If you’ve never been to Mexico City, get on a plane and go now. Not only is it a great destination, but we sure need to let Mexico know that all Americans aren’t crazy.

And if you have been guilty of thinking all the stereotypes about Mexico were correct, let me tell you they are all wrong.

The people are smart, friendly, kind and hard-working. And Mexico City is modern, sophisticated, safe, clean and easy to get-around. We saw no signs of Montezuma’s revenge, as the food was some of the best I have eaten anywhere in the world.

Kelly and I planned our trip to be a foodie and art experience. Here’s what we did and how you can make your trip fun and easy.

Getting there: We booked our flight out of Atlanta on Delta and got a non-stop flight that took about 3.5 hours. We didn’t really shop around for a flight deal, since we had limited time and specific dates we wanted to travel. Our tickets ran around $600 each, round trip. We left at 12:15 and arrived around 2:45 (Central time) — perfect for us. We hate early morning and late night flights. If you shop, I am sure you can find less expensive flight rates.

I had arranged to have a car pick us up at the airport — not knowing what the airport situation would be. However, don’t spend the money to do that (about $100). Just exit the airport and you’ll find a line of taxies. Grab one and take it to your hotel, which will be about a 40-minute drive. The cost will be about $20-30 US. If you use a hired car, you have to trek through the parking garage with your driver — rather than walking out the terminal door and getting right in a taxi.

Where to stay: Since I am a bit of a hotel snob, we stayed at one of my favorite luxury hotels, the Four Seasons. The rate was $250 a night — a steal for a high-end hotel. It is located in the financial district and everyone there was helpful and professional. The hotel has one of Mexico City’s best bars and believe me it was a real treat. We had a different, creative and delicious drink every night. We’re talking award-winning cocktails.  And their coffee shop has the best almond croissants I’ve ever had.

Tip: when you check in, ask for a room near the elevator. They have only one bank of elevators and it seemed like a mile hike just to get to our room.

There are a number of good hotels throughout the city. A St. Regis, numerous Hiltons, Holiday Inns and Marriotts. You can find something for every budget. Be sure to check the neighborhood when you pick a hotel. The old district is lovely, as are a number of residential areas, such as Polanco with tree-lined streets and lots of cute restaurants.

Weather: When we visited in mid-July, the weather was cool and breezy. About 70 degrees in the daytime, perfect for walking around. Bring a light jacket for the evenings and you’ll be in good shape. I brought a hat, thinking the sun would be gruesome, but I didn’t need it since it was so overcast.

Getting around: Before you leave for your trip, be sure you have the Uber app on your phone. You won’t believe how easy and cheap it is to use. We did our share of walking, but Mexico City is a huge city (21 million people) and we used Uber regularly to get around. The best part is you don’t have to speak Spanish.  Just put in your destination and you’ll get a note about how long you must wait for your driver, the price and you’re off. For most of our trips, we waited 1-2 minutes for our driver and the most expensive trip we had was a 45-minute drive across town for the huge price of $12. Most of our trips were $2, $4 or $6. The 40-minute drive back to the airport was $6.

What to do: The purpose of our trip was art and food. Kelly looked up the top restaurants in Mexico City and booked reservations using Open Table, or went to the restaurant website and booked through the Mexican equivalent of Open Table. I won’t go into the details about the food here. Suffice to say, we had wonderful food in sophisticated to cozy local settings. When Ken and I were in Mexico 45+ years ago, the big worry was getting sick on the food. Not anymore, folks. It is safe and world-class. Food in Mexico City will dazzle you and at half the cost you would pay at a nice restaurant in the US. Read Kelly’s blog for where we ate and photos of the food we had.

Tip: Be sure you plan your trip around museum opening times. Most are closed on Mondays.

After we checked in at our hotel, we walked to the city park a block away (twice the size of New York City’s Central Park). It is a great place to soak up local flavor and see vendors hawking all manner of food, toys, trinkets and souvenirs. The Museum of Modern Art is located there and we took a quick stroll through it to see a very nice collection of art. Try to have at least two hours to see everything in the museum.

On day two, we hired a car and driver to take us to see Teotihuacan, the Mayan city, complete with pyramids, about an hour outside of town. Kelly’s blog will give you the details. It was a great trip, despite the rain. If you don’t want to hire a car and driver, there are numerous bus trips and tours to the pyramids. We were happy to have the driver and car since it rained and we waited out the showers in the comfort of an air-conditioned car.

An early morning visit to the Frida Kahlo museum started day three. Be sure to get there early, as the lines can be long and slow. The day we went, the museum opened at 9:30 and we got there around 10 and had a 30-minute wait. The museum is actually the house where Frida and Diego Rivera lived, so it is a special place. See Kelly’s blog for details.

We then Ubered to Pujol for our eight-course taco tasting menu. It is worth the trip to Mexico City if you do nothing else but eat this meal. Kelly’s blog explains all the details and shows photos of what we ate. Totally amazing!

We only had time to visit three museums, but Mexico City has tons of them. And there are numerous day trips you can take from the city.

Walk around the city, shop at the markets, visit museums, listen to music at the cantinas and eat. There is so much to do, three days wasn’t enough. But we will be back. Hope you can make it there, too. I think it is a winner — and especially easy for a short hop.