Mexico City

Zócalo and the Cathedral

Plaza de la Constitución

Centro Histórico

One of the largest public squares in the world, built on the site of the Aztec sacred precinct, with a giant flag at its center and the Metropolitan Cathedral, the largest in the Americas, on its north side. The cathedral took two hundred fifty years to build, so it blends Renaissance, baroque and neoclassical styles. Because of the soft ground beneath it, it sinks unevenly, visible inside from the plumb line hanging near the altar.

Tip: You can climb the cathedral's bell tower with a guide for a few pesos — the view over the square and the palace beats any rooftop bar. The best view of the whole Zócalo is from the terrace restaurants of the hotels on the square's west side, such as the Gran Hotel Ciudad de México with its Tiffany stained-glass ceiling — anyone can drop in for a coffee.

Admission:

free

Time needed:

1–1.5 h

Templo Mayor

Centro Histórico

The ruins of Tenochtitlan's main temple, a double pyramid dedicated to the war god Huitzilopochtli and the rain god Tlaloc, which the Spanish tore down and built over. Electricians rediscovered it in 1978 when they struck the giant stone disk of the goddess Coyolxauhqui. Next to the ruins is a museum holding thousands of finds, including the largest known Aztec monolith.

Tip: The museum is closed on Mondays. Walk the outdoor walkways over the ruins first to understand how the temples were built in seven layers on top of each other, then visit the museum. Tickets are payable only by card or online — bring your passport. Excavation is ongoing, and you can see archaeologists at work from Guatemala Street.

Admission:

around 100 MXN

Time needed:

2 h

National Palace

Palacio Nacional

Centro Histórico

The seat of Mexico's president on the east side of the Zócalo, built on the site of Montezuma's palace. On the staircase and courtyard galleries hang Diego Rivera's most famous murals, an epic history of Mexico from the Aztec empire to the revolution. Rivera worked on them, on and off, for twenty-two years.

Tip: Admission is free but requires a passport or ID, and the palace's opening hours vary with the president's schedule — check in the morning whether it's open. Give the murals at least an hour; look for Frida Kahlo and Rivera himself among the figures. Backpacks must be checked at the cloakroom.

Admission:

free, with passport

Time needed:

1–1.5 h

National Museum of Anthropology

Museo Nacional de Antropología

Chapultepec / Polanco

One of the finest museums in the world, holding the largest collection of pre-Columbian art, in a 1964 building with a courtyard beneath a concrete umbrella balanced on a single column, over which a waterfall cascades. The Aztec hall holds the Sun Stone, a twenty-four-ton calendar disk; the Maya hall has a replica of King Pakal's tomb from Palenque.

Tip: A full day isn't enough for the whole museum; focus on the Mexica (Aztec) hall, the Maya hall and Teotihuacán, and just walk through the rest. Closed on Mondays, and crowded on Sundays since admission is free for Mexicans. Arrive at opening at nine. Most visitors skip the upper floor on the ethnography of present-day Indigenous peoples, though it's excellent.

Admission:

around 100 MXN

Time needed:

3–4 h

Chapultepec Castle

Castillo de Chapultepec

Chapultepec

The only castle in the Americas that has housed reigning monarchs — the Austrian Archduke Maximilian, brother of Emperor Franz Joseph, and his wife Carlota lived here during the brief Mexican empire of the 1860s. Today it houses the National History Museum, furnished chambers, and gardens with a view over the entire city along Paseo de la Reforma.

Tip: The castle sits on a hill in the middle of Chapultepec Park, twice the size of Central Park; it's a ten-minute walk uphill or a ride on the tourist trolley. Closed on Mondays. Combine it with the Museum of Anthropology, a twenty-minute walk away in the park. On Sundays the park fills with families and vendors.

Admission:

around 100 MXN

Time needed:

2 h

Palacio de Bellas Artes

Centro Histórico / Alameda

A palace of the arts in white Carrara marble, begun in Art Nouveau style in 1904 and completed in Art Deco style in 1934, topped with a gold and orange dome. Inside are murals by Rivera, Siqueiros and Orozco, and a theater with a stage curtain made of a million pieces of Tiffany glass. The building has sunk four meters over the past century.

Tip: The best view of the palace is from the eighth-floor café of the department store across the street on Avenida Juárez — coffee is cheap and the terrace is famous, with a line forming toward evening. On Wednesdays and Sundays, the Ballet Folklórico de México performs folk dances from every region of the country; buy tickets ahead of time.

Admission:

museum around 90 MXN

Time needed:

1 h

Frida Kahlo's Blue House

Museo Frida Kahlo – La Casa Azul

Coyoacán

A cobalt-blue house in Coyoacán where Frida Kahlo was born, lived with Diego Rivera, and died. Inside is her studio with brushes and wheelchair, the bedroom with a mirror over the bed where she painted while lying down, the kitchen, and a collection of her dresses and corsets. The garden, with its pyramid and cacti, is an experience in itself.

Tip: Tickets are sold only online for a specific time slot and sell out days in advance, especially on weekends — buy them as soon as you know your date. Photography inside is allowed only for an extra fee. The ticket also includes Anahuacalli, Diego Rivera's pyramid-shaped museum, which is visited separately. Afterward, eat at the Mercado de Coyoacán, two blocks away.

Admission:

around 320 MXN for foreign visitors

Time needed:

1.5 h

Xochimilco

Xochimilco

A network of canals in the south of the city, the last remnant of the lakes and floating chinampa gardens on which the Aztecs grew vegetables. Colorful boats called trajineras, each named on an arch at the bow, glide along the canals, passing boats selling mariachi music, food, beer and flowers. On Saturdays and Sundays it turns into a big local party.

Tip: Boats are priced per hour and per boat, not per person, and the official rate is posted at the dock — don't be talked into paying more. Go as a group and split the cost. Mariachi bands are paid per song. For a quieter, more natural setting, try the Cuemanco dock, where you can reach the floating gardens and the eerie Island of the Dolls.

Admission:

boat around 600 MXN per hour

Time needed:

half a day

Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Basílica de Santa María de Guadalupe

Gustavo A. Madero

The most-visited Catholic pilgrimage site in the world, drawing twenty million pilgrims a year, on Tepeyac Hill, where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to the Indigenous man Juan Diego in 1531. In the modern circular basilica, built in 1976, a cloak bearing the image of the Virgin hangs above the altar — a national symbol for Mexicans.

Tip: Moving walkways run beneath the image so pilgrims don't linger — ride them there and back. Next door stands the old baroque basilica, tilted from ground subsidence. On December twelfth, the feast of the Virgin, more than five million people arrive and the surrounding area becomes impassable. Metro station La Villa-Basílica.

Admission:

free

Time needed:

1.5 h