The 28 best things to do in Mexico City, according to a local (2024)

Mexico City is changing rapidly from the influx of foreigners who have recently discovered the city’s infinite charms. There are dozens of new restaurants, parties, and projects that keep the vibrancy of this capital city (with a population of over 22 million) surging while the storied museums, ancient bars, and cultural sites maintain their standing. An intoxicating mix of ancient and new, you could spend a lifetime here and barely scratch the surface. While there's no way you’ll cover all the must see and dos in one trip, sticking to one neighbourhood a day keeps things manageable. No matter how you spend your time in Mexico's capital, one thing is for sure – you’ll be scheduling your second trip before your first is even finished.

Colonia Juárez

The Juarez neighbourhood has evolved in recent years. Once gritty, the area is now teeming with great boutiques, bars, parks, and restaurants like Masala y Maiz, which blends Mexican and Indian cuisines, and Niddo, a sunny corner spot that serves a divine brunch. There are loads of hotspots around the leafy central Plaza Washington: La Rifa for artisanal chocolates, Loose Blues for vinyl and vintage denim, and Elly's for natural wines and handmade pasta.

Gran Hotel Ciudad de México

Even if you're not staying at this hotel on the Zócalo, it's worth stopping just to see the jaw-dropping interior. The building originally opened as a department store in 1899. Since then, its art nouveau bones have been carefully maintained: The curving staircase is a replica of the one at Paris's Le Bon Marché, and the antique elevator, made of iron and concrete, was the first of its kind in Mexico City. But the pièce de résistance is the incredible Tiffany stained-glass ceiling, imported from France in 1908.

Address: Gran Hotel Ciudad de México, 16 de Septiembre 82, Centro Histórico de la Cdad. de México, Centro, Cuauhtémoc, 06000 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Website: granhoteldelaciudaddemexico.com.mx

El Moro Churerría

Early evening is churro time in Mexico City – families, couples, and friends all go out for a taste of sweet fried dough and chocolate. You'll often find lines snaking around the block outside this beloved churrería (churro shop). There are shops in Roma, Centro Historico, Condesa, Polanco, and Cuauhtémoc. Most have spiffy interiors with blue and white tile, bright lighting, and long communal tables. Watch the cooks dip, fry, and sugar-coat your long, spindly churro, which is paired with hot chocolate in a flavour of your choosing.

Address: Churrería El Moro, C. Río Lerma 167, Cuauhtémoc, 06500 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Website: elmoro.mx

Floating Gardens of Xochimilco

Drive 40 minutes south of the city, and you'll witness the closest approximation to the Valley of Mexico (where Mexico City lies) before the arrival of the Spanish. The World Heritage Site of Xochimilco, the extensive lake and canal system that once connected most of the settlements in the valley, is an incredible vestige of the area's pre-Hispanic past. Start at the Embarcadero Belem dock to board a colourful gondola-like boat called a trajinera and explore the waterways and artificial islands or chinampas.

Address: Floating Gardens of Xochimilco, Laguna del Toro, San Juan, Xochimilco, 16038 Mexico City, Mexico

Magic at Play exhibition

Harry Potter fans can dive into the wizarding world of Hogwarts thanks to Magic at Play, the interactive experience at Casa Abierta Monte and the first of its kind in Mexico. Guests of all ages are invited to practice charms, concoct potions and play Quidditch as they journey through Harry's school years, starting with his days spent under the stairs at the Dursley household and transitioning to classroom settings (whether you travel on foot or by floo powder is down to your own imagination).

Book tickets: www.feverup.com
Address: C. de la Palma 14, Centro Histórico de la Cdad. de México, Mexico City. 06000

Palacio Nacional

Diego Rivera's famous mural, The History of Mexico, showcases the Aztec era, the conquest, the Revolution, and the development of industry. It's grandiose and captivating, a unique opportunity to learn about Mexico's past. Not to mention, it's free: The mural is housed in a distinguished building east of the Zócalo that operates as a government office. Among the office workers milling about, you'll see a mix of local, national, and international tourists who are awe-stricken by Rivera’s masterpiece.

Address: Palacio Nacional, P.za de la Constitución S/N, Centro Histórico de la Cdad. de México, Centro, Cuauhtémoc, 06066 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Website: gob.mx

Templo Mayor

Templo Mayor (translation: main temple) was the centrepiece of Tenochtitlán, the ancient Aztec capital, constructed in 1325 in the marshes of Lake Texcoco. The temple was mowed over and replaced by a cathedral during the Spanish conquest in 1521. Today, the hulking stone ruins lie at the heart of Centro Histórico, embedded in the downtown blueprint. Surrounded by streets and buildings, it is hard to imagine the temples in their original Aztec glory, but the nicely organised museum helps paint the full picture.

Address: Templo Mayor, Seminario 8, Centro Histórico de la Cdad. de México, Centro, Cuauhtémoc, 06060 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Website: templomayor.inah.gob.mx

Museo Frida Kahlo

The museum, also known as "Casa Azul" for its shocking cobalt blue exterior, is where Frida Kahlo was born, raised, lived, and died. Visitors can take in a few paintings by Kahlo and her husband, Diego Rivera, in addition to other contemporary artists of their era. However, perhaps more interesting is the voyeuristic window into their creative world. The home is carefully preserved and maintained; it's easy to imagine the spaces as they were during Kahlo's time. In addition to their personal effects and domestic materials, the collection of clothes and corsets Frida needed to support her body after her traumatic accident give an intimate look at the artist's daily struggles.

Address: Museo Frida Kahlo, Londres 247, Del Carmen, Coyoacán, 04100 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Website: museofridakahlo.org.mx

Sculpture Garden at the Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo

Located on the outskirts of Mexico City proper, at the National Autonomous University of Mexico campus, the Sculpture Park is totally off the tourist track. Featuring a range of grand outdoor sculptures, the park is best explored on foot. The sculpture space, which looks like a giant crater, is one of the top things to spot. It's built around lava (which can be seen in the centre) and has wonderful views from the ledge.

Address: Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo, Av. Insurgentes Sur 3000, C.U., Coyoacán, 04510 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Website: muac.unam.mx

Mercado Jamaica

The city’s principal flower market offers visitors a fragrant, colourful walk through much of the region’s native flora and fauna, available to be bundled into a bouquet and taken back to your home. Among other rare and special species available for your admiration are roses, lilies, daisies, ferns, and violets galore. During Día de Muertos, you can see trucks carting in pink and orange cempasúchil, or Mexican marigolds, for family members to buy to decorate their ofrendas at home or their loved ones’ graves. Build a bundle to decorate your hotel room with – or better yet, to dry and frame as a memory for when you return home.

Address: Mercado Jamaica, Guillermo Prieto 45, Jamaica, Venustiano Carranza, 15800 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Website: mercadojamaica.com

Monumento a la Revolución

This landmark, located in the heart of Mexico City, commemorates the Mexican Revolution and is the largest triumphal arch in the world. The main structure evolved over twenty-five years of stops and starts and a major redesign. It was finished in 1938, and it comprised an eclectic blend of art-deco and Mexican socialist realism styles. A visit to the top observation deck costs less than £5, and there's a museum underground. You don't need much time to witness the glory of the monument. Saunter around, gawk at the creative architectural stylings of the structure, and walk under the arches. History nerds may be more interested in the small museum below, but more than anything, it's an architecturally significant piece, and the observation deck has great views. If you keep your eyes peeled while exploring around town, you'll most likely catch a glimpse of the monument down a main street – but a quick glimpse isn't enough, and it's worth the quick 15-minute trip to walk underneath it.

Address: Monumento a la Revolución, Pl. de la República s/n, Tabacalera, Cuauhtémoc, 06030 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Website: mexicocity.cdmx.gob.mx

Omusubi House

In a small storefront in Roma Norte, the husband and wife team, Ichiro Kitazawa and Varia Gonzáles Manuel, work side-by-side in the minuscule kitchen, cupping steamed rice into palm-sized balls. They sink sauteed sweet potato into the omusubi, which is speckled like confetti with purple and wild rice, a marriage of Mexican ingredients and Japanese technique. They met while working at a Japanese restaurant when Mexico City was still called DF, the federal district. He had arrived ten years earlier by way of Osaka, as a hippy backpacker intent on photographing Latin America but fell into cooking; and she, from Puebla. “Omusubi translates to tying up or to bring together,” Kitazawa explains, “which is how we wrap the rice,” and it is a sound metaphor for the forging of connections between their two countries.

Address: Omusubi House, San Luis Potosí 188, Roma Nte., Cuauhtémoc, 06700 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico

Eat Like a Local

Eat Like a Local runs culinary tours that immerse visitors in the city's vast food scene. Rocio, the guide, has long been a food blogger, and her knowledge about Mexico City's food scene is totally on point. She's also passionate about connecting tourists with locals and impacting Mexico City in a positive, sustainable way. There's a set itinerary, but she's flexible – so go on, order another mezcal or pork carnitas, if you like.

Address: Eat Like a Local, C. Ozuluama 21, Hipódromo, Cuauhtémoc, 06140 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Website: eatlikealocal.com.mx

Museo Jumex

Museo Jumex houses one of Latin America's largest private contemporary art collections, which includes works by Andy Warhol, Martin Kippenberger, Cy Twombly, and Damien Hirst. Mediums range from paintings and drawings to light and video installations. The building is as distinctive as the art: British architect David Chipperfield designed the 15,000 square-foot white-concrete cube with a sawtooth top. (Plus, the Soumaya Museum is just across the square, so you can feed two birds with one scone.)

Address: Museo Jumex, Blvd. Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra 303, Granada, Miguel Hidalgo, 11520 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Website: fundacionjumex.org

Luis Barragán House and Studio

The former home and studio of Pritzker-Prize-winning architect Luis Barragán has been transformed into a museum in Mexico City's Hidalgo District. Architecture and design lovers frequent the estate to study the artist's ingenious use of colour, light, shadow, form, and texture. From the street, you'd never guess the personality that lies inside: The stark-grey façade humbly blends in with neighbouring homes, but walk to the interior of the estate, and you'll find striking walls in a kaleidoscope of bright colours, fountains, and pools.

Address: Casa Estudio Luis Barragán, Gral. Francisco Ramírez 12, Ampliación Daniel Garza, Amp Daniel Garza, Miguel Hidalgo, 11840 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Website: casaluisbarragan.org

Self-Guided Centro Historico Cantina Crawl

It's easy to pop around in Centro, hitting up a few cantinas to have a drink or two and soak up the style of these classic, dive spots. The more friends you bring and make, the better. Locals and regulars alike hit the cantinas, which maintain a storied baseline for the drinking culture of Mexico City. Musicians pass through, sorrows are drowned, and gains are celebrated. Many cantinas serve food, some better than others, and will often gift snacks and small plates if you consume around three drinks, though each spot has its own rules. Beer and tequila prevail. Simple cocktails, built-in-the-glass rum and cokes, margaritas, sangria, rum, brandy, and mezcal. Some cantinas are known for certain drinks, but craft cocktails this is not.

Lucha Libre at the Arena Coliseo

A giant venue that hosts sporting and entertainment events, the Arena seats as many as 23,300 spectators. It's best known for hosting Lucha Libre wrestling matches. The stadium is sprawling, and some seats are certainly better than others, depending on how much money you're willing to fork out. If you're here because you're a true Lucha Libre fan, sit in the front row; if you're here to have a fun night out with friends, the cheap seats will do just fine.

Address: Arena Coliseo, República de Perú 77, Centro Histórico de la Cdad. de México, Centro, Cuauhtémoc, 06010 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Website: cmll.com

The Centro Zocalo Historico Bodealores

The boleadores are dotted around the perimeter of downtown's main square (and almost every other park and plaza in the city) but you'll have a great view of the cathedrals, flagpole, and Palacio Nacional if you get your shoes shined here. Climb up on the elevated perch of the boleador's chair and they will make your boots shine anew. Between £3 and £6, it's one of the cheapest shoe-shine experiences around. Boleadores are an important part of Mexican street culture and a fixture of pedestrian avenues, a living-breathing mid-century heritage that is not in danger of dying out. But with the proliferation of cheap plastic shoes and mass-market tennis sneakers, "limpiabotes" are a hand-crafted service for giving leather shoes a new life.

Museo Anahuacalli

Awesome, grand, and out-of-the-way, Anahuacalli is part studio, part museum, and part shrine for Mexican art that Diego Rivera built as an architectural piece uniting past, present, and future to the natural environment. Rivera's personal and expansive collection of pre-Hispanic figurines, carvings, and totems accumulated over a lifetime. The museum itself was constructed around a swath of rocky terrain Rivera and Khalo had purchased for a farm. The main collection features nearly two thousand figurines representing Olmecs, Toltecs, Nahuas, Zapotecs, the people of Teotihuacan, and those of northeastern Mexico as well as Rivera's sketches for murals. There are also temporary exhibits of more modern Mexican artists, with a recent rotation of 30 textural works by Robert Janitz – paintings, large-format sculptures, and an NFT.

Address: Museo Anahuacalli, Museo 150, San Pablo Tepetlapa, Coyoacán, 04620 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Website: museoanahuacalli.org.mx

Dolores Cárcamo Museum

Second or third-time visitors to Mexico City who think they've seen everything will find something new here. This historic but infrequently visited site was constructed in 1951 as a hydraulic water system connected to the city's main water lines. While it no longer acts as a municipal water work but rather a museum and cultural landmark, it underscores the city's complicated relationship with water.

Address: Dolores Cárcamo Museum, Av. Rodolfo Neri Vela, Bosque de Chapultepec II Secc, Miguel Hidalgo, 11100 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico

Patrick Miller

From the outside, this dance club looks like dumpy warehouse hidden behind a black gate in Roma Norte. But come on a Friday (the only day it's open), and you'll find a raging party that offers a glimpse of the city's extant disco subculture. An eclectic mix of party-goers show off their moves in dance circles to all kinds of music, from '80s and '90s classics to sub-genres of disco, such as Hi-NRG, Italo, and electro.

Address: Patrick Miller, Merida 17, Roma Nte., Cuauhtémoc, 06700 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Website: facebook.com

Museo Nacional de Antropología

This massive building in Chapultepec Park is among the city's most famed museums, second only to perhaps the Museo Frida Kahlo. Though the late Mexican architect Pedro Ramírez Vázquez designed it in 1964, the mammoth building still looks as avant-garde today as it did then. (How exactly does that giant concrete slab float above a pond?) The museum holds the world's largest collection of ancient Mexican artifacts. Some of the most iconic Mesoamerican artifacts discovered to date can be found across 23 rooms. If you want to understand Mexico's history, then a visit here is a must.

Address: Museo Nacional de Antropología, Av. P.º de la Reforma s/n, Polanco, Bosque de Chapultepec I Secc, Miguel Hidalgo, 11560 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Website: mna.inah.gob.mx

Plaza Garibaldi

Mexico's roving mariachi bands have been found in this plaza, a few blocks north of the Palacio de Bellas Artes, since the mid-1900s. Though the plaza has deteriorated over the years, it's seen a resurgence thanks to a city-driven effort to clean up the neighbourhood by installing new sidewalks and street lamps. It's a cultural meeting point of sorts, where travellers can come day or night (though the best time to go is after 11pm), to watch bands solicit bar patrons, cars, and passersby to buy a song.

Address: Plaza Garibaldi, Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas 43, Centro, Cuauhtémoc, 06010 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico

Teotihuacán

The ancient Mesoamerican pyramids of Teotihuacán, in the Valley of Mexico, once served as the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas. It is thought that during the first millennium AD the city had around 125,000 people, including multi-ethnic groups such as the Otomi, Zapotec, Mixtec, Maya, and Nahua. If you have a few days in Mexico City, it's worth the day trip. (Teotihuacán is about an hour away by car from the city). Leave early in the morning so you can return to the city by mid-day – and bring sunscreen!

Torre Latinoamericana

This 44-story skyscraper, built in 1965, is the tallest building in Centro Histórico. The tower miraculously withstood both the 8.1-magnitude earthquake of 1985 and the 7.1-magnitude quake of September 2017, making it a rare feat of engineering. The Torre defines Mexico City's skyline (much like the Empire State Building in New York) and is a useful tool for orienting oneself in downtown. Head to the top-floor observation deck for jaw-dropping 360-degree views of the city, or to the newly renovated bar/restaurant (one floor below), which has equally impressive views and is almost always empty.

Address: Torre Latinoamericana, Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas 2, Centro Histórico de la Cdad. de México, Centro, Cuauhtémoc, 06000 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico

Iglesia San Ignacio de Loyola

A surprisingly tranquil stop in a high-energy city, this infrequently-visited modernist church is tucked away in plain sight in residential Polanco. Designed by famed architect Juan Sordo, it was completed in 1961 and features a sharp triangular structure covered in handmade yellow ceramic tiles. Show up during visiting hours, and you can tour the grounds inside and out. Indoors, the Jesuit temple is encased by multi-coloured stained glass windows that catch vibrant fractals on sunny days, with an effect almost like being trapped in a kaleidoscope. It's a place of worship and quiet contemplation but also a haven for architecture nerds.

Address: Iglesia San Ignacio de Loyola, Av Horacio y Moliere, Polanco, Polanco I Secc, Miguel Hidalgo, 11510 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Website: facebook.com

La Rifa Chocolateria

Indigenous to Mexico, cacao has been consumed in the country and played an important role in Mesoamerican societies since 19th BC; La Rifa continues the tradition with a small roaster on-site. There are a handful of tables sprinkled in the tree-shaded plaza out front, optimal perches for spending an hour or two. Ask to see their production in the back, and they will likely give you a tour. The main event is sipping chocolates—water-based and closest to how cacao was consumed, pre-Columbian, before the introduction of the Spanish (and thus cows and milk). The front-of-house folks are happy to explain the finer nuances of their roasting process, flavour profiles, and history of Mexican chocolate.

Address: Chocolatería La Rifa, C. Dinamarca 47, Cuauhtémoc, 06600 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Website: facebook.com

Ahuehuete

This six-seat collection room is a distillate library, a stunning space housed in a centuries-old building in one of Mexico City’s oldest neighbourhoods. The Porfirio Díaz-era bar and back bar were found in a Puebla antique store and are over 100 years old (once you book here, you'll be notified of the exact location). It'll cost you around £60 per person for a six-spirit sampling, light snacks, and water. Inside, there are only six seats and a knowledgeable barkeep/tour guide crafting a rich journey for you and your fellow spirit geeks. While tequila and mezcal are some of Mexico's greatest exports, there are dozens of other plant-based spirits like bacanora, sotol, raicilla, and charanga, distilled in micro-batch quantities in rural communities that never make it into commercial circulation – nor are they intended to. The team behind Ahuehuete has been collecting bottles throughout the years, travelling to rural villages to find interesting batches for their private collection.

Website: ahuehuete.co

Salón San Luis

The dance floor at this old-school salon, cloaked in red light, comes alive as locals, tourists, and old-timers twirl and shuffle to a live band. Try your hand at salsa, merengue, cumbia, and norteña numbers as waiters in crisp whites with black bow ties circle the room serving liquid courage. There's no shame in bad dancing, so try and learn the steps. (The pros might even show you a thing or two.)

Address: Salón San Luis, San Luis Potosí 26, Roma Sur, Cuauhtémoc, 06700 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Website: trippin.world

This article was first published on Condé Nast Traveler.