Things to do in Mexico City

Mexico City sits at 2,240 metres. Nine million people live in the city proper, and about twenty-two million in the wider metropolitan area. The whole thing stands on a drained lake bed and is still sinking.

The centre and the quarters

The historic centre and Xochimilco joined the World Heritage list together in 1987. The Zócalo is the middle of it. The cathedral and the excavated Templo Mayor stand on the same square.

• Templo Mayor. Electricity workers struck a carved Aztec disc here in February 1978, and the dig has run ever since.
• Coyoacán. A cobbled southern quarter, with Frida Kahlo's Casa Azul on one of its streets.
• Xochimilco. Surviving canals of the old lake, worked by flat painted boats called trajineras.
• Chapultepec. The big park, and the anthropology museum where the country's archaeology actually lives.
• Roma and Condesa. Early twentieth-century streets that hold most of the eating and drinking now.

Day trips from Mexico City

Two of the largest sights are outside the ring road. Teotihuacan lies about fifty kilometres north-east and takes a morning. Guadalupe's basilica sits on the way back.

Climbing rules there have changed twice. The Pyramid of the Sun was closed to climbers in 2021. The Pyramid of the Moon reopened in 2025, but only as far as its first platform.

• Teotihuacan. Two vast pyramids on one long avenue, built by a people whose own name for themselves is unknown.
• Basilica of Guadalupe. The country's main pilgrimage site, usually bolted onto the Teotihuacan run.
• Tlatelolco. The Plaza of Three Cultures, where an Aztec platform, a colonial church and 1960s flats share one square.

Practical

• Altitude. The city is higher than most alpine resorts. Take the first day slowly and drink more water than feels necessary.
• Seasons. Dry and mild from November to April. From May to October it rains hard in the late afternoon, then clears.
• Museums. Most close on Mondays, the anthropology museum and Templo Mayor included.
• Casa Azul. Timed tickets are sold online and go before the day itself. There is no useful walk-up queue.
• Getting about. The metro costs a few pesos and beats the traffic. Use ride apps rather than flagging street taxis.
• Meals. The main meal runs from two to four. Restaurants fill for dinner after nine.
• Prices. A market lunch costs a few dollars, a tasting menu in Roma as much as in Europe.
• Tipping. Ten to fifteen per cent in restaurants, plus small change for petrol and parking attendants.