Hello everyone! Welcome back to BirthMay! I wanted to do a travel sort of post today with some of my top “must sees” in Mexico City!

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This is my third annual BirthMay! What is BirthMay, you ask? Well I blog every day in May because it’s my birth month! I started BirthMay in 2017 and did it again in 2018 so I knew I had to do it again this year.

Now, I’ve been to Mexico City a few times in my life but only really started to get to know the city in the past few visits. I love Mexico City a lot so I thought I’d share some of my favorite places that I consider to be the “must sees” for any visitor! I’m also going to share a few more places that I want to explore a bit more as a little bonus!

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Chapultepec

The Bosque de Chapultepec is a large park in Mexico City with a ton to offer. I absolutely love visiting because there’s so much to do! Not only is it a park but there’s a ton of museums here. I loved the Museo de Antropologia, or the anthropology museum, there which was huge and had some amazing art throughout the ages. It isn’t free but it’s not too expensive and there’s plenty to see. I believe it’s also the most popular museum in Mexico!

There is also Los Pinos, pictured above, which was the official Presidential residence now turned museum! I really enjoyed walking around the buildings and seeing how the presidents lived. This one is completely free and is quite big so you can spend a nice morning here.

On top of the giant hill in the park is Chapultepec Castle, which was the official Presidential residence before Los Pinos. The castle is gorgeous and such a great historical piece of Mexico. I don’t remember the exact fees for it but it wasn’t terrible and we got a tour guide on top of that for the group which was really helpful to learn about the significance of the location. The photo above can be taken from the castle.

Some places I still want to visit but haven’t yet are the Chapultepec Zoo (I think I visited as a child but I was tiny!) and the Museo del Caracol which is a museum on Mexico’s history. There is also a Quixote Fountain which sounds awesome to see. I know my mom wants to go to the children’s museum Papalote Museo del Nino for some reason so we’ll probably go there sometime too! There’s a ton more museums, lots of fun vendors, and several monuments around the park to see as well.

Paseo de la Reforma w/ Colonia Roma and El Centro

Paseo de la Reforma is a large main street in Mexico City that has a ton of monuments to enjoy as well. On one end of Reforma is Chapultepec with the Zocalo on the other, and along the way is El Angel de la Independencia, the Diana the Huntress Fountain, and tons of art pieces. After big soccer games people will gather at the Angel which seems cool! There are also temporary art exhibits around here as well from time to time. On Sundays Reforma is closed to traffic so everyone can bike or stroll along the avenue. I haven’t done that yet but I definitely want to! Nearby is also the Monumento a la Revolucion as well as the Palacio de Bellas Artes.

I’ve been to both of those and they’re gorgeous as well! The street is pretty long so I would recommend doing the Chapultepec, Angel, and Diana at once then exploring the areas around there like the Colonia Roma, then going to the Centro to see the Zocalo, Monumento a la Revolucion, Palacio de Bellas Artes, and all that amazing area. The Zocalo has the Museo del Templo Mayor, which is an ancient ruins site. There’s tons of stores around as well so it’s a great shopping area! You may also run into some sort of display or event in the area too.

Coyoacan

Coyoacan is one of my favorite neighborhoods in Mexico City! I really enjoy walking around and seeing this area. There’s some amazing markets here, including the Mercado Coyocan and the Mercado de Artesanias. Now the neighborhood is quite pricy so I only buy things I really, really love (especially the artisan market). Even without the markets the neighborhood is so fun. There’s tons of amazing food places, on Friday’s there’s comedic performances at the plaza, and tons of museums. The Museo Frida Kahlo at the Casa Azul, Museo Diego Rivera, and more museums are in the area too. These are a little removed from the center where the markets are but well worth the visit. If possible, when you go to the Frida Kahlo museum go on a weekend because you can also get entry to the Diego Rivera museum and there’s a bus that will take you between the two with your ticket. I only saw the Frida Kahlo museum because I didn’t know this was a thing beforehand and we didn’t go on a weekend! There’s a ton more to see in this neighborhood so I plan to continue to explore it during each of my future visits.

Xochimilco

Xochimilco is like Coyoacan, it’s a neighborhood of Mexico City that actually used to be it’s own city. I’ve only been here once but it was enough that I would consider this a must see! The neighborhood features an amazing plant market which is such a great bonus. The main attraction here is Lake Xochimilco and their trajineras (pictured above). The trajineras are sort of flat boats that go through the canals, with smaller boats going by to sell food, trinkets, offer mariachis, and more. There’s also some vendors on the docks as well. I loved this area and the items sold were beautiful. I also really enjoyed how peaceful the trajinera ride was once you get out of the main docks and further out on the canal. Plus, it’s such a beautiful area. Just do yourself a favor and plan to eat snacks on the trajinera (or hire a food vendor to be on the trajinera if you have a large group) rather than eat at the restaurants in front of the docks. Now, I did some research and I don’t think I would go back unless I wanted to go on the trajineras again as the neighborhood doesn’t have much more that interests me but it is so beautiful I would go back to the lake again!

Teotihuacan

I can’t believe I nearly forgot Teotihuacan! The Pyramids of Teotihuacan are gorgeous and this area is beautiful! I basically forced my family members to take me but they didn’t seem to mind at all because they ended up loving the area too. You can climb the pyramids (in certain places) and it’s great fun to be able to go up and see them up close. There’s a few vendors (probably more on weekends, we went on a weekday) and there’s also restaurants around the area which is great as it’s definitely a day trip. Even so, it’s amazing and well worth it.

Places I want to see

I would love to visit the neighborhood of Polanco. I did go to a few museums there such as the Soumaya Museum and the Acuario Imbursa but that’s it. We didn’t walk around or anything and I hear the neighborhood is gorgeous so I want to go back and see more!

I would love to see the Zoologico de Chapultepec as I mentioned, and other museums in Chapultepec too! There’s also the Museo Dolores Olmedo which has several works of art by Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo and is located in Coyoacan (I think… I should look that up again before my next visit). I also mentioned the Papalote Museo del Nino, which is a children’s museum but if my mom wants to go I’ll gladly go! I recently found a traditional craft market called La Ciudadela which I want to look up and potentially go to!

Other places of interest

Here’s some places I’ve been that are cool, and might interest you enough to make it onto your “must see” list! One would be the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which is an area of three churches for the Virgin Mary. She’s very celebrated in Mexico and so it’s an amazing holy site for Catholics. I’ve visited before but when I was very young so I would go again but probably with my dad since he’d definitely make us go with him. I haven’t been to Mexico with my dad in a long time so that’s something to look forward to!

If you prefer amusement parks you can visit Six Flags Mexico! Yes, Six Flags has a park in Mexico! I haven’t been but my family members have gone and even had season passes before. I would have loved to go when I had a season pass too but personally I wouldn’t make a trip and buy a single day pass. I would, however, go if I get a season pass and dining pass again and I would probably also get a fast pass there. They have rides and a water park so it would be so cool to see a new park!

I would say the Museo del Templo Mayor would be cool if you haven’t gone to the anthropology museum, but if you have then it might be too similar. It’s a lot smaller so it would be a shorter time commitment. If you’re a huge fan of Kahlo and Rivera you could go to their homes and studios at Museo Casa Estudio Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, as it’s pretty small and kind of out of the way from most other things but it was interesting.

The Torre Latino is sort of like the Sears/Willis Tower or the Empire State Building. I haven’t gone as it seems similar but it is located in the city center near the Zocalo and Bellas Artes so if it sounds interesting to you, by all means, add it to your schedule!

There’s also tons of other museums so if none of the ones I liked seem interesting you can check out some others online and see if it sounds like something you’d like. I don’t want to list any since, well, there’s way too many! I think my cousins said that Mexico City is one of the cities with the most, if not the most, museums in the world, so there’s something for everyone!

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There you go! That’s my “must sees” in Mexico City, with some places I still want to go to and others that you might like! I didn’t want to add too much about these places so you’d be able to experience them yourselves but I have blogged a bit more about them so feel free to go to the search bar on the sidebar of my blog to look up what peaks your interest! (Alternatively search through my posts under my “Travel” section!)

Do you agree with any of my suggestions? Let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading!

Pamela

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