Mexico City, Mexico

What to do in Mexico City, Mexico

City Tour

Get a great overview of one of the world's most exciting cities with a guided tour famous sites like the bustling Zócalo, the historic Zona Rosa, beautiful Parque Chapultepec, the downtown shopping districts, Colonial and modern residential neighborhoods, the university, and the 1968 Olympic stadium.

Teotihuacán

The famous images of Mexico's Aztec pyramids come from this massive ruined city northwest of Mexico City, named in the Aztec language as the "Birthplace of the Gods." The most advanced urban center in the world around 600AD, even today its skeletal remains amazes visitors. Three enormous pyramids, palaces, more than 75 temples, hundreds of murals, more than 2,000 residences, and 600-plus artisan workshops sprawl across the landscape.

Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe

This is the most sacred Christian site in Mexico, and the 2nd most-visited religious shrine in the world. International pilgrims regularly pay homage, many crawling the last mile on their knees. The large 18th-century basiclica that previously housed the shrine serves as a museum with a wonderful collection of retablos (votive paintings) in honor of the Virgin, and a distinguished collection of Colonial paintings.

Tula

The Toltec ruins of Tula, north of Mexico City, are all that remain of the legendary seat of these warrior poets who were learned in writing and science. The fierce military prowess of this civilization remains evident, with frieze after frieze depicting processions of warriors. The city thrived until it was overthrown circa 1150AD. Chaos then ruled for nearly 2 centuries until the Aztecs rose to power.

Xochimilco

The famed floating gardens of this pre-Hispanic UNESCO World Heritage Site are an engineering wonder. The natives created a maze of canals holding little floating reed mats on which fruits, vegetables, and flowers were grown. The best day to visit is Sunday, and your best bet is to hire a boatman and barge to glide along the canals for a delightful sightseeing experience. There are also barges that carry bands of mariachis ready to play requests, as well as vendors selling tacos, soft drinks and flowers.

Tepoztlán

Nahuatl for "Place of the Hunchback," this agrarian village rests quietly in a narrow volcanic valley. Its modern inhabitants are Nahuatl-speaking people whose lives have little changed since the Spanish Conquest, though it was an important stronghold of the Revolution. On the Zócalo, where a market thrives on Sundays and Wednesdays, stands the massive Dominican Monastery. The setting is stunning and festive. Several pre-Hispanic temples occupy the hilltops.

Zócalo Cathedral

This grand Cathedral was begun in 1562 to replace the one Cortés had constructed from the stones of Aztec temples. It took 250 years to complete what became the largest church in Mexico, and reflects within itself the entire history of colonial architecture, including the Renaissance, Baroque, and Neo-Classical styles.

Templo Mayor

This Aztec temple dominates modern downtown Mexico City. These are the ruins of the most sacred site of the ancient Aztec empire, where 3 causeways and a main street met to mark the spot as the center of their universe. The Templo Mayor housed the shrines of the patron deity and war god Huitzilopochtli, as well as the rain god Tlaloc, enclosed by a wall of stone serpents.

Alameda Park

Busy downtown is graced with this peaceful green expanse, which is filled with fountains and 19th-century French sculptures. Before it became the favored spot for the society set's Sunday walks in the 19th-century, the park's Plaza de Quemadero was the favored spot for burning heretics during the Inquisition. These days there are lots of free concerts, sporting youths, and picnicking families.

Museo Nacional de Antropología (National Museum of Anthropology) As you pass the colossal statue of the rain god Tlaloc (moved here amid furious downpours in the middle of a drought), you enter a realm of pre-Columbian mysticism and glory. This museum is considered one of the best in the world, renowned for the excellence and breadth of its Meso-American collection, as well as the exquisite architecture complete with an open-air patio, reed-filled pond, and cascading fountain.

National Arts Museum

The collection in its 22 galleries is made up of mostly Mexican art from the Colonial era. In front of the building is the work of Mexico's greatest sculptor, Manuel Tolsá. El Caballito (The Little Horse), a massive equestrian statue of Spanish King Juan Carlos IV, is one of the world's finest bronze statues.

Museo Anahuacalli

This exquisite collection amassed by the painter Diego Rivera contains over 60,000 pieces of pre-Columbian art and artifacts, some dating to 2,000BC.

Chapultepec Castle

Perching on Bosque de Chapultepec's Grasshopper Hill overlooking the capital, this grand structure stands on the site of an Aztec temple. Viceroys built a palace on the grounds in the 18th-century, occupied by the romantic and ill-fated couple Emperor Maximilian and his wife Carlota. The majority of the activity takes place on Sundays.

Morelos State and Cuernavaca

This is a lush, laid-back, and lovely region known for its eternal spring climate, walled-estates with Eden-like gardens, relaxed resorts, indulgent spas, and abundant sightseeing wonders. Cuernavaca is an internationally-renowned city that draws people who want a fantastic weekend getaway with countless cultural and historic diversions, dining, nightlife, and shopping, surrounded by a semi-tropical terrain of mountains, valleys, and forests.

Bazaar Sábado

This Saturday market is held in an 18th-century mansion where more than 100 artisans and shopkeepers sell leather, embroidered clothes, beads, amates (bark paintings), and other traditional and contemporary crafts. There is a patio restaurant, artists hold their exhibits on the square, and craft stands spill into the side streets.

Leon Trotsky Home and Museum

After losing the struggle for power to Stalin, Leon Trotsky fled Russia for Mexico in 1938. Despite the extreme security measures he maintained, an assassin ended his life here just 2 years later. His house is now a museum containing an intriguing collection of Trotsky's personal belongings, books, and newspapers of the time.