Mexico City
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1. Museo de Frida Kahlo
Col. Coyoacán | Museum/GalleryThe Casa Azul (Blue House) where she was born in 1907 (not 1910, as she wanted people to believe) and died 47 years later is both museum and...
The Casa Azul (Blue House) where she was born in 1907 (not 1910, as she wanted people to believe) and died 47 years later is both museum and shrine. Kahlo's astounding vitality and originality are reflected in the house, from the giant papier-mâché skeletons outside and the retablos (small religious paintings on tin) on the staircase to the gloriously decorated kitchen and the bric-a-brac in her bedroom. Sadly, the house displays few of Kahlo's original paintings, but you can admire her early sketches, diary entries, tiny outfits, wheelchair at the easel, plus her four-poster bed fitted with mirror above. The relaxing garden also has a nice, small gift shop. Particularly on weekends, come early since lines can be long.
Londres 247, at Calle Allende, Mexico City, Quintana Roo, 04000, Mexico55-5554–5999Sight Details
Rate Includes: MX$80 weekdays, MX$100 weekends (includes admission to Museo Diego Rivera–Anahuacalli), Tues. and Thurs.–Sun. 10–5:45, Wed. 11–5:45 -
2. Museo Nacional de Antropología
Museum/GalleryArchitect Pedro Ramírez Vázquez's outsanding design provides the proper home for one of the finest archaeological collections in the world....
Architect Pedro Ramírez Vázquez's outsanding design provides the proper home for one of the finest archaeological collections in the world. Each salon on the museum's two floors displays artifacts from a particular geographic region or culture. The collection is so extensive that you could easily spend a day here, and that might be barely adequate. Explanatory labels have been updated, some with English translations, and free tours are available at set times between 3 and 6, with a reservation. You can reserve a special tour with an English-speaking guide by calling the museum two weeks in advance, or opt for an English audio guide (MX$75) or the English-language museum guide for sale in the bookshop (you'll need to leave a driver's license for the audio guide).Start in the Orientation Room, where a film is shown in Spanish nearly every hour on the hour weekdays and every two hours on weekends—note that it can be overcrowded if you don't arrive early. The film traces the course of Mexican prehistory and the pre-Hispanic cultures of Mesoamerica. The 12 ground-floor rooms treat pre-Hispanic cultures by region, in the Sala Teotihuacána, Sala Tolteca, Sala Oaxaca (Zapotec and Mixtec peoples), and so on. Objects both precious and pedestrian, including statuary, jewelry, weapons, figurines, and pottery, evoke the intriguing, complex, and frequently bloodthirsty civilizations that peopled Mesoamerica for the 3,000 years preceding the Spanish invasion.A copy of the Aztec ruler Moctezuma's feathered headdress (the original is now in Vienna); a stela from Tula, near Mexico City; massive Olmec heads from Veracruz; and vivid reproductions of Mayan murals in a reconstructed temple are other highlights. Be sure to see the magnificent reconstruction of the tomb of 7th-century Mayan ruler Pakal, which was discovered in the ruins of Palenque. The perfectly preserved skeletal remains lie in an immense stone chamber, and the stairwell walls leading to it are splendidly decorated with bas-relief scenes of the underworld. Pakal's jade death mask is on display nearby.The nine rooms on the upper floor contain faithful ethnographic displays of current indigenous peoples, using maps, photographs, household objects, folk art, clothing, and religious articles. When leaving the museum, take a rest and watch the famous Voladores de Papantla (flyers of Papantla) as they swing by their feet down an incredibly high maypolelike structure just outside the museum entrance.
View Tours and ActivitiesPaseo de la Reforma at Calle Gandhi, Section 1, Mexico City, Quintana Roo, 11580, Mexico55-4040–5300Sight Details
Rate Includes: MX$59 (tickets sold until 6), Tues.–Sun. 9–7 -
3. Palacio Nacional
Centro | Government BuildingThe grand national palace was initiated by Cortés on the site of Moctezuma's home and remodeled by the viceroys. Its current form dates from...
The grand national palace was initiated by Cortés on the site of Moctezuma's home and remodeled by the viceroys. Its current form dates from 1693, although a third floor was added in 1926. Now the seat of government, it has always served as a public-function site.Diego Rivera's sweeping epic murals on the second floor of the main courtyard exert a mesmeric pull and are the real reason to visit. For more than 20 years, starting in 1929, Rivera and his assistants mounted scaffolds day and night, perfecting techniques adapted from Renaissance Italian fresco painting. The result, nearly 1,200 square feet of vividly painted wall space, is grandiosely titled Epica del Pueblo Mexicano en su Lucha por la Libertad y la Independencia (Epic of the Mexican People in Their Struggle for Freedom and Independence). The paintings represent two millennia of Mexican history, filtered through Rivera's imagination. He painted pre-Hispanic times in innocent, almost sugary scenes of Tenochtitlán. Only a few vignettes—a man offering a human arm for sale, and the carnage of warriors—acknowledge the darker aspects of ancient life. As you walk around, you'll pass images of the savagery of the conquest and the hypocrisy of the Spanish priests, the noble independence movement, and the bloody revolution. Marx appears amid scenes of class struggle, toiling workers, industrialization (which Rivera idealized), bourgeois decadence, and nuclear holocaust. These are among Rivera's finest works—as well as the most accessible and probably most visited. The palace also houses a minor museum that focuses on 19th-century president Benito Juárez and the Mexican Congress.The liberty bell rung by Padre Hidalgo to proclaim independence in 1810 hangs high on the central facade. It chimes every eve of September 16th, while from the balcony the president repeats the historic shout of independence to throngs of citizens below. As a working seat of government, the Palacio Nacional is remarkably accessible, but it can be closed with little notice.
East side of the Zócalo, Mexico City, Quintana Roo, 06001, MexicoSight Details
Rate Includes: Free, Mon.–Sat. 9–4, Sun. 9–2 -
4. Templo Mayor
Centro | RuinsThe ruins of the ancient hub of the Aztec empire were unearthed accidentally in 1978 by telephone repairmen, and have since been turned into...
The ruins of the ancient hub of the Aztec empire were unearthed accidentally in 1978 by telephone repairmen, and have since been turned into a vast archaeological site and museum. At this temple, dedicated to the Aztec cult of death, captives from rival tribes—as many as 10,000 at a time—were sacrificed to the bloodthirsty god of war, Huitzilopochtli. Seven rows of leering stone skulls adorn one side.The adjacent Museo del Templo Mayor contains thousands of pieces unearthed from the site and from other ruins in central Mexico; they include ceramic warriors, stone carvings and knives, skulls of sacrificial victims, a rare gold ingot, models and scale reproductions, and a room on the Spaniards' destruction of Tenochtitlán. The centerpiece is an 8-ton disk discovered at the Templo Mayor. It depicts the moon goddess Coyolxauhqui, who, according to myth, was decapitated and dismembered by her brother Huitzilopochtli. Ask for an English-language audio guide at the ticket office (MX$80 donation).
View Tours and ActivitiesSeminario 8, at República de Guatemala; entrance on the plaza, near Catedral Metropolitana, Mexico City, Quintana Roo, 06000, Mexico55-4040–5600Sight Details
Rate Includes: MX$59, Tues.–Sun. 9–5 -
5. Acuario Inbursa
Col. Ampliación Granada | Zoo/AquariumThis new Mexico City attraction has been a hit since it opened in June 2014, attracting long lines of people hungry to see the largest aquarium...
This new Mexico City attraction has been a hit since it opened in June 2014, attracting long lines of people hungry to see the largest aquarium in the country. A visit to the site starts four stories underground, at the "bottom of the ocean," and moves upward toward the surface. Thousands of species of fish, sharks, rays, eels, jellyfish, and more swim among the ruins of a sunken ship, vibrantly colored coral, and gracefully swaying kelp, all dramatically lit in huge tanks. The "rain forest" exhibit is home to reptiles and amphibians such as Mexico's endangered, curious-looking ajolote salamander.
View Tours and ActivitiesAv. Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra 386, Mexico City, Quintana Roo, 11529, Mexico55-5395–4586Sight Details
Rate Includes: MX$129, Daily 10–6 -
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6. Alameda Central
City ParkStrolling around this park is a great way to break up sightseeing in the neighborhood. During the week it's quite lively. You'll be able to...
Strolling around this park is a great way to break up sightseeing in the neighborhood. During the week it's quite lively. You'll be able to find a shaded bench for a few moments of rest before heading off to more museums. There are food vendors throughout the park, selling all kinds of snacks, from ice cream to grilled corn on the cob. The park has been an important center of activity since Aztec times, when the Indians held their tianguis (market) here. In the early days of the viceroyalty the Inquisition burned its victims at the stake here. Later, national leaders, from 18th-century viceroys to Emperor Maximilian and President Porfirio Díaz, envisioned the park as a symbol of civic pride and prosperity. In fact, the park was enjoyed exclusively by the wealthy during this time, and it was only open to the public after independence. Still, Life in Mexico, the quintessential book on the country, describes how women donned their finest jewels to walk around the park even after independence. Over the centuries it has been fitted out with fountains, a Moorish kiosk imported from Paris, and ash, willow, and poplar trees. A white-marble monument, Hemiciclo a Benito Juárez, stands on the Avenida Juárez side of the park.
View Tours and ActivitiesAv. Juárez, Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas, and Av. Hidalgo all surround plaza, Mexico City, Quintana Roo, 06050, Mexico -
7. Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso
Centro | Museum/GalleryThe college, a colonial building with lovely patios, started out in the 18th century as a Jesuit school for the sons of wealthy Mexicans. Frida...
The college, a colonial building with lovely patios, started out in the 18th century as a Jesuit school for the sons of wealthy Mexicans. Frida Kahlo also famously studied here as an adolescent. It's now a splendid museum that showcases outstanding regional exhibitions. The interior contains murals by Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and Fernando Leal.
Calle Justo Sierra 16, almost at corner of República de Argentina, 2 blocks north of Zócalo, Mexico City, Quintana Roo, 06020, Mexico55-5702–6378Sight Details
Rate Includes: MX$45; free Tues., Wed.–Sun. 10–5:30, Tues. 10–7:30 -
8. Avenida Alvaro Obregon
Col. Roma | Neighborhood/StreetRoma's main boulevard is wide and tree lined, with a central promenade that's studded with sculptures and fountains. With dozens of restaurants...
Roma's main boulevard is wide and tree lined, with a central promenade that's studded with sculptures and fountains. With dozens of restaurants, bars, cafés, and shops lining either side, Alvaro Obregon is an ideal place to stroll and take in occasional cultural exhibitions and events like classic-car shows and public art displays. Take a short detour a few blocks south on Orizaba to reach Plaza Luis Cabrera, a fountain plaza ringed by restaurants and cafés.
Av. Alvaro Obregon, between Cuauhtemoc and Insurgentes, Mexico City, Quintana Roo, 06700, Mexico -
9. Avenida Michoacán
Col. Condesa | Neighborhood/StreetRestaurants, cafés, and hip boutiques radiate along and out from La Condesa's main drag, Avenida Michoacán. It's a great place for a break from...
Restaurants, cafés, and hip boutiques radiate along and out from La Condesa's main drag, Avenida Michoacán. It's a great place for a break from a sightseeing slog—just relax at a sidewalk table and watch the hip young world go by. A snack will also fortify you for Avenida Michoacán's other main activity, shopping. Find higher-end vintage and indie designers at Viejo Amor, at Atlixco 81, and on-trend styles for women at Rapsodia at Tamaulipas 88. Along the nearby streets you'll find a good mix of temptations—everything from modern furniture to risqué lingerie.Cafe Toscano. Stop to sip coffee and watch the world go by at this popular café. With patio seating and a prime location in the heart of the neighborhood, it's a perfect perch for people-watching while sipping a cappuccino and nibbling on salads, sandwiches, and other light café fare. Av. Michoacan 153, at Vicente Suarez, 06140. 55/5553–6677. Patriotismo.Pizza Amore. You can pick up a quick slice of pizza in inventive combinations (such as ham and fig) at Pizza Amore. Michoacán 78. 55/5286–5126. Patriotismo.El Farolito. The tacos at El Farolito are yummy. Try the costras, in which the meat is wrapped in fried cheese before being wrapped in a tortilla. Wash it down with a delicious juice, like the mango or coconut, made fresh in the taquería. Altata 19, at Alfonso Reyes. 55/5515–7844. www.taqueriaselfarolito.com. Patriotismo.El Péndulo. El Péndulo acts as a sort of cultural center. The first of what is now a chain of café-bookstores is stuffed with Spanish-language books and international CDs; classical guitarists and other musicians play on weekends. Av. Nuevo León 115, at Av. Vicente Suárez. 55/5286–9493. www.pendulo.com. Chilpancingo or Patriotismo.
Av. Michoacan and Av. Tamaulipas, Mexico City, Quintana Roo, Mexico -
10. Bosque de Chapultepec
City ParkThis 1,600-acre green space, literally the Woods of Chapultepec, draws hordes of families on weekend outings, cyclists, joggers, and horseback...
This 1,600-acre green space, literally the Woods of Chapultepec, draws hordes of families on weekend outings, cyclists, joggers, and horseback riders into its three sections. Its museums rank among the finest in Mexico, if not the world. This is one of the oldest parts of Mexico City, having been considered a sacred place and inhabited for centuries by native tribes as far back as the Toltecs and Teotihuacanos. Several Aztec kings had their effigies carved in stone here. The Mexica poet-king Nezahualcóyotl had his palace here and ordered construction of the aqueduct that brought water to Tenochtitlán. Ahuehuete trees (Moctezuma cypress) still stand from that era, when the woods were used as hunting preserves.At the park's principal entrance, one block west of the Chapultepec metro station, the Monumento a los Niños Héroes (Monument to the Boy Heroes) consists of six asparagus-shape marble columns adorned with eaglets. Supposedly buried in the monument are the young cadets who, it is said, wrapped themselves in the Mexican flag and jumped to their deaths rather than surrender to the Americans during the U.S. invasion of 1847. To Mexicans that war is still a troubling symbol of their neighbor's aggressive dominance: it cost Mexico almost half its territory—the present states of Texas, California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada.Other sights in the first section of Bosque de Chapultepec include three small boating lakes, a botanical garden, and the Casa del Lago cultural center, which hosts free plays, cultural events, and live music on weekends. Los Pinos, the residential palace of the president of Mexico, is on a small highway called Avenida Constituyentes, which cuts through the park; it's heavily guarded and cannot be visited.Most visitors enter through the first section of the park, near the Chapultepec metro stop, close to the Museo de Arte Moderno. This is a great place to people-watch, especially on weekends. The less crowded second and third sections of Bosque de Chapultepec contain a fancy restaurant, the national cemetery, a children's museum, and more.
View Tours and Activities -
11. Cafe Toscano
Col. Condesa | Neighborhood/StreetStop to sip coffee and watch the world go by at this popular café. With patio seating and a prime location in the heart of the neighborhood...
Stop to sip coffee and watch the world go by at this popular café. With patio seating and a prime location in the heart of the neighborhood, it's a perfect perch for people-watching while sipping a cappuccino and nibbling on salads, sandwiches, and other light café fare.
Av. Michoacan 153, at Vicente Suarez, Mexico City, Quintana Roo, 06140, Mexico55-5553–6677 -
12. Casa de los Azulejos
Centro | Historic HomeThis 17th-century masterpiece acquired its name, House of Tiles, from its elaborate tile work. The dazzling designs, along with the facade's...
This 17th-century masterpiece acquired its name, House of Tiles, from its elaborate tile work. The dazzling designs, along with the facade's iron balconies, make it one of the prettiest baroque structures in the country. The interior is also worth seeing for its Moorish patio, monumental staircase, and mural by Orozco. The house, which belonged to the Condes of the Valle de Orizaba, was not originally clad in tile. These were added a few years later, when the house was covered with tiles from the nearby city of Puebla, where the fifth Countess of Orizaba spent much of her time. The building is currently occupied by Sanborns, a chain store and restaurant, and if you have plenty of time (service is slow) this is a good place to stop for a meal—especially breakfast. Many writers and journalists hang out here. There's also a store with a pharmacy, bakery, candy counter, and an ATM.
View Tours and ActivitiesCalle Madero 4, at Callejón de la Condesa, Mexico City, Quintana Roo, 06000, MexicoSight Details
Rate Includes: Daily 7 am–1 am -
13. Casa Lamm Cultural Center
Col. Roma | Museum/GalleryInside this small mansion and national monument artists are nurtured and browsers are welcomed with three exhibition spaces, a library, a bookstore...
Inside this small mansion and national monument artists are nurtured and browsers are welcomed with three exhibition spaces, a library, a bookstore, a wide range of courses, a superb café, and a great restaurant that serves modern twists on Mexican classics as well as delicious international cuisine.
Av. Alvaro Obregón 99, at Orizaba, Mexico City, Quintana Roo, 06700, Mexico55-5525–0019Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free -
14. Casa Municipal (Casa de Cortés)
Col. Coyoacán | Visitor CenterThe place where the Aztec emperor Cuauhtémoc was held prisoner by Cortés is reputed to have been rebuilt in the 18th century from the stones...
The place where the Aztec emperor Cuauhtémoc was held prisoner by Cortés is reputed to have been rebuilt in the 18th century from the stones of his original house. Now a sandy color and topped by two coyote figures, it's used for municipal government offices; a small tourist bureau at the entrance provides maps and leaflets publicizing cultural events in the area. Usually you can wander through the wide arches to the cute tile patio.
Plaza Hidalgo 1, between Calles Carillo Puerto and Allende, Mexico City, Quintana Roo, 04000, Mexico55-5658–0221Sight Details
Rate Includes: Weekdays 9–6, weekends 9–8 -
15. Castillo de Chapultepec
Castle/PalaceThe castle on Cerro del Chapulín (Grasshopper Hill) has borne witness to all the turbulence and grandeur of Mexican history. In its earliest...
The castle on Cerro del Chapulín (Grasshopper Hill) has borne witness to all the turbulence and grandeur of Mexican history. In its earliest form it was an Aztec palace, where the Mexica made one of their last stands against the Spaniards. Later it was a Spanish hermitage, gunpowder plant, and military college. Emperor Maximilian used the castle, parts of which date from 1783, as his residence, and his example was followed by various presidents from 1872 to 1940, when Lázaro Cárdenas decreed that it be turned into the Museo Nacional de Historia.Displays on the museum's ground floor cover Mexican history from the conquest to the revolution. The bathroom, bedroom, tea salon, and gardens were used by Maximilian and his wife, Carlotta, in the 1860s. The ground floor also contains works by 20th-century muralists O'Gorman, Orozco, and Siqueiros, and the upper floor is devoted to temporary exhibitions, Porfirio Díaz's malachite vases, and religious art.
View Tours and ActivitiesSection 1, Mexico City, Quintana Roo, 11580, Mexico55-4040–5200Sight Details
Rate Includes: MX$59, Tues.–Sun. 9–5 -
16. Catedral Metropolitana
Centro | Religious Building/Site/ShrineConstruction on the largest and one of the oldest Latin American cathedrals began in the late 16th century and continued intermittently throughout...
Construction on the largest and one of the oldest Latin American cathedrals began in the late 16th century and continued intermittently throughout the next three centuries. The result is a medley of baroque and neoclassical touches. There are five altars and 14 chapels, mostly in the ornate churrigueresque style, named for Spanish architect José Benito Churriguera (died 1725). Like most Mexican churches, the cathedral is all but overwhelmed by innumerable paintings, altarpieces, and statues—in graphic color—of Christ and the saints. Over the centuries, this cathedral began to sink into the spongy subsoil, but a major engineering project to stabilize it was declared successful in 2000. The older-looking church attached to the cathedral is the 18th-century Sagrario chapel. Guided tours of the bell towers (via an attractive, if a little tiring, staircase) are available several times daily for MX$20. Inquire at the main entrance.
Zócalo, Mexico City, Quintana Roo, 06000, Mexico55-5512–7096Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free, Daily 8–8 -
17. Centro Cultural Bella y Librería Fonda de Cultura Económica Rosario Castellanos
Col. Condesa | Store/MallThe Centro Cultural Bella y Librería Fonda de Cultura Económica Rosario Castellanos is a Condesa cultural center. With more than 250,000 books...
The Centro Cultural Bella y Librería Fonda de Cultura Económica Rosario Castellanos is a Condesa cultural center. With more than 250,000 books on exhibit, it is also the largest bookstore in Mexico, complete with an art gallery and a cafeteria.
Tamaulipas 202, at Benjamín Hill, Mexico City, Quintana Roo, 06170, Mexico55-5276–7110Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free -
18. Centro Cultural de España
Centro | Arts/Performance VenueThe Cultural Center of Spain is in the heart of the downtown area. It was built in an area that Hernán Cortés himself assigned to his butler...
The Cultural Center of Spain is in the heart of the downtown area. It was built in an area that Hernán Cortés himself assigned to his butler, Diego de Soto, though the land changed hands many times and the current building was constructed in the 18th century, well after the years of Cortés. Temporary exhibits housed in the seven exhibition rooms often highlight young artists and showcase current artistic trends. While the exhibitions are worth a look, there are also conferences and workshops held on a nearly daily basis for those who are interested in art and culture. In a fun twist, on many nights you can catch live jazz at the bar, which is favored by local twentysomethings who flock here to listen. Every weekend there are also activities for children. Check out the center's website for listings.
Guatemala 18, Mexico City, Quintana Roo, 06010, Mexico55-5521–1925Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free, Tues.–Fri. 11–9, Sat. 10–9, Sun. 10–4 -
19. Centro Cultural Isidro Fabela
San Angel | Historic HomeThis 1681 mansion is one of the prettiest houses facing the Plaza San Jacinto. A huge free-form fountain sculpture—exploding with colorful porcelain...
This 1681 mansion is one of the prettiest houses facing the Plaza San Jacinto. A huge free-form fountain sculpture—exploding with colorful porcelain tiles, shells, and mosaics—covers the eastern wall of its patio. Although it's not ranked among the city's top museums, it has a splendid collection of 17th- and 18th-century European and colonial Mexican paintings, all donated by the house's last owner, Isidro Fabela. Fabela also donated books and magazines to a small library behind the museum (by way of a lovely open patio) that is open to the public. Art exhibitions also rotate through.
Plaza San Jacinto 15, Mexico City, Quintana Roo, 01000, Mexico55-5616–2711Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free, Tues.–Sun. 10–5 -
20. El Farolito
Col. Condesa | Neighborhood/StreetThe tacos at El Farolito are yummy. Try the costras, in which the meat is wrapped in fried cheese before being wrapped in a tortilla. Wash...
The tacos at El Farolito are yummy. Try the costras, in which the meat is wrapped in fried cheese before being wrapped in a tortilla. Wash it down with a delicious juice, like the mango or coconut, made fresh in the taquería.
Altata 19, at Alfonso Reyes, Mexico City, Quintana Roo, Mexico55-5515–7844
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