10 things to do in Mexico City
- Next Stage Travel
- Apr 7
- 8 min read
Updated: 7 days ago
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The National Anthropology Museum is located in Chapultepec Park and is a great way to learn about the history of Central America (primarily Mexico) from about 30,000 years ago to the arrival of the Europeans. Most large signboards have English translations. The main portion of the museum is devoted to the rise (and fall) of Teotihuacan, and the rise (and fall) of the Aztecs. Both cultures were headquartered in and around today's Mexico City. Several halls are also given over to other groups on the western, eastern and southern portions of present-day Mexico, including cultures such as the Olmec and Maya. If you are planning a day trip to Teotihuacan, a visit here first will help you understand that vast area and its own museum.
It's a great place to spend a few hours. We wandered through about half the halls, then stopped for a late breakfast at the restaurant at the museum behind hall 10 and then finished up the remaining halls. The lunch menu starts at 1 PM and offers specialties from around Mexico (note: nothing terribly exotic but well-done and well-presented).
Open every day except Monday from 9 AM - 6 PM. 100 pesos/person.
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We visited this museum on the same day as the National Anthropology Museum. They are about a kilometer apart in Chapultepec Park, and it's an easy, flat, tree-covered walk. It makes for a full day, but easily do-able even if done slowly.
This castle was originally built in 1785 for the Viceroy of New Spain. At various times, it was a residence for Emperor Maximilian and Empress Charlotte, a military academy, and a residence and/or political meeting place for presidents after Mexico became a republic. Today, the castle showcases how various nobility and presidents lived and used the space, and functions as a national history museum from about the mid-17th century through the 20th century. As a bonus after the walk up to the castle, there are fantastic views of the city from all side of the castle.
Open every day except Monday from 9 AM - 5 PM. 100 pesos/person
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Medellin Market and Tianguis de los Viernes
These two markets are good to visit on a Friday morning (though the Medellin market is open every day) because they are about a 10 minute walk from each other.
Medellin Market: Open daily 8 AM - 6 PM. Mercado Medellín #20, Campeche 101, 06760 Ciudad de México, CDMX
Tianguis de los viernes: Open Friday 9 AM - 2 PM. Av Nuevo León 139, Hipódromo, Cuauhtémoc, 06100 Ciudad de México, CDMX (Note that there are several Friday markets in Mexico City)
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On Saturdays, all the shops in the Plaza de Angel Art and Antiguedades building and other various sellers set up along the hallways of the Plaza. From religious icons to amber from Chiapas to European antiques to early 20th century Mexican memorabilia, you can find a lot of interesting stuff (and junk) here. It's a pleasant way to spend an hour or two on a Saturday morning. Across the street from the plaza is the Mercado Insurgentes - a market primarily devoted to Mexican handicrafts (E.g., Oaxacan pottery and wood, silver, hand-stitched clothing, pewter, etc.). Also worth a browse if you like that kind of thing.
Londres 157, Juárez, Cuauhtémoc, 06600 Ciudad de México, CDMX. Saturdays from 9 AM until early afternoon. Free
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Day Trip to Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan is an ancient and huge building complex just 1 hour from Mexico City. It grew between about 300-800 AD as various cultures tried to get away from active volcanoes and it became something of a trade center. Interestingly, the original name of the city is not known. Our guide told us Teotihuacan was a word from the Aztec language that roughly translates as 'city of energy and priests' and was the name given when Europeans came to Mexico. The city went through several iterations and at one point, was 22 square kilometers in size with at least 50,000 inhabitants. Sometime around 700 AD the city was pretty much destroyed - archeologists believe it was an internal conflict (upper vs. lower classes vs. nobility/priests) that led to the destruction. Aztecs came to Teotihuacan in about 1000 AD; various theories suggest they migrated from San Luis Potosi (about 400 km north of Mexico City), California or somewhere in Utah. Also, note the the 'pyramids' are not actually pyramids, but are considered temples - they are solid rock (though the largest temples have several layers that were built over each other over the centuries) and had a temple on the top, flat portion.
We chose a tour on Viator for $45/person that claimed not to stop at tourist traps (and didn't), which sounded just right to us. This is the kind of in-country tour we like: someone else does the drive, if the guide is good we stay close and if not, we wander as we like. As it happened, the guide was pretty good, and other reviews indicate similar experiences. We used Paseos Olmedo (link on Viator).
The tour bus dropped us at Gate 3, which we recommend if you go by yourself. This puts you at the temple of the moon and temple of the sun to start, and you will finish at the third temple and Gate 1 to exit.
There is good reason this is on everyone's top 5 things to do in Mexico City. The buildings are impressive, the history is important and interesting. The site also has a small but excellent museum. We were glad to have visited the Anthropology museum in CDMX (La Ciudad de Mexico) first so we had some background history about this place.
Our tour took 3 hours and this allowed only 15 min in the museum. If you love museums, you could probably spend another 20 min here. But overall, the timing was just right, with 3 bathroom breaks (at Gate 3, before the museum, and at Gate 1).
Note that it is HOTTER here than Mexico City. If you have an umbrella and hat, bring them. Also wear a thin, long-sleeved shirt and pants to avoid sunburn. If you don't have a hat, you can buy one starting at 50 pesos ($2.50). There are so many hats for sale here it is a wonder in itself to see the stacks of caps.
55825 San Martín de las Pirámides, State of Mexico, Mexico (this is the address for gate 3 at Teotihuacan for Didi, Uber, etc.). Open daily 8 AM - 5 PM. 90 pesos pp
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This building in el Centro is STUNNING from the outside and even better inside.
You can attend a production here. Check the listings; for example, Ballet Folklorico was showing on Wednesdays and Sundays at 8:30 pm.
There is a cafe on the first floor.
The second floor has changing exhibits. During our visit, there was an excellent and diverse Impressionist exhibit with items on loan from the Dallas Museum of Art.
The third floor has murals by Diego Rivera and other artists. The most famous Rivera mural was originally designed for a New York building, commissioned by Rockefeller. Rockefeller didn't care for the Communist overtones, so he took it down. Rivera was furious and re-did the mural here with some notable changes including placing Rockefeller in an unflattering portrait within the mural. The second Rivera mural also gives a good history lesson if you know what you are looking at.
While we were admiring the Rivera mural, a man announced that he would be giving an English tour explanation of the murals for anyone who would like to join. He turned out to be unaffiliated with the museum, but the museum allows such tour guides to operate there. His English was excellent as was his knowledge of the murals and their associated histories. If you would like to prearrange an art tour with Leon, the contact information is below. His company also carries out various tours throughout Mexico City.
The fourth floor contains the National Museum of Architecture. It requires a separate admission (70 pesos/pp). After getting a chance to see some of the exhibits from the third floor (the exhibits on the fourth floor were open to the foyer), we decided not to go - it looked like most of the exhibits were photos and focused on the Palacio.
Av. Juarez S/N, Centro Histórico de la Cdad. de México, Centro, Cuauhtémoc, 06050 Ciudad de México, CDMX. Open Tuesday - Sunday 10 AM - 6 PM. 95 pesos/pp. Free on Sundays for all.Tours (we recommend the guide Leon for art explanation in English) Educando Con Cultura +52 56 1221 1199 What'sApp email: educandoconcultura1@gmail.com
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One of many free museums in Mexico, this house (Guillermo Tovar de Teresa House) features period furniture and art. If you like that sort of thing you will love this. There is a cafe next door as well. It's maybe a 30 minute walk through the museum and worth stopping if you are walking around nearby.
As an FYI, there are actually four locations for this museum, each location with different exhibits and focus.
Guillermo Tovar de Teresa House (Museo Soumaya). Valladolid 52-P. B, Roma Nte., Cuauhtémoc, 06700 Ciudad de México, CDMX. Open daily 10:30 AM - 6:30 PM. Free
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The Kahlo Museum, located in the Blue House that Kahlo lived in for much of her life (much of that time with her husband Diego Rivera), is on all the must-see lists for tourists to Mexico City. Surprisingly for us, it was one of our least favorite museums; it was also one of the most expensive museum tickets, about 3x more than any other museum we visited.
While the museum is definitely worth going to, it takes advance planning to get tickets (due to its popularity). The home has been preserved by family and friends, so while the Spanish and English placards discuss bits of Frida's life and home life, it all feels a bit reverential rather than emotionally impactful. There are a number of Kahlo paintings in the house though the emphasis in the museum is more on the influences in her life that drove her creative process. So, much time is given over to her debilitating sicknesses and injuries (polio, auto accident at age 18, various surgeries), her various sanctuaries in the house (studio, bedrooms) and her favorite possessions.
Londres 247, Del Carmen, Coyoacan, 04100 Ciudad de Mexico. Tuesday - Friday 10 AM - 6 PM; Wednesday 11 AM - 6 PM. 320 pesos pp.
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This relatively large and interesting market is two blocks from the Kahlo Museum. By the time we visited this market, we had visited about 8-10 other markets, from tiny neighborhood markets to the so-big-you-literally-get-lost La Merced market. We liked this market best - it covered all the main things we liked about the markets in Mexico City. There were a lot of fruit and vegetable vendors (with several very friendly sellers who gave us samples of local fruits and vegetables to try), as well as some meat and cheese vendors. There were also a bunch of herb/incense sellers and handicraft stalls. Finally there were a number of tiny restaurants that looked quite good.
Ignacio Allende s/n, Del Carmen, Coyoacan, 04100, Ciudad de Mexico. Open daily 7 AM - 6 PM. Free.
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This is the largest market in Mexico City. It's so big, we actually got lost and had to map our way out with our phones! There are several different sections within the market: meats, fruits/vegetables, housewares, and candy/sugar. Many vendors politely want you to try their wares (particularly the meat vendors - to try their cured meats) and the market really bustles. Most people we saw there were doing their daily/weekly shopping. This market is good to pair with other activities in El Centro as it's about 6 blocks from the Zocalo (Plaza de la Constitucion).
Circunvalación, La Merced, Zona Centro, Venustiano Carranza, 15100 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico. Open daily 5:30 AM - 6:00 PM.
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