• Mexico Guide

  • Introduction to Mexico
  • Weather
  • Things not to miss
  • Getting around
  • Entry requirements
  • Money
  • Public holidays

• Explore Mexico

  • Baja California and the Pacific Northwest
  • The north
  • The Bajío
  • Northern Jalisco and Michoacán
  • Mexico City
  • Acapulco and the Pacific beaches
  • Veracruz
  • Oaxaca
  • Chiapas and Tabasco
  • The Yucatán

• Cities

  • Acapulco
    
  • Cancún
    
  • Guadalajara
    
  • Mexico City
    
  • Monterrey
    
  • Oaxaca
    

Mexico Guide

Mexico City

• Accommodation
• Eating
• Nightlife
• Markets and shopping

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Since long before the Mexican nation actually existed, the Valley of México has been the country's centre of gravity. Located in this mountain-ringed basin – 100km long, 60km wide and over 2400m high, dotted with great salt- and fresh-water lagoons and dominated by the vast snowcapped peaks of Popocatépetl and Ixtaccíhuatl – were some of the most powerful civilizations the country has seen. Today the lakes have all but disappeared and the mountains are shrouded in smog, but the region continues to be the heart of the country, its physical centre and the generator of its political, cultural and economic pulse.

At the crossroads of everything sprawls the vibrant, elegant, chaotic and fascinating Mexico City. In population one of the largest cities in the world, with more than twenty million inhabitants, its lure is irresistible. Colonial mansions and excavated pyramids vie for attention with the city's fabulous museums and galleries, while above them tower the concrete and glass of thrusting development. But above all, the city is alive – exciting, sometimes frightening, always bewildering, but boldly alive. You can't avoid it, and if you genuinely want to know anything of Mexico you shouldn't try.

Set over 2400m above sea level in a shallow mountain bowl, and crammed with over twenty million people, Mexico City is one of the world's most densely populated urban areas. Although it does have a high crime rate, and some terrible pollution, the capital is nowhere near as intimidating as you might expect. Nonetheless, you may still prefer to take it in a couple of days at a time, taking off in between to recharge in the smaller, neighbouring colonial cities.

The city radiates out from the Zócalo, or main square, as much the heart of the modern capital as it was of the Aztec city that once sat here. Immediately to its west, in the streets between the Zócalo and the garden known as the Alameda, is the city's main commercial area. Beyond that, the glitzy Zona Rosa, with trendy Condesa to its south, stretches towards Chapultepec Park – home to the incredible Museo Nacional de Antropología – and the rich enclave of Polanco, while Avenida de los Insurgentes leads down to the more laid-back barrios of San Ángel and Coyoacán. Around the outer edges of the city are shantytowns, built piecemeal by migrants from elsewhere in the country. Hidden among these less affluent communities are a number of gems, such as the pyramids of Tenayauca, Santa Cecilia and Cuicuilco, and the canals of Xochimilco.