Mexico City spreads a former Aztec capital under a mile-high sky, layering colonial palaces, world-class museums and some of the best cheap food anywhere over what used to be a lake. It's dense, walkable in patches, and constantly surprising.
Good to know
- Altitude is 2,240m — take it easy the first day and drink extra water to avoid the headache.
- Use Uber or Didi rather than hailing street taxis; the metro is excellent but avoid it with luggage at rush hour.
- Tap water isn't potable — stick to bottled or filtered, including for ice at cheaper spots.
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Places the planner can use
Mark places as a must or something to skip. The itinerary is built only from this list; ★ marks the destination’s highlights.
The vast central plaza ringed by the National Palace and a cathedral built over centuries on top of the Aztec Templo Mayor.
Excavated ruins of the main Aztec temple, unearthed by accident in 1978, with a museum of the artifacts found on site.
Art Nouveau opera house with a Tiffany glass curtain and Diego Rivera murals upstairs; check for a folklórico performance.
Observation deck 44 floors up over the historic center, less crowded than the ground-level plazas below.
A gourmet food market anchoring a neighborhood of Art Deco buildings, third-wave coffee and taco stands that open past midnight.
Pork shaved off a trompo onto a double corn tortilla with pineapple — the benchmark for al pastor.
The cobalt-blue house where Kahlo was born, lived and died, filled with her personal belongings and unfinished works. Book a timed slot.
Anchoring Latin America's largest city park, home to the Aztec Sun Stone and a hall for every pre-Hispanic culture in Mexico.
Colorful flat-bottomed boats punt through Aztec-era canals while mariachi and food boats pull alongside; go with a group to split the boat cost.
Masked wrestlers, a screaming crowd and cheap beer — Tuesday and Friday nights are the real, unfiltered version.
Climb the Pyramid of the Sun at the ancient city that predates the Aztecs by a thousand years; arrive by 9am to beat both heat and buses.
The architect's private home, a UNESCO site of pink walls and pure light — visits are guided and must be booked well in advance.