The historic center of Mexico City is absolutely beautiful. It’s home to several museums as well as beautiful buildings including the Palacio Postal and Palacio de Bellas Artes. The Post office is by far the grandest post office we’ve ever been in. It’s adorned with marble, gold, and gorgeous mid-century modern architecture. The Palacio de Bellas Artes is Mexico City’s Theatre which often offers ballets, symphonies, and plays. If that’s not your thing, still stop by to admire the gorgeous architecture and pop inside to see the very grand interior.

Also stop by the Plaza de la Constitución which is where the opening scene of Jame’s Bond Spectare was filmed. In the center of the Plaza you will find the National Palace which is the Federal building for Mexico City. You can enter with your passport, and admire one of Diego Rivera’s murals.

Take some time to walk the streets. It seems every calle or avenida has a unique building filled with character. Lots of buildings are adorned with ornate Spanish tiles, including the famous tiled house, or La Casa de Azulejos.

Xochimilco is a UNESCO World Heritage cite about 45 minutes south of Mexico City. It’s home to a series of canals and manmade islands that date back thousands of years, originally created by the Aztec for growing crops. This is a super popular activity for tourists, and is definitely on the top of the list for must do activities in a Mexico City travel guide. You can take a leisure boat ride through the canals or take an eco-tour like we did with De La Chinampas. We thoroughly enjoyed getting to learn about this history of this area and the importance it plays in supporting Mexico City’s ecosystem. 

There is no shortage of delicious food in Mexico City and the food scene is extremely diverse. You can have the most incredible taco for under a dollar, or dine at a world famous restaurant eating food by one of the best chef’s in the world. Below are a list of several restaurants that we dined at or came highly recommended.

• Pujol – The most famous restaurant in all of Mexico City. If you want to dine here make reservations the minute you book your flight or determine your dates for visiting Mexico City.
• Amaya – Upscale Mexican cuisine by chef. We dined here and everything we ate was absolutely delicious. Reservations highly recommended.
• Rosetta – One of Mexico City’s finer dining establishments in the Roma neighborhood.
• Panaderia Rosetta – Freshly baked bread each day from various types of flours, incredible pastries, sit down breakfast and lunch options, and the most amazing doughnuts called Berli. Trust me, you want to eat here.
• Contramar – famous seafood spot to enjoy incredibly fresh seafood in the Roma neighborhood.
• El Moro – famous for their churros con chocolate, it’s a deserved stop with several locations for you to stop in and enjoy a sweet treat.
• Máximo Bistrot – We were told by several people that this is currently Mexico City’s best restaurant and has been voted in the top 50 best restaurants in Latin America. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to dine here because they were booked. Make reservations well in advance if you want to dine here.
• Dr. Pizza – if you’re looking for something other than Mexican food, Dr. Pizza in the Juarez neighborhood is worth a stop and are open on Mondays (a notoriously sleepy day for restaurants in Mexico city). They had the best cocktail we’ve had our entire 2 months in Mexico so far!
• Tacos! Who doesn’t love a good taco? Tacos are eaten at night as a late night treat or meal before you go out on the town. Tons of stalls will pop up on the street once it gets dark out or you can visit an establishment with a permanent location. We heard Exquisitos Tacos de Mixiotes, Tacos Los Juanes, and Tacos el Huequito are good. Tacos al pastor are famous here, but you can’t go wrong with any type of taco.

Rather than navigate the food culture on your own, take a food tour. We explored the Roma neighborhood on a walking food tour with Secret Food Tours and got a great taste for the food culture of Mexico and Mexico City. If you’re interested in taking your own food tour, use code 25LIZ to get 25% off. No matter where you eat, or how you choose to explore the food scene, you really can’t go wrong here.

Mexico City has more museums than any other capital city in the world, over 150 to be exact. The most famous museums to visit are the Frida Kahlo Museum which is located in her residence. While we were unable to visit this trip, is high on our suggested stops based on recommendations from others. The Anthropology Museum also came highly recommended. If you’re a history buff, or simply enjoy learning about the history of Latin American ancient civilizations this museum is worth a stop. Plan to spend a significant amount of time here. I’ve heard it’s massive.

There are tons of other incredible places to explore, wonderful food to try, and awesome sights to experience. But hopefully, this Mexico City travel guide will be helpful in planning your own trip to CDMX. If you visit any of the suggestions in this guide we’d love to hear about them in the comment section below, as well as any other places you feel we should visit when we return.