A lake, a conquest, a megacity
An independent guide to Mexico City — 27 landmarks, museums, parks, venues and neighborhoods, walked and written up first-hand.
The ones you came for
The Zócalo and the Cathedral
One of the largest squares in the world, laid out on the ceremonial centre of Tenochtitlan, with a cathedral built from its stones.
Museo Nacional de Antropología
One of the great museums of the world, holding the Aztec Sun Stone and the whole of Mesoamerica, under a concrete umbrella.
Museo Frida Kahlo
The blue house in Coyoacán where she was born, lived with Rivera, and died, kept as it was left.
Bosque de Chapultepec
Twice the size of Central Park, holding the castle, the anthropology museum, a zoo and several million weekend visitors.
Palacio de Bellas Artes
An Art Nouveau exterior around an Art Deco interior, with murals by Rivera, Orozco and Siqueiros and a Tiffany glass curtain.
Xochimilco
The last surviving canals and floating gardens of the Aztec lake system, worked since before the conquest and now full of painted boats.
Mexico City by category
Day-by-day itineraries
Neighborhoods
The essentials
How to get in from all three airports, how the subway and the ferries actually fit together, and the history that explains what you're standing in front of.
From the guide
Altitude, Safety and the Shaking Ground
Three things visitors worry about, two of which are real in a different way than expected, and one that is mostly not.
Eating in Mexico City
A cuisine on the UNESCO heritage list, eaten standing up on a street corner for the price of a coffee.
Four Days in Mexico City
The Centro, Chapultepec, the southern villages and a pyramid, paced for the altitude.