Downtown Area
Zócalo (Main square)
At the intersection of Juarez and 20 de Noviembre
M Zócalo (L2 Blue) / Free!
Open 24/7
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M Zócalo (L2 Blue) / Free. Belfry tour $30
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The construction and decoration of this cathedral, dedicated to the Assumption of Mary, took nearly 3 centuries. Construction began in 1573, and the building was dedicated, although still unfinished, in 1656. The cathedral is host to a mixture of styles, a result of being built over such a long period of time. Sophisticated restoration works begun in the 1990s have stabilized the building. Although restorers have been unable to halt the sinking altogether, they have corrected the tilting towers and ensured that the cathedral will now sink uniformly.
National Palace
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M Zócalo (L2 Blue) / Free!
Mon-Sun, 9-17h
The government building is located on the East side of the Zocalo. It is said to have been built on the grounds where Moctezuma's palace had stood. You may enter the building to see the murals that Diego Rivera painted between 1929 and 1952. These colorful murals show Mexican history from pre-hispanic times to the workers' movement of the 1930s.
Seminario 8, Centro Histórico
M Zócalo (L2 Blue) / $60
Tue-Sun, 9-17h
This was the main temple of the Mexica people (Aztecs) and stood within an enclosed area known as the sacred precinct. In 1978 electric company workers uncovered a monolith depicting Coyolxauhqui, the Aztec moon goddess. Following this discovery, the Mexico City government gave permission for a full city block to be torn down and excavated, resulting in the Templo Mayor archaeological site and museum.
Av. Juárez and Eje Central s/n, Centro Histórico
M Bellas Artes (L2 Blue & L8 Dark Green) / Free!
Mon-Sun, 10-21h
President Porfirio Diaz ordered the construction of this building in the early 1900s. He planned to inaugurate it as part of the celebrations of the centenary of Mexico's independence from Spain. The Revolution broke out in 1910, interrupting the construction, so it was not completed until 1934.
The theater's main attractions are a Tiffany stained glass stage curtain portraying a panoramic view of the Valley of Mexico with its two volcanos, and several murals by Tamayo, Rivera, Siqueiros and Orozco.
Free guided visits to the main theater to see the stained glass curtain are offered from Tuesday to Friday at 1 and 1:30 pm
Madero and Eje Central, Centro Histórico
M Bellas Artes / $70
Mon-Sun, 9-22h
The highest building in downtown. From the observation deck on the 44th floor of this soaring skyscraper you can take in fabulous views of the entire city. Tokens for the telescope are on sale here, too.
You can climb as many times as you want during the whole day. Consider going there early in the morning and again in the afternoon to see the sunset.
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The Alameda Central park is a green garden with paved paths and decorative fountains and statues, and is frequently the center of civic events. The area used to be an Aztec marketplace. The park was created in 1592, when Viceroy Luis de Velasco decided to create green space here as a public park. The name comes from the Spanish word álamo , which means poplar tree, that were planted here. This is the oldest public park in the whole continent.
Garibaldi Square
Close to Metro Garibaldi
M Garibaldi / Free!
Open 24/7
The Plaza is best known as the home of mariachi music. At all hours of the day and night, mariachi bands can be found here playing or soliciting gigs from visitors. Each song costs around $50 pesos. If you have no money just stand there and listen for free those songs requested by other visitors.
A Museum of Tequila and School of Mariachi are also part of the plans, to bring a new level of entertainment and culture to the plaza. If you need a break from some of the quieter cultural attractions in the city, head over to the Plaza Garibaldi and get ready for some lively entertainment.
Tacuba 8, Centro Histórico
M Bellas Artes / Entrance fee: $30, free on Sun
Opening times: Tue-Sun, 10:30-17:30h
King Carlos rides in front of the Museo Nacional de Arte. Built around 1900 in the style of an Italian renaissance palace, it holds collections representing every school of Mexican art until the early 20th century. A highlight is the work of José María Velasco, depicting the Valley of México in the late 19th century.
SEP - Public Education Minister (Diego Rivera murals)
República de Brasil 130
M Zócalo / Entrance fee: Free,
Mon -Fri, 10-18h
The two front courtyards (on the opposite side of the building from the entrance off Plaza Santo Domingo) of the newly established Secretaría de Educación Pública are lined with 120 fresco panels painted by Diego Rivera in the 1920s. Together they form a tableau of ‘the very life of the people,’ in the artist’s words. Each courtyard is thematically distinct: the one on the east end deals with labor, industry and agriculture, while the interior one depicts traditions and festivals
Hospital of Jesús Nazareno
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The Church and Hospital of Jesús Nazareno are supposedly located at the spot where Hernán Cortés and Moctezuma II met for the first time in 1519. This one of the oldest buildings in Mexico City. It was most likely operating by 1524, although there is some dispute about this. The complex consists of a church and the hospital divided into four sections. The original hospital building is hidden by a modern façade, but the façade of the church is original. After passing the main entrance, one comes to a two-story colonial courtyard filled with plants and a fountain in the center. The hospital courtyard was originally decorated with Tuscan columns, but have since been replaced by equally austere ones. The original staircase remains.
Tacuba 5, Centro Histórico
M Bellas Artes / Entrance fee: $25
Tue-Sun, 10-18h
Opposite the National Art Museum is the Palacio de Minería, where mining engineers were trained in the 19th century. Today it houses a branch of the national university’s engineering department. A neoclassical masterpiece, the palace was designed by Tolsá and built between 1797 and 1813. Visits are by guided tour only. The palace contains a small museum on Tolsá’s life and work.
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The San Ildefonso College currently is a museum and cultural center, considered to be the birthplace of the Mexican muralism movement. It began as a prestigious Jesuit boarding school, and after the Reform War, it gained educational prestige again as National Preparatory School. This school and the building closed completely in 1978, then reopened as a museum and cultural center in 1992. The museum has permanent and temporary art and archeological exhibitions in addition to the many murals painted on its walls by José Clemente Orozco , Fernando Leal, Diego Rivera and others.
Tacuba 1, Centro histórico
M Bellas Artes / Entrance fee: Free
Mon-Sat, 9-18h. Sun 9-16h.
More than just Mexico City’s central post office, this early-20th-century palace is an Italianate confection designed by the Palacio de Bellas Artes’ original architect, Adamo Boari. The beige stone facade features baroque columns and carved filigree around the windows; inside, the bronze railings on the monumental staircase were cast in Florence. Philatelists can ogle the first stamp ever issued in Mexico in the 1st-floor postal museum.
Tlatelolco
Address Close to metro Tlatelolco
Metro / Entrance fee: Metro Tlateloco
Opening times: everytime
The Plaza de las Tres Culturas is so named because it symbolizes the fusion of pre-Hispanic and Spanish roots into the Mexican mestizo identity. It displays the architectural legacy of those three cultural strands: the Aztec pyramids of Tlatelolco, the 17th-century Spanish Templo de Santiago and the modern Foreign Ministry.
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La Ciudadela Handcrafts Market
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Tepito Market
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El Chopo Market
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Historical Synagogue
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Chapultepec Area
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M Chapultepec (L1 Pink) / $60
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Former military academy, palace of Emperor Maximilian and later of Mexican presidents. You may enjoy the rooms furnished as the Emperor and his wife would have experienced it, or the historical and artistic works, or you may simply enjoy the splendid building and its views across the park and city. Unfortunately the signing is in Spanish so you will miss a lot of the information, but a lot of the exhibits speak for themselves.
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M Auditorio (L7 Orange) / $60
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This is one of the most extensive museums of its kind in the world. There are numerous rooms that house archaeological artifacts (originals or replicas) from the numerous ancient civilizations in Mexico, including Olmec, Mayan, Gulf, Aztec and others. The folk dancers and other entertainers which perform in the park near the museum are also excellent and authentic.
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Chapultepec Zoo
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Soumaya museum
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Polanco neighborhood
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Republic Square (Revolution Monument)
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South area
Address Calle del Museo 150
Metro / Entrance fee $45
Opening times Tue-Sun 10-18 pm
Designed by Diego Rivera to house his collection of pre-Hispanic art, this museum, 3.5km south of Coyoacán, is a fortress like building made of dark volcanic stone. It incorporates stylistic features from many pre-Hispanic cultures. An inscription over the door reads: ‘To return to the people the artistic inheritance I was able to redeem from their ancestors.
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Frida Kahlo House/Studio (Blue House)
Address Londres 247, Coyoacán
Metro / Entrance fee: Closest metro Eje Central, General Anaya, Coyoacán. $45
Opening times 10am-6pm Tue-Sun
Iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo was born, lived and died in the ‘Blue House, ’ six blocks north of Plaza Hidalgo. Almost every visitor to Mexico City makes a pilgrimage here to gain a deeper understanding of the painter (and maybe to pick up a Frida handbag). Built by her father Guillermo three years before Frida’s birth, the house is littered with mementos and personal belongings that evoke her long, often tempestuous relationship with husband Diego Rivera and the leftist intellectual circle they often entertained here. The local experience is that there is always a lot of people going to this museum, but on weekends is far worst. Try going early on week days.
Coyoacán downtown
Address: Closest Metro General Anaya, Av Hidalgo,
Metro / Entrance fee: free
Opening times: all day
The focus of Coyoacán (from nahuatl "place of coyotes") life and the scene of most of the area’s weekend fun are its twin central plazas. The eastern Plaza Hidalgo has a statue of Miguel Hidalgo; the western Jardín del Centenario is surrounded by attractive cafés and centers on a fountain with a couple of coyotes sculptures. The two plazas are divided by Calle Carrillo Puerto. The Coyoacán tourist office is housed in the former Coyoacán Ayuntamiento (Town Hall), also called the Casa de Cortés, on the north side of Plaza Hidalgo. It’s said that on this spot the Spanish tortured the defeated Aztec king Cuauhtémoc to try to make him reveal the whereabouts of treasure.
León Trotsky House/Museum
Address Río Churubusco 410
Metro / Entrance fee: $30 , General Anaya Metro
Opening times 10am-5pm Tue-Sun
Having come second to Stalin in the power struggle in the Soviet Union, Trotsky was expelled in 1929 and condemned to death in absentia. In 1937 he found refuge in Mexico. At first Trotsky and his wife, Natalia, lived in Frida Kahlo’s Blue House, but after falling out with Kahlo and Rivera they moved a few streets northeast, to Viena 45.
Dolores Olmedo Museum
Address Av México 5843 Xochimilco
Metro / Entrance fee Tuesday free, $40 other days
Opening times 10 -18 hrs Tue-Sun
Possibly the most important Diego Rivera collection of all belongs to the Dolores Olmedo museum, ensconced in a peaceful 17th-century hacienda 2km west of central Xochimilco.
Dolores Olmedo Patiño, who resided here until her death in 2002, was a socialite and a patron of Rivera. The museum's 144 Rivera works - including oils, watercolors and lithographs from various periods - are displayed alongside pre-Hispanic figurines and folk art.
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Six Flags
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National Autonomous University of Mexico
Address: Insurgentes Sur
Metro / Entrance fee: free Metro Universidad
Opening times everytime
The University City (Ciudad Universitaria, CU), 2km south of San Ángel, is the main campus of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). With a total of more than 330, 000 students and 37,000 teachers, it is Latin America’s largest university. It has 17 schools and 6 campus in the Metropolitan Region, and several institutes around the country and is also present in Spain, Canada and USA. Five former Mexican presidents are among its alumni, as is Carlos Slim Helú, ranked the world’s richest man in 2011.
Definitely CU is one of the most attractive sites of Mexico City, known by its buildings and murals (Siqueiros, O'Gorman, Rivera, Eppens); the '68 olympic stadium, the central library and the rectorate, are among its most visited. Also in CU is the Cultural Center, home of the Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo (MUCA), the philharmonic concert hall Nezahualcóyotl, theaters, movie-theaters, etc. It's very big, bigger than Vatican or Monaco, it has 14 (free) bus lines and also a bicycle lending system (students only). You can get food ranging a wide range of prices: from tacos de canasta at $4 each or $22 menu to $200+ dishes in fancy restaurants. Insiders tip: the botanical garden in the upper west side (behind the stadium) is really beautiful and not very visited, it has a great collection of cacti and tropical plants.
To get to CU you can take the subway: light green line, stations Copilco and Universidad. Also metrobus, linea 1 stations: Ciudad Universitaria and Centro Cultural Universitario.
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Xochimilco Floating Gardens
Address Periferico Oriente 101, Closest metro Tasqueña, then take the tramway to Xochimilco station
Entrance fee: Boats from $250 an hour for up to 20 people
Opening times 8 am - 6 pm
Despite Xochimilco’s Unesco World Heritage status, encroaching urbanization and illegal settlement along the canals continue to strain this unique habitat. At least one endemic species of the zone, the axolotl (a fishlike salamander) is in danger of extinction. Thus in 1991 the Ecological Park of Xochimilco was established, about 3km northeast of downtown Xochimilco, both to recover the fragile ecosystem and to provide a retreat for stressed-out urbanites. Covering some 2 sq km, the protected area comprises a botanical garden and artificial lakes, home to a variety of waterbirds.
North area
Plaza de las Americas 1, Col. Villa de Guadalupe
M La Villa-Basílica (L6 Red) / Free!
Opening times: 10- 5.30 pm
This famous church, located on the site where an Indian claimed to have seen the Virgin of Guadalupe in 1531, contains an image of her that is the most famous religious icon in all of Mexico.
Teotihuacan Pyramids
Autopista Mexico -Piramides km22+600
Teotihuacán de Arista, Estado de México
Opening times: 8 - 5 pm, Mon-Sun
Teotihuacan is a majestic archeological site about 25 miles northeast of Mexico City. The park is enormous, so be prepared to do a lot of walking. Make sure to bring comfortable shoes, sunscreen, a hat and water. It’s preferable to arrive early using public transit so that you can beat the rush of the thousands of tourists who visit every day.
The park is open 8am-5pm daily and the museum is open 10am-5pm. Park entrance is $57mxn/person, cash only. Museum visit is included.
The park is open 8am-5pm daily and the museum is open 10am-5pm. Park entrance is $57mxn/person, cash only. Museum visit is included.
Getting There
Metro Cost (round trip): $5 pesos
Bus ticket (round trip): $60 pesos per person.
Bus travel time: ~1 hr each way
You can get to Teotihuacan by taking the metro from the city center to either the Autobuses del Norte Station or the Indios Verdes metro station (line 3, terminal). The bus company Autobuses Teotihuacanos departs from both places. Since Autobuses del Norte bus station is modern and well organized, it’s best to depart from there.
Using the metro, travel to line 5 (yellow) toward Politecnico to the Autobuses del Norte station. Follow the signs up the stairwell to the bus station. Once inside the bus station, walk toward Puerta 8 (Gate 8) and you will see the Autobuses Teotihuacanos desk just to the right of Puerta 8. Ask for a direct ticket to the pyramids (viaje directo a las pirámides).
On your return trip, it’s faster to get off the bus at the Indios Verdes metro station to get back into the city.
Eating
After climbing the pyramids, you’ll build up an appetite. The best selection of eateries is found outside Gate 2 (opposite Pyramid of the Sun), just past the parking lot west of the park. There are also a couple restaurants about 250 m outside of gate 4. Usually park rangers are fine with ins-and-outs, but ask to make sure.
More Info
- Mexico Travel Guide
- Wikitravel Guide
- Official Mexican Government Page with Hours & Prices (Spanish)
- Autobuses Teotihacanos Home Page (Spanish).
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