The Best Sight in Mexico City, Mexico

Background Illustration for Sights

Mexico City's principal sights fall into three areas. Allow a full day to cover each thoroughly, although you could race through them in four or five hours apiece. You can generally cover the first area—the Zócalo and Alameda Central—on foot. Getting around Zona Rosa, Bosque de Chapultepec, and Colonia Condesa may require a taxi ride or two (though the Chapultepec metro stop is conveniently close to the park and museums), as will Coyoacán and San Angel in southern Mexico City.

Zoológico de Chapultepec

In the early 16th century, Mexico City's zoo in Chapultepec housed a small private collection of animals belonging to Moctezuma II; it became quasi-public when he allowed favored subjects to visit it. The current zoo opened in the 1920s, and has the usual suspects, as well as some superstar pandas. A gift from China, the original pair—Pepe and Ying Ying—produced the world's first panda cub born in captivity (much to competitive China's chagrin). Today, a descendent of those original pandas, Xin Xin, is one of only three pandas in the world not owned by China. Chapultepec is also home to a couple of California condors plus hippopotamus, giraffes, and kangaroos. The zoo includes the Moctezuma Aviary and is surrounded by a miniature train depot, botanical gardens, and two small lakes. You'll find the entrance on Paseo de la Reforma, across from the Museo Nacional de Antropología.