Mexico City is a feast for the senses. On the sidewalks, bodies jostle to the beat of norteño music and the cries of street vendors, mingling their sweat with the scent of freshly fried tortillas. Eight-lane highways run past ancient pyramids, Catholics make pilgrimages to pagan temples, and cacti compete for space with palms. Somehow it all seems to make sense. Composed of 350 colonias (neighborhoods), Mexico’s capital is one of the world’s largest and most exciting cities in the world. Estimates of the city’s population vary depending on who’s counting and how one determines the urban limits, but most agree that it reaches almost nine million people in the city proper and between 17 and 25 million in the greater Federal District. A contender for the title of most museums and theaters in the world, the city takes in more than 2 million tourists per year. In the city, Mexicans refer to the megalopolis as el D.F. (deh-EFF-eh; Distrito Federal), but to the rest of the country, it is simply México, a testament to its immense size and importance.
First settled in the 13th century by the Aztecs, following divine commands to stop where they saw an eagle devouring a serpent, Tenochtitlán became the epicenter of a powerful empire that stretched across the central valley. In 1520, when the Spaniards encountered the Aztec capital—actually a series of garden- and pyramid-filled islands on the surface of Lake Texcoco connected by removable causeways and canals—they were impressed. The “buildings rising from the water, all made of stone, seemed like an enchanted vision .. It was all so wonderful that I do not know how to describe this first glimpse of things never heard of, seen or dreamed before,” recalled soldier Bernal Díaz del Castillo in his memoir. After defeating the city, the Spaniards replaced canals with roads and used the rubble to build new palacios and cathedrals—many of which are still standing. Despite all the energy devoted to recasting the city, in 1629 a five-year flood nearly wiped it off the map. Great construction projects in the 18th century revitalized the area, linking it via aqueduct to the reservoirs in Chapultepec, and draining the giant underground lake. By the time of Mexico’s independence in 1821, the city was Latin America’s cultural capital, home to the oldest university in the Americas.
Foreign invasion and internal unrest slowed building stalled during the 19th century, and not until the dictatorship of General Porfirio Díaz (1876-1910) did the city regain stability, embarking on a series of ambitious turn-of-the-century projects. The Revolution (1910-1917) solidified the city’s importance, and employment opportunities lured thousands of migrants from the countryside. Between 1950 and 2000, the city’s population exploded from 3 million to 18 million. Even as the new arrivals supported a vibrant artistic and intellectual life, they stressed city infrastructure, exposing socio-economic disparities and yielding shanty towns and slums that still line the roads to the capital. In the 1980s and 90s, the city experienced environmental challenges, including a massive earthquake, a volcanic eruption, and dangerously deteriorating air quality. Since the late 1990s, the city has launched new crime fighting initiatives, and began to battle pollution, using educational campaigns and strict controls. The center of Mexican life for centuries, the capital is a dizzying mix of old and new that captivates both tourist and local alike.
All roads lead to Mexico City. Buses, planes, and trains from every town in the republic haul passengers through the smoggy hyperactivity of the city’s many temples of transport—the constantly expanding ...more
Mexico City extends outward from the centro roughly 10km to the north, 8km to the east, 20km to the south, and 10km to the west, though there is much debate about where the city actually begins and ends ...more
Cheap, spotless, and efficient, the Metro never ceases to amaze. Built for the Olympic Games in the late 1960s, it now transports nine million people per day—more than 3 billion per year—to its 175 ...more
Tourist Office: Secretaria de Turismo del Distrito Federal, Nuevo León 56 (☎ 5212 0206, toll-free 800 008 9090; www.mexicocity.gob.mx), in Col. Hipódromo Condesa. A government office that mainly deals ...more
Mexico City offers over 1000 hotels. Rooms abound in the centro histórico and near the Alameda Central. The best budget bargains can be found near the Monumento a la Revolución in the streets around ...more
Meal options fall into six basic categories: very cheap (and sometimes risky) vendor stalls scattered about the streets; fast, inexpensive, and generally safe taquerías; slightly more formal cafeterías ...more
Mexico City overflows with history, culture, and entertainment. It is impossible to see everything, and even after the longest trip there always seems to be something that you missed. Most museums are ...more
Whether you want to dance, drink, talk, sing, listen, or watch, you will find your kind of place in the D.F. Clubs offer salsa, rock, house, electronic pop, and everything in between—but there are ...more
While most Mexican cities rely on one large, central market, Mexico City seems to have one on every corner. Each colonia has its own, and the ones downtown rival the size of a small city. Markets are ...more
Whether consumed by their passion for bullfighting, fútbol (soccer), béisbol (baseball), or horse racing, Mexican fans share an almost religious devotion to sports. Although charrería (rodeo) may ...more
Even those who have fallen deeply in love with Mexico City need some time away to maintain a healthy relationship. Fortunately, the capital’s central location makes for easy and painless escape. From ...more
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For 52 years, we have published the world’s favorite budget travel guides, written entirely by students and updated every year. With pen and notebook in hand and a few changes of underwear stuffed in our backpacks, we spend months roaming the globe in search of travel bargains.
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