must30
Español
Paseo de la Reforma and the Mexico City skyline seen from Chapultepec Castle
Chapultepec Castle on its wooded hill above the park
A stall heaped with dried chilli peppers in the Merced market
The Casa Luis Barragán seen from its walled garden
The Torre Latinoamericana rising above the trees of the Alameda Central

Things to do in Mexico City: 17 experiences

Updated Leer en español

Up next

Photo: México en Fotos, A.C., CC BY-SA 2.0

Bosque de Chapultepec

Climb to Chapultepec Castle, now the National Museum of History

Check dates and prices

Photo: Carlosr chill, CC BY-SA 2.5

La Merced, Centro

Eat your way through La Merced, the city's biggest food market

Check dates and prices

Photo: Thelmadatter, CC BY-SA 3.0

Tacubaya, Miguel Hidalgo

Visit the house Luis Barragán built for himself

Tours in Mexico City

Photo: Ymblanter, CC BY-SA 3.0

Centro Histórico

Look over the city from the Torre Latinoamericana

Tours in Mexico City

Photo: Daniel Case, CC BY-SA 3.0

Mexico City stands on the site of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital founded in 1325 and destroyed by Hernán Cortés in 1521, and it was the capital of New Spain for three centuries after. Its centre sits 2,230 metres above sea level, high enough to leave some visitors short of breath for the first days. The city holds three UNESCO World Heritage Sites of its own: the Centro Histórico, the house of the architect Luis Barragán and the university campus.

The Mexico page covers the headline sights, and they are linked below: the Zócalo and the Templo Mayor, Bellas Artes, the anthropology museum, Frida Kahlo's Casa Azul, Xochimilco, tacos al pastor, mariachi at Garibaldi and Friday lucha libre. This page adds the rest of a week: the castle on Chapultepec hill, Barragán's house, the Basilica of Guadalupe, the UNAM campus, Rivera's Anahuacalli, the view from the Torre Latinoamericana, Art Deco Condesa and La Merced market.

17 things to do in Mexico City

We earn a commission when you book through our GetYourGuide links, at no extra cost to you.

Chapultepec Castle on its wooded hill above the park

Climb to Chapultepec Castle, now the National Museum of History

Bosque de Chapultepec

2 to 3 hoursGo alone or with a tour

On a hill sacred to the Aztecs, a viceroy's summer house that became an emperor's palace, then a history museum.

Check dates and pricesChapultepec Castle and Anthropology Museum tour
Been there?
The Casa Luis Barragán seen from its walled garden

Visit the house Luis Barragán built for himself

Tacubaya, Miguel Hidalgo

Half a morningTimed entry

The house and studio the architect Luis Barragán built for himself in 1948, a World Heritage Site seen only by appointment.

Tours in Mexico City
Been there?
The round modern Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and its plaza at La Villa

Join the pilgrims at the Basilica of Guadalupe

La Villa, Gustavo A. Madero

1 to 2 hoursFree

Mexico's great pilgrimage shrine at the foot of Tepeyac hill, home of the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Tours in Mexico City
Been there?
The Biblioteca Central of the UNAM, its tower covered in Juan O'Gorman's mosaic

Walk the murals of the UNAM's Ciudad Universitaria

Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán

Half a dayFree

The main campus of Mexico's national university, a World Heritage Site for its modern buildings and the murals that cover them.

Tours in Mexico City
Been there?
Inside the stone entrance of the Anahuacalli Museum

See Diego Rivera's pre-Hispanic collection in the Anahuacalli

San Pablo Tepetlapa, Coyoacán

1 to 2 hoursNo booking needed

A temple-like museum Diego Rivera designed in volcanic stone to hold his collection of pre-Hispanic art.

Tours in Mexico City
Been there?
The Torre Latinoamericana rising above the trees of the Alameda Central

Look over the city from the Torre Latinoamericana

Centro Histórico

About an hourNo booking needed

The 1956 skyscraper that rode out the 1985 earthquake, with the city's highest public observation deck on its 44th floor.

Tours in Mexico City
Been there?
The Art Deco clock tower in Parque México, Condesa

Stroll Parque México and the Art Deco streets of Condesa

Condesa

An afternoon into the eveningFree

Two leafy parks at the heart of Condesa, ringed by Art Deco apartment blocks, cafés and bars.

Been there?
A stall heaped with dried chilli peppers in the Merced market

Eat your way through La Merced, the city's biggest food market

La Merced, Centro

2 to 3 hoursFree

The largest traditional food market in Mexico City, a few blocks east of the Zócalo, with dried chillies piled by the sackful.

Check dates and pricesLa Merced and Sonora markets culinary tour
Been there?
The Metropolitan Cathedral and Sagrario on the Zócalo in Mexico City

Start at the Zócalo and go down into the Templo Mayor

Centro Histórico, Mexico City

Half a day with the Templo MayorNo booking needed

Under the Zócalo lies Tenochtitlan; go down into the ruins of the Aztec main temple just off its north-east corner.

Tours in Mexico City
Been there?
Diego Rivera's mural El hombre controlador del universo in the Palacio de Bellas Artes

See Rivera's remade Rockefeller mural at Bellas Artes

Centro Histórico, Mexico City

1.5 to 2 hoursNo booking needed

Find Rivera's second version of the mural Rockefeller Center destroyed for its portrait of Lenin, among 17 murals in Bellas Artes.

Tours in Mexico City
Been there?
The Sun Stone in the Mexica hall of the Museo Nacional de Antropología

Spend a morning in the Museo Nacional de Antropología

Chapultepec, Mexico City

3 hours for the ground floor aloneNo booking needed

A vast concrete umbrella over the courtyard, and at its far end the Sun Stone, the Aztec calendar stone about 3.6 metres across.

Tours in Mexico City
Been there?
The cobalt blue walls and green windows of the Casa Azul, the Frida Kahlo Museum in Coyoacán, with visitors queuing outside

Book a timed slot for Frida Kahlo's Blue House

Coyoacán, Mexico City

About 1.5 hoursTimed entry

Step into Frida Kahlo's Blue House in Coyoacán on a timed slot, with phone photos already included in the ticket.

Check dates and pricesGuided visit to the Casa Azul
Been there?
The stairway up to Frida Kahlo's studio inside the Casa Azul

Go upstairs to Frida Kahlo's studio in the Casa Azul

Coyoacán, Mexico City

About 1.5 hoursTimed entry

Go upstairs to Frida Kahlo's studio: her easel and brushes, the urn with her ashes, a painted plaster corset on the bed.

Tours in Mexico City
Been there?
Painted trajineras moored at the Nuevo Nativitas landing in Xochimilco

Hire a trajinera on the Xochimilco canals

Xochimilco, Mexico City

2 hours on the waterGo alone or with a tour

Float the canals that remain of the Aztec basin's lake on a trajinera, while mariachi boats pull alongside.

Check dates and pricesTrajinera ride on the canals with a local guide
Been there?
A taquero carving al pastor pork from the trompo at El Vilsito in Mexico City

Eat tacos al pastor at a Mexico City taquería

Mexico City

About 1 hourNo booking needed

Watch the taquero shave marinated pork off the trompo and flick a sliver of pineapple onto each small corn tortilla.

Tours in Mexico City
Been there?
A mariachi band in full charro dress waiting for customers at Plaza Garibaldi

Hire a mariachi song at Plaza Garibaldi

Mexico City

1 to 2 hoursNo booking needed

Mariachi bands in charro suits wait in Plaza Garibaldi every night, ready to play your song for an agreed price.

Tours in Mexico City
Been there?
Luchadores in the ring during a night of lucha libre at Arena México

Watch Friday night lucha libre at Arena México

Colonia Doctores, Mexico City

About 3 hoursBook ahead

Friday night at the arena most Mexicans call the cathedral of lucha libre, where the crowd loudly backs técnicos or rudos.

Tours in Mexico City
Been there?

Traveller picks

Hidden gems suggested by travellers. We check each one before it goes up; the words are theirs, not ours.

No traveller picks for Mexico City yet. Know a place most visitors miss?

Plan your trip

  • Getting there

    Most international flights land at Benito Juárez International Airport (MEX); some airlines use Felipe Ángeles International (NLU), well north of the city. Long-distance buses leave from separate terminals by direction, among them the Terminal del Norte for Teotihuacan and TAPO in the east.

  • Getting around

    The Metro is the quickest way across town. Line 1 links the Centro Histórico, Chapultepec and Roma and Condesa; Line 3 serves Coyoacán and Ciudad Universitaria; Line 6 reaches the Basilica of Guadalupe. The Metrobús runs in its own lanes along Insurgentes and Reforma, and the Tren Ligero runs from Tasqueña to Xochimilco.

  • How many days

    In must30's view, four or five: one for the Centro Histórico, one for Chapultepec and its museums, one for Coyoacán, the Anahuacalli and the UNAM, and one for the Basilica and Teotihuacan, with Xochimilco or Condesa fitted around them.

  • Where to stay

    The Centro Histórico puts you next to the Zócalo and the big sights. Roma and Condesa, either side of Avenida Insurgentes, hold the city's busiest restaurants and bars. Polanco, north of Chapultepec, is the other big restaurant district.

  • When to go

    The rainy season runs from June to September, usually with sunny mornings and wet afternoons. The dry season, from November to March, brings clear skies and very cold dawns. In early April the jacarandas bloom purple across the city.

Questions travellers ask

Do you need to book Casa Luis Barragán?

Yes. The house is only shown on guided tours by appointment, so book a slot before you plan the day around it.

How do you get to the Basilica of Guadalupe?

Take Metro Line 6 to La Villa-Basílica. Many day tours to Teotihuacan also stop at the Basilica on the way.

Where is the best view over Mexico City?

The Mirador on the 44th floor of the Torre Latinoamericana is the highest public observation deck in the city. For a greener view, the terraces of Chapultepec Castle look straight down Paseo de la Reforma.

Is the altitude a problem in Mexico City?

The centre is 2,230 metres above sea level, and some visitors find themselves short of breath at first. Take the first day slowly and drink plenty of water.

More places in this region

Things to do in Mexico

Photo credits (18)