Mexico City: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
This city is built on a lake. The Aztecs founded Tenochtitlán on an island in the middle of it in 1325, the Spanish drained the lake, and everything built on top has been sinking ever since — the cathedral by two metres, the Palacio de Bellas Artes by four. You are walking on a city that is bending. Start in the square that was the heart of the Aztec empire, standing on the ruins of its temple.
A short history of Mexico City
In 1325 the Aztecs founded Tenochtitlan on an island in Lake Texcoco, and in the early 16th century it was one of the largest cities in the world. In 1521 Hernán Cortés captured it, and the capital of New Spain was built on the ruins of the Great Temple. The lake was drained over the years, which is why many buildings in the city are sinking into the soft ground. In 1821 it became the capital of independent Mexico. In 1968 it hosted the Olympic Games, and on 19 September 1985 thousands were killed here in an earthquake. The city lies at an altitude of about 2,240 metres.
The ten best sights in Mexico City
1ZócaloOne of the largest squares in the world, and it was a lake
2Metropolitan CathedralTwo hundred and fifty years to build, and it is sinking
3Templo MayorThe Aztec great temple, found by electricians in 1978
4Palacio NacionalDiego Rivera painted the whole history of Mexico on its stairs
5Palacio de Bellas ArtesMarble outside, art deco inside, and it has sunk four metres
6Torre LatinoamericanaSurvived the 1985 earthquake intact, and you can go up it
7Museum of AnthropologyThe best museum in Latin America. Give it half a day
8Chapultepec CastleThe only royal castle in the Americas, on a hill
9Museo Frida KahloThe blue house where she was born and died. Book ahead
10Museo SoumayaSixteen thousand silver tiles, and free entry
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Mexico City →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Mexico City:
Free walking tours in Mexico City
The Centro
This city is built on a lake. The Aztecs founded Tenochtitlán on an island in the middle of it in 1325, the Spanish drained the lake, and everything built on top has been sinking ever since — the cathedral by two metres, the Palacio de Bellas Artes by four. You are walking on a city that is bending. Start in the square that was the heart of the Aztec empire, standing on the ruins of its temple.
- Zócalo · Two hundred and forty metres on each side, and the Aztec ceremonial centre stood exactly here. The Spanish put their cathedral and palace on it deliberately, using the temple’s own stones.
- Templo Mayor · Found in 1978 by electricians digging a cable trench, who hit an eight-tonne carved disc of a dismembered moon goddess. Four hundred years after the Spanish buried it, it came back up.
- Metropolitan Cathedral · Two hundred and fifty years in the building, which is why it has four different architectural styles. It sank unevenly into the lake bed until engineers spent ten years injecting concrete under one side.
- Palacio Nacional · Diego Rivera spent twenty-two years painting the entire history of Mexico up the main staircase — from the Aztecs to the revolution — and put his own wife in it as a figure in the crowd.
- Palacio de Bellas Artes · Italian marble outside, Mexican art deco inside, and it has sunk four metres since 1934 — the ground floor was once the first floor. Rivera’s mural that Rockefeller destroyed in New York was repainted here.
- Torre Latinoamericana · Built in 1956 on the softest ground any skyscraper has ever stood on, floating on deep piles. In the 1985 earthquake that flattened much of the centre, it did not crack.
Roma and Condesa
Two neighbourhoods built for the rich at the turn of the twentieth century, emptied after the 1985 earthquake, and filled again by artists and cooks. Condesa is built on a horse-racing track — the streets still curve in the shape of the oval. The best food in the city is here, and all of it walks.
- Parque México · The infield of a horse-racing track that closed in 1924. The streets around it still follow the oval, and the park kept the art deco bandstand the owners built.
- Parque España · Named for the Spanish republicans Mexico took in when they fled Franco — forty thousand of them, who changed the city’s publishing, medicine and food.
- Mercado Medellín · The market of the immigrants — Cuban, Colombian, Venezuelan and Argentine stalls side by side, because this is the neighbourhood that took in everyone fleeing a dictatorship.
- Roma Norte · Belle époque mansions built in 1902 for the Porfirian elite. Alfonso Cuarón set his film Roma in these streets, in the house he grew up in.
- El Moro · Churros and thick chocolate, open since 1935 and open all night. You order by number — four churros and a Spanish chocolate is what everybody gets.
- Casa Luis Barragán · The architect’s own house, kept exactly as he left it in 1988 — pink, yellow and violet walls and light used as a building material. A UNESCO site, and entry is by booked tour only.
Coyoacán
Coyoacán was a separate village until the city swallowed it, and it still looks like one: cobbles, tree-filled squares and painted houses. Frida Kahlo lived here all her life, Trotsky lived here until he was killed with an ice axe, and the market here is where the city eats tostadas standing up. On a Sunday the square fills with all of Mexico.
- Museo Frida Kahlo · She was born in this house and died in it. Her ashes are in a pre-Hispanic urn in her bedroom, and the kitchen still has her and Diego’s names spelled out in small clay pots on the wall.
- Jardín Centenario · Two coyotes in a fountain — the name means "place of coyotes" in Nahuatl. Cortés made this his base while he destroyed Tenochtitlán a few kilometres north.
- Mercado de Coyoacán · Go for the tostada counters — you stand, you point, and a woman piles ceviche or crab onto a flat fried tortilla until it will not hold any more.
- San Ángel · The other colonial village, twenty minutes west, with a Saturday art market in a square that has not changed since the eighteenth century.
- Xochimilco · The last surviving stretch of the Aztec canals and their floating gardens, still farmed. You hire a painted boat by the hour and other boats come alongside selling food and music.
- Museo Dolores Olmedo · A sixteenth-century hacienda holding the largest private collection of Rivera and Kahlo, with hairless Xoloitzcuintle dogs — the Aztec breed — walking the gardens.
Getting to Mexico City and getting around
- Benito Juárez Airport · Twenty minutes from the centre, and the metro reaches it
- Metro Zócalo · Five pesos a ride, five million riders a day
- Metrobús Reforma · A bus in its own lane along the main avenue
Museums in Mexico City
- Museum of Anthropology · The best museum in Latin America — half a day
- Museo Soumaya · Sixteen thousand silver tiles, built by Carlos Slim, free
- Museo Jumex · Contemporary art by Chipperfield, next door to Soumaya
- Museo Nacional de Arte · Four hundred years of Mexican painting, in a palace
- Museo Tamayo · In the park — a concrete building that reads as a pyramid
- Chapultepec Castle · The only royal castle in the Americas, and the view
Parks and gardens in Mexico City
- Bosque de Chapultepec · Twice Central Park, free, with four museums in it
- Parque México · The infield of a 1920s racetrack, with art deco bones
- Xochimilco · The last Aztec canals, still farmed, and boats for hire
- UNAM campus · A UNESCO site — the library is a four-sided mural
Things to do in Mexico City with kids
- Papalote Museo del Niño · Everything can be touched, inside Chapultepec
- Chapultepec Zoo · Free, and the pandas were born here
- Six Flags México · In a forest at the southern edge of the city
- Teotihuacán · Pyramids you can still walk around, an hour out
Cheap eats in Mexico City
Eight counters where Mexico City eats standing. A taquería with one Michelin star and four plastic stools, a churro shop that has not closed since 1935, a market stall that piles crab on a tortilla until it collapses, and the tacos al pastor that only start at ten at night.
- El Califa de León · One Michelin star, four stools, 80 pesos
- El Moro · Churros and thick chocolate since 1935, open all night
- Mercado de San Juan · Where the chefs buy. Try the ant eggs or do not
- Tostadas de Coyoacán · Point, stand, eat. 60 pesos and it is a meal
- Tacos al pastor · From ten at night. 20 pesos each
- Mercado Medellín · Cuban, Colombian and Venezuelan counters in one hall
- Quesadillas, Parque México · The debate is whether a quesadilla must contain cheese
- Pulquería, Centro · Fermented agave, pre-Hispanic, and an acquired taste
Holy places in Mexico City
- Basilica of Guadalupe · Twenty million pilgrims a year
- Metropolitan Cathedral · Built from the stones of the Aztec temple beside it
- Teotihuacán · The Aztecs found it already abandoned and called it the place where gods were made
Nightlife in Mexico City
- Plaza Garibaldi · Mariachi bands for hire by the song, from eight
- Roma Norte bars · Mezcal, and the best cocktail bars in Latin America
- Arena México · Lucha libre, Friday and Tuesday nights
Frequently asked questions about Mexico City
What is there to see in Mexico City?
The top sights in Mexico City are Zócalo, Metropolitan Cathedral and Templo Mayor. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Mexico City?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Mexico City without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Mexico City?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Mexico City, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The Centro.
How do you get to Mexico City and get around?
The main ways are Benito Juárez Airport, Metro Zócalo and Metrobús Reforma. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Mexico City, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Mexico City that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Mexico City for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.