our day and possibly body harm. This shows how neither Mexico University Tours nor Viator cared about safety towards their customers. Sadly enough when we realized we were not safe it was too late to get out. Mexico City is a great place and we enjoyed several of the top bars in the world as well as dinning in Michelin star restaurants. We felt safe everywhere except those 7 minutes walking through the crowd that resulted in us being pick pocketed. This could have happened in any big city in a political manifestation like this one but you rely on the locals more so when you’re paying them for a tour to guide you and look after your safety not dragged you to the danger zone. We were never informed of what was going on and to avoid certain areas getting there. Not once. We went to Zócalo next day and enjoyed the beautiful buildings, (the cathedral) and although there was still heavy police presence since I guess there are more festivities upcoming there was no manifestation, no crowds, No danger. I reached out to Mexico University Tour and in their reply they blamed us for trying to go through the crowd, really!! The one answering for them has been a bully in his replies, I guess accepting errors is not easy for some. I guess they have never been tourists… we were dropped by Uber, we have no control to where since we did not know the area. Based on all the maps and barricades there was no other way to go or be dropped. We were dropped at the plaza and following Google maps ( as they recommended in their email) and as we do every time we travel. To get around an unknown city. They knew about the manifestation but failed to inform us before 10 AM and never thought they should orient people unfamiliar with the city of what to avoid, to allowed an extra hour due to the situation, to tell our Uber to take a different direction. etc etc etc. So many things were missing. We are 4 professional mature men in our early 50’s that travel extensively. We have never encounter a situation like this or a company that would not plan ahead knowing a big manifestation is happening around their office and in the tour route. The mature and professional outcome would have been for them to understand their mistake and rectify the situation. I tell my kids, If you mess up then OWN IT and FIX IT and people will move forward. Both University Tours in Mexico City and Viator failed us and put our lives in danger. There are many other companies read reviews. In this trip we toured the pyramids in with Holidays House Boys a private tour and our guide Rafael was amazing communicating, helping us around the city and worried about our safety. I’ll use them again anytime. I later learned that Holiday House Boys also give this tour, shame I did not use them. They did not tour Sept 1 at 10 AM. Smart!! I had attached the following things listed below but Trip advisor would not allow other websites articles, that, I totally understand reason why I rewrote the review since you cannot edit it) Uber ride, times and my communication with the company as well as an article warning people of the manifestation location and times (web address at the bottom for verification) and an article written after the fact talking about the manifestation lasting 2 hrs etc. They match the date, time and place we were going in our tour. Look at the itinerary from their website… 20 minutes in zocalo where the manifestation took place. Sited like Crisis 24 garda . com shows the plans for the manifestation and the magnitude of it with multiple road closures as well as the scheduled time for it and place (Zocalo). Just the facts above. You guys decide.

This is an amazing historical tour, so much information about LGBTQ+ history in Mexico, and a lot of Mexican history. I highly recommend this tour to all LGBTQ+ travelers, as you won't find a more informative tour. 3.5 hours sounds long, but it went by so quickly. Carlos is knowledgeable and great at answering questions.

This is the 2nd tour I’ve had with Carlos in the past 3 years… had to bring my new husband to experience the same tour I did as he’s actually Mexican. He was overwhelmed with awe and emotion for this great city’s history and tragic past for the gay culture. I’ve also sent friends whom had the same positive experiences.

The tour was finely crafted to reveal insights into the experiences of LGBTQ folk both before and after the meeting European and American cultures. Learning about several Mexican LGBTQ leaders and the lifestyle choices that allowed nameless others to survive during dangerous times brought the history to life. This tour should be a first day experience for every LGBTQ visitor to Mexico.

This tour was packed full of very interesting information that I cannot wait to tell my friends and family about back in the U.S. The tour guide was very knowledgable and even was able to include facts about the regions we were from but in a way that was still very relatable to the tour. I cannot wait to come back to book another tour again.

Our tour guide, Carlos, provided one of the most interesting, insightful tours we’ve ever had. His ability to put modern LGBT life in the context of Mexican history was exactly what we’d hoped to find. If you’re hesitating to sign up, don’t! It was worth every peso.

Carlos’s extensive knowledge of history and his skill at relating it to his audience made this a fascinating tour. He enabled us to see, appreciate and understand Mexico and its culture. We were still talking about all we had learned from him later in our visit. Highly recommend this enjoyable and informative tour whether it’s your first time to Mexico or your hundredth.

We had a really great time on the tour. We learned a ton, and we got to check out some cool parts of the city. The guide was very warm and willing to offer us plenty of suggestions to make sure we had a great trip to CDMX. I recommend it.

Thank you! The guide was both very knowledgeable and entertaining at the same time. We learned a lot.

Outstanding tour. Carlos is very knowledgeable and engaging. I highly recommend this tour if you want to learn about Mexico's history and gay people.

This tour was super fun. Carlos somehow made a history lesson into an engaging, often funny, entertaining experience. He was great to hang out with and we left with a great appreciation and connection to Mexico City.

This tour was packed full of wonderful history and our guide Carlos provided a great combination of insight and humor. If you’re queer and visiting Mexico City, this tour is a must see. You’ll learn about the gender and sexual identities, customs and practices from the Mayans to the Inquisition and today. Highly recommend.

RUN AWAY AS FAST AS YOU CAN!! This company is garbage and viator.com is garbage. The TICKET says 10.30 am. Viator website says 10.30 am. Even the Google Calendar invite I downloaded from viator.com says 10.30 am. I showed up at 10.15 am. It turns out the tour operator left at 10.01 am. They refused to issue a refund. Viator also refused to issue a refund. Now the tour operator keeps calling me on my US mobile. I don't want to pay to listen to someone yell at me for following the details on the ticket. (They claim the tour starts at 10.00 am. I was only going by the ticket).

The tour guide is very friendly and very knowledgeable and informative. Open to any and all questions. As a member of the LGBT community it is empowering to know our history. I left the tour more educated. Thanks Carlos

The Gay Side of Mexican History walking tour was excellent. A great tour of the historic centre, plus loads of interesting facts about the history of the United States of Mexico--all from a gay perspective and the place of GLBT people in Mexico throughout time. Highly recommended.

Wonderful tour of gay history in Mexico. Carlos was extremely knowledgeable. This was a great way to start our first trip to Mexico City. Definitely stop for a drink and appetizer after the tour at Balcon de Zocalo. Highly recommend this tour for the history lovers!

Absolutely the best tour I have ever had in 70 years! Our guide was truly a gem and a joy. He explains his stories with facts and the details are very interesting.

An amazing tour experience with insights not found on any other tours while in Mexico. Although centered around gay stories, you’ll leave with singular historical understandings. Very recommended, especially compared to a regular point-and-walk tour.

Carlos is extremely knowledgeable and has a great way of explaining and connecting things. We felt that the tour gave us insights into the gay history of Mexico City as well as the overall general history. We highly recommend this tour.

What a great way to learn about history! A group of friends and me took this tour with Carlos and we had an amazing time. Getting to know more in dept about my city gay history blew my mind. Carlos has done a great research and has solid facts about everything he explains. Thank you Carlos for doing this work of making visible what it has been hidden for such a long time.

We had a great time with Carlos. He is very knowledgeable with history and the different sites. I like his approach of sitting down and providing context to the sites we were about to see. Highly recommend!

Went with 4 friends and absolutely enjoyed the tour with Carlos. We learned so much about Mexico City’s history, the Aztecs, and the Spanish Inquisition. I would recommend this tour for anyone visiting CDMX.

Carlos is one of the most erudite and intelligent guides I’ve ever had on any tour ever in my life. The tour begins with coffee overlooking the ruins of the Templo Mayor. Carlos gives you a full historical background beginning with the population of the Americas and running up to the Spanish conquest of what we now know as The United States of Mexico. He includes a link to his detailed website complete with notes and details of the tour. From there your tour is a leisurely 1 mile of fascinating history through an LGBTQ lens, but encompassing so very much more. We were his only tour the day we met so he spent a little more time with us. We spent 4 hours discussing everything from the Aztecs to Isabella of Spain and the Inquisition to Benito Juarez, Porfirio Diaz (and his son) to the 1910 Revolution. Never once were we anything less than fully engaged and excited to see what was around the next corner. Don’t even THINK about not doing this tour.

I’ve been here in Mexico City before and found some cool things online but nothing compares to finding Carlos! His knowledge of history of his amazing country was above and beyond. I will forever be changed (in a good way) as learning is why I travel so much and I am grateful to understand more than I ever have before. I will be back and I will utilize Carlos for any and all tourist needs! Best tour guide ever!

Carlos made history come alive. It was entertaining, comprehensive, and beyond my expectations. He makes it all seem so effortless. But it's obvious he's done a lot of preparation to provide his guests with a top-notch experience. Thank you, Carlos! I would take the same tour over again, and I will be back for more. Carlos was kind enough to take me to one more spot after the tour, but one spot turned into 10 and 20. We couldn't take two steps without him breaking into official tour guide again. It was awesome! We need more of this in our LGBT community. Learning our history is empowering!

Carlos not only gave us the LGBT history of the area but he also gave the historic context needed to understand. And it was interactive, we had to answer questions and point at items relevant to the tour. It was nice that was interactive instead of just one-way information.

Excellent tour. Very knowledgeable guide. learned so much about gay Mexico City and the history of the city in general. great fun.

My husband and I visited Mexico (City) for 10 days and had a great time. Two of the highlights of our time there was our 2 walking tours with Carlos. Carlos speaks perfect English and has an extensive base of knowledge about both the LGBT and the Jewish history

We booked a three hour tour and had a great experience. Would highly recommend. As we walked around the city, Carlos provided great historical information that had wonderful insights woven throughout. We thoroughly enjoyed it, and feel that we could not have gotten such an in depth understanding of his city otherwise.

My friends and I all loved our tour with Carlos. He has an amazing knowledge of gay history and how it relates to the history of Mexico City. He pointed out many interesting items that we would never have seen by ourselves, and gave us a much better understanding of the history of this city.

We have done all the 3 parts of the gay tour in Mexico City with Carlos and we enjoyed every minute. Carlos is very knowledgeable in the history of the city and especially the gay history which was revealed to us in all its splendor. All the 3 parts are comprehensive, interesting and enjoyable. Carlos really has a passion for Mexico City, gay history and culture and current gay life in the city, and one can see he loves his work. We saw interesting places that we probably could never be able to see otherwise. Highly recommended tour, one of a kind!