150 Best Sights in Mexico City, Mexico

In operation for more than 80 years, this is Mexico's biggest venue for lucha libre. Pyrotechnic matches, complete with big screens and grand entrances, are held every week on Tuesday at 7:30 pm, Friday at 8:30 pm, and Sunday at 5 pm. Tickets range from MP60 to MP600 depending on quality of seats and the day of the week, with the more expensive matches typically held on Friday and Sunday. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster or at the venue.

Roma's main east–west 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, Álvaro Obregón is an ideal place to stroll and take in occasional cultural exhibitions and events like classic car shows and public art displays.

The building that now houses one of several national libraries scattered around the city was first designed as a cigarette factory at the end of the 18th century. A grid of nine square modules, including open courtyards lined with neoclassical columns, construction on the building lasted from 1793 through 1807. Within a year, the building had taken on other uses, including as a prison. By the middle of the struggle for Mexican independence, which lasted from 1810 to 1821, the building had become an armory. After decades of multiple uses, a substantial part of the building was dedicated as part of the new national library system and eventually inaugurated as such in 1946. Today, the library houses the collections of several of Mexico's most celebrated writers. It's also a beautiful place to sit with a book of your own. Guided tours through the library's elegantly staid courtyards are available by request from Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, visit the library's website.

This cultural space and art gallery was created to give community members a way to interact with local artists, take workshops and classes ranging from yoga to ceramics, and generally participate in San Rafael's burgeoning arts culture. 

Originally built as a home in the 16th century, the "House of Tiles" only acquired the celebrated facade that lends it its name a century later when the material was likely introduced from the workshop of the Dominican friars in the nearby city of Puebla. The dazzling designs, along with the facade's iron balconies and bronze handrails, the latter imported from China, make it one of the most singular baroque structures in the city. The interior is also worth seeing for its Moorish patio, monumental staircase, and mural by Orozco. The building is currently occupied by Sanborns, a chain store and restaurant; if you have plenty of time (service is slow), this is a good place to stop for a meal—especially breakfast, when older men gather to read their newspapers around the snaking bar. There's also a store with a pharmacy, bakery, candy counter, and an ATM.

Just a few blocks from Casa Estudio Luis Barragán, you'll find the famed architect's final design project. This narrow, deep house looks modest from the street, but its light-pink facade hints at something interesting within. Indeed, a tour of this house that Barragán constructed in 1976, well after he'd retired professionally, reveals many of the trademark features that characterize his design approach: boldly colored walls, geometrically shaped windows that allow light to filter in at interesting angles, and a stunning back patio anchored by a jacaranda tree. There's also an almost miragelike indoor swimming pool. A visit here is a must for devotees of Barragán, but anyone with an interest in design will enjoy a tour. Because the occupants of the house still reside here (their son gives the tours), visiting does require a little effort: advance reservations are required (you must call or email), and tours are offered only twice a day on weekdays and once on Saturday morning.

Inside this imposing early 20th-century mansion and its connected buildings, artists are nurtured and browsers are welcomed in the airy exhibition spaces, a library, a bookstore, a wide range of courses, a café, and a swanky restaurant called Nueve Nueve that serves upmarket contemporary Mexican and international cuisine. All of the spaces surround a beautiful courtyard, and the restaurant—set inside a modern glass-walled addition—offers particularly nice views.

The place where the Mexica emperor Cuauhtémoc was held prisoner by Cortés is often alleged to have been rebuilt in the 18th century from the stones of the conquistador's original house, although historians agree that Cortés himself lived not here but several blocks away by La Conchita Church. Topped by two coyote figures, this long, single-story building on the north side of Plaza Hidalgo houses Coyoacán's municipal government offices and a small tourism visitor center (as well as the local library in the adjacent building). You can wander through the wide arches to see the handsomely tiled courtyard.

Built by the renowned architect Antonio Rivas Mercado between 1893 and 1898, the recently restored Rivas Mercado House is among the finest freestanding homes in the city's central neighborhoods and one of the remaining reminders of the colonia Guerrero's heyday as one of the city's more fashionable districts. The house was also the childhood home of writer and intellectual Antonieta Rivas Mercado, a great cultural gatekeeper of early 20th-century Mexico. A contributor to the avant-garde Teatro Ulises and the now-legendary literary magazine Los Contemporáneos, Rivas Mercado died tragically in 1931 at age 30 by shooting herself on the altar at Notre Dame. The house is open for guided tours at 10 am and noon on weekends, which must be reserved via email.

The Cultural Center of Spain is an art space, restaurant, and bar in the heart of the neighborhood, just steps away from the Cathedral and the Templo Mayor and with beautiful views of both from its open-air rooftop. 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 anyone interested in art and culture. The rooftop bar, which hosts frequent live music events, is one of the neighborhood's better-kept secrets, with a balcony opening directly onto the Cathedral's magnificent dome and buttresses: easily one of the area's best views. Check out the center's website for listings.

This 1681 mansion, which contains both a cultural center and Museo Casa del Risco, is one of the prettiest houses facing the Plaza San Jacinto. The huge 18th-century Risco Fountain—exploding with colorful porcelain tiles, shells, and mosaics—dominates the eastern wall of the enclosed courtyard. Inside, the upper galleries contain a splendid if slightly somber collection of 17th- and 18th-century European baroque and colonial Mexican paintings and furnishings, all donated by the house's last owner, statesman and politician Isidro Fabela, who died in 1964. Fabela also donated books and magazines to a small library behind the museum (by way of a lovely patio) that's open to the public. Events and rotating art exhibits are staged throughout the year.

If you fly into Mexico City at night, there's a good chance you'll spot the tower of this museum; located on the south side of the Plaza de las Tres Culturas, its stoic modernist facade is clad in Moorish starbursts of red and purple neon. The museum hosts regularly rotating exhibitions of contemporary art, often experimental in nature, and a moving permanent memorial to the 1968 massacre that occurred on the plaza, installed in honor of that event's 50th anniversary.

Named for the fact that many of its main thoroughfares are named for noted medical doctors, the neighborhood was established in the late 1890s, right before Roma and Condesa. Home to the 42-acre campus of prestigious Hospital General de México, the famous lucha libre venue Arena México, and a number of prominent governmental buildings as well as some impressive old mansions, Doctores abounds with cantinas, bars, nightclubs, and pulquerías—some a bit dodgy, but others with increasing cachet among in-the-know locals. Doctores does have a reputation for crime, especially as you venture farther east and south; the issues are more commonly robbery and car theft than violent crime, but do exercise common sense when walking around this neighborhood, and go with friends or by Uber after dark.

Built in the early 20th century on land formerly owned by Emperor Maximillian, this site was home to Mexican presidents from 1934 until 2018. Since then, it has become a cultural space and museum open to the public

This museum tells the history of chocolate, referencing archaeological evidence of the magical substance from different locations across Mesoamerica. You will see what a fresh cacao pod looks like, and will be able to taste toasted seeds. Learn about the cultural significance that chocolate has played in Mexico over a millennia, as well as the role it plays in the world today. From a room dedicated to sculptures made of chocolate to utensils used to prepare chocolate to the insects that dominate its growing regions and cultivation, there is little you’ll be lacking in chocolate knowledge once you spend an afternoon here.

Six theme sections compose this excellent interactive children's discovery museum: My Body, Living Mexico, My Home and Family, My City, the Ideas Laboratory, and the Little Ones Zone, all together comprising more than 200 exhibits. There are also workshops, an IMAX theater (note that tickets are discounted if purchased with museum tickets), a store, and a restaurant. Although exhibits are in Spanish, there are some English-speaking staff on hand.

At the northern edge of UNAM's cultural center and an easy stroll from MUAC (Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo) and the concert halls, this mesmerizing and tranquil complex of contemporary sculpture is more of a wilderness than a garden. Opened in 1979, it contains strikingly dramatic and in some cases massive sculpture installations by six renowned artists: the frequent Barragán collaborator Mathias Goeritz as well as Helen Escobedo, Manuel Felguérez, Sebastian, Hersúa, and Federico Silva, who came up with the idea of creating a natural space to display large-scale, abstract shapes. The property adjoins a massive nature preserve; if you have time, take a stroll through the rugged, arid landscape of rusty-hued volcanic rock and the flora that thrives here. It's a peaceful spot, although with little protection from the sun. Note that it closes at 4 in the afternoon.

Thanks to batter-friendly thin air, baseball fans here are often treated to slugfests at Diablos Rojos games in this dramatic stadium near the airport. The season for the Mexican League pro team (they play at roughly the caliber of U.S. MLB Triple A minor league teams) runs from April to August, with playoffs lasting into September.

This hulking 72,000-seat stadium is near the south end of San Ángel, but is part of Ciudad Universitaria, the main campus for UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico). The striking elliptical building was an icon of modern architecture when it opened in 1952 and it played host to the main events of the 1968 Olympics and 1986 FIFA World Cup. Today it hosts soccer games of UNAM's Pumas as well as a number of other events. Be sure to view the sprawling relief mural by Diego Rivera that hangs above the main entrance of the stadium, on the east side of the building.

One of the more disorienting buildings in Centro, the Ex-Teresa was first established in 1616 as a Carmelite convent and now runs as a contemporary art space. The convent was shut down after 250 years, but the space reopened in its current iteration in 1993. The two primary chapels lean precariously against one another, unsettled by centuries of seismic activity and resulting in a gravity-warping physical experience when you step inside. The space transforms dramatically with each new installation, but its vertigo-inducing power is constant.

This striking fountain anchors the busy traffic circle in Roma Norte's northwestern quadrant, an exact copy of the neoclassical Plaza de Cibeles fountain found in Madrid (which depicts the Roman goddess of fertility, Cybele, in a carriage pulled by lions). The surrounding traffic circle is officially called Plaza Villa de Madrid, although most locals just called it Plaza Cibeles. Six streets intersect here, and there's a lively flea market, Mercado Cibeles, held on weekends on the narrow lane running southeast to Avenida Insurgentes (Calle El Oro). There are a number of prominent restaurants on or within a few steps of the circle, including the famously sceney seafood eatery, Contramar, and branches of the popular coffee-pizza eateries, Cancino and La Ventanita, which have large swaths of sidewalk tables curving around the northwestern arc of the circle.

Founded in 1988 by Alfredo Ginocchio as Praxis Mexico, this now-eponymous gallery promotes distinguished work from Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America. Its relatively small but interesting collection features a different artist every couple of months, alongside a variety of sculptures and paintings by familiar names including Santiago Carbonell.

Founded in 1935 and set in a beautifully restored house from that period, the GAM was the first place in Mexico City dedicated full-time to the sale and promotion of art. It's played an important role in many Mexican art movements since then and continues to support the country's most important artists. GAM also publishes an impressive catalog of books, which are available at the gallery's bookstore.

One of the most respected galleries in the neighborhood, RGR occupies a striking, angular concrete building with ample space for hosting the exhibitions of often large-scale works by contemporary Latin American artists. Begun in Venezuela in 2012, the gallery has become increasingly acclaimed---it's been in its current home since 2018.

This eco-minded organic urban farm is one of the more unusual spaces in the city center—it occupies an expansive corner lot beside Roma Sur's attractive, wooded Jardín Ramón López Velarde Park. Built largely from repurposed materials, the farm is easy to spot from the giant temple-like structure by its entrance, made up of hundreds of blue plastic water bottles with a palm tree growing through the center. The center offers workshops and classes open to the public on sustainability, recycling, organic and hydroponic gardening, yoga, temazcal, dance, jewelry-making, slow-food cooking, and much more. And there are regular eco-markets featuring a wide range of sustainable products. Visitors are welcome to saunter around the property, admiring the eclectic artwork, patting the many friendly and free-ranging cats (most of which are up for adoption through the farm), and spotting a bounty of potted plants and leafy gardens.

In this building painted in boldly colored abstract designs, shutterbugs and admirers of art photography can take classes and workshops, view contemporary gallery shows, and peruse the extensive selection of photography books.

On the west side of UNAM's campus, this sprawling 32-acre swatch of greenery is Mexico's oldest botanical garden. Created in 1959 to preserve and encourage the study of the nation's diverse flora that spans the tropical, high-desert, and forested mountain regions, a walk through this remarkable landscape and its many greenhouses truly showcase Mexico's incredible biodiversity. The garden consists of 15 different collections, and contains more than 1,600 specimens, with a particularly diverse and remarkable array of cacti. A critical aspect of the garden's mission is protecting endangered flora as well as developing methods for sustaining them.

This very centrally located park that divides Cuauhtémoc from San Rafael is best known for its all-day artisan market on Sundays. This is an excellent spot to people-watch, eat local snacks, and pick up souvenirs of all kinds, from traditional handicrafts to hip clothes. The artists are primarily Mexican, and representative of all corners of the country. 

La Villa—the local moniker of the site of the two basilicas of the Virgin of Guadalupe, about 7 km (4 miles) north of the Zócalo—is Mexico's holiest shrine. Its importance derives from the miracle that the devout believe occurred here on December 12, 1531: a Mexica named Juan Diego received from the Virgin a cloak permanently imprinted with her image so he could prove to the priests that he had experienced a holy vision. Although the story of the miracle and the cloak itself have been challenged for centuries, they are hotly defended by clergy and laity alike. Every December 12, millions of pilgrims arrive, many crawling on their knees for the last few hundred yards, praying for divine favors.

Outside the Antigua Basílica (Old Basilica) stands a statue of Juan Diego, who became the first indigenous saint in the Americas when he was canonized in 2002. The canonization of Juan Diego was wildly popular among Mexican Catholics, although a vocal minority of critics (both in and out of the Church) argued that, despite the Church's extensive investigation, the validity of Juan Diego's existence is suspect. Many critics see the canonization of this polarizing figure as a strategic move by the Church to retain its position among Mexico's indigenous population. The old basilica dates from 1536; various additions have been made since then. The altar was executed by sculptor Manuel Tolsá. The basilica now houses an excellent museum of ex-votos (hand-painted depictions of miracles, dedicated to Mary or a saint in gratitude) and popular religious, decorative, and applied arts from the 15th through 18th centuries.

Because the structure of the Antigua Basílica had weakened over the years and the building was no longer large enough or safe enough to accommodate all the worshippers, Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, the architect responsible for Mexico City's splendid Museo Nacional de Antropología, was commissioned to design a shrine, which was consecrated in 1976. In this case, alas, the architect's inspiration failed him: the Nueva Basílica (New Basilica) is a gigantic, circular mass of wood, steel, and polyethylene that feels like a stadium rather than a church. The famous image of the Virgin is encased high up in its altar at the back and can be viewed from a moving sidewalk that passes below. The holiday itself is a great time to visit if you don't mind crowds; it's celebrated with various kinds of music and dancers.

It's possible to take the metro here—La Villa-Basílica station is just a couple of blocks south. But it's not the safest or most scenic part of town, and it's quicker and more secure to go by Uber.