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| Ranking Among Int'l Cities/Regions: #24 |
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| Mid-Venturers: 6 |
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| Centrics-Authentics: 7 |
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• Mexico City is the oldest capital in the Western Hemisphere (1325, est.)
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| • The city’s heaviest buildings are sinking four to 12 inches a year |
| • Mexico City has more taxis than any other city, nearly 90,000 |
| • The Zocalo (640K square feet) is the Western Hemisphere’s largest public square |
| • The Metropolitan Cathedral is Latin America’s largest and oldest cathedral (1572) |
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The neighboring capital
Mexico City is best known among those who never visit as one of the world’s largest cities and as the capital of one of only two countries to border the United States.
To those who visit, and their numbers continue to grow, it is a multifaceted metropolis with abundant examples of a rich history that spans the years before and after the arrival of Europeans, complemented by modern business districts, nighttime entertainment that ranges from the traditional to the latest in 21st century diversions and a wealth of city parks and ambitiously conceived museums and galleries.
About Mexico City
The Aztec capital Tenochtitlan was a city of about 300,000 when Spanish conquistadors destroyed it in the early 16th century and decimated the population (mostly because of European diseases). The Spanish built their capital Mexico City on Tenochtitlan’s ruins and remained the colonial overlord until Mexican independence in 1821. Today, the city occupies the Federal District, a separate political entity comparable to the District of Columbia.
Historical circumstances left Mexico City with great tourist attractions. The Historic Center is replete with Spanish colonial architecture and encompasses more than 680 city blocks including the Zocalo, the city’s main square. The Metropolitan Cathedral and the National Palace overlook the Zocalo, but the square takes visitors to pre-Hispanic times, too. Remains of the Templo Major, the main ceremonial pyramid of Tenochtitlan, are on view in a corner of the Zocalo. Others of the city’s monumental buildings came post-independence, such as the nearby Palace of Fine Arts, home to the Ballet Folklorico.
Another part of Mexico City’s story is best viewed through the prism of geography. The city is 7,349 feet above sea level but sits in a basin surrounded by still-higher mountains. Thus, pollutants are trapped, aggravating a notorious pollution problem. Besides, this is the Western Hemisphere’s largest metropolis with around 20 million people contributing to equally notorious traffic congestion.
The city is built on the moist clay soil of a lake bed (Tenochtitlan was surrounded by Lake Texcoco), which explains why buildings sink — and why tourists pose with pipes protruding oddly out of the ground. Issues also include crime. Mexico City created an elite subset of the police force, stationed in tourist areas. These English-speaking cops provide information to tourists, too. Nevertheless, beefed-up security does not eliminate the need to take care. Despite these urban concerns, fans like the buzz of a multidimensional city where they can spend the day climbing nearby pyramids or absorbing the big picture at the National Museum of Anthropology, shop in the evening, dine — very late — in a former hacienda and have a nightcap in a modern club. A bonus: The high altitude also provides cool nights.
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• Take in the fantastic views after climbing to the top of the Pyramid of the Sun at the abandoned city of Teotihuacan, about 40 minutes away from Mexico City. Also, walk the Avenue of the Dead as part of your explorations of this 13-square-mile site, and after your exertions, settle in for a lunch and tequila on site.
• Hike or mountain bike over the nearly 100 miles of guarded trails in San Nicolas Totolapan Ecological Park, a community-managed forest reserve. Alternatively, rent a bike (day-glow vests and helmets included) and follow a self-designed biking tour of the city. Or, go rock climbing at the city’s Parque Ecologico el Cantil.
• Attend a game of soccer, or futbol as the Mexicans call it. Or, go to the horse races.
• Attend a bullfight at the Monumental Plaza de Toros Mexico. It is a ritualistic spectacle, but prepare to see red — blood.
• If you visit around Nov. 1 and 2, observe the Day of the Dead celebrations, and look for skeleton handicrafts and sugar and chocolate skulls in the markets.
If your timing isn’t that good, bone up on Day of the Dead customs at the Museum of Popular Art.
• Take full advantage of a lively night scene, visiting discos, jazz clubs plus traditional cantinas. Have a margarita at La Opera, a 19th century cantina complete with bullet hole made by Pancho Villa.
• Buy ringside tickets to see a competition called lucha libre, at the Arena Mexico. The short description tells us this is a noisy wrestling match between men wearing masks. Note: Taxis are scarce near this arena; arrange to be picked up.
• Arrange a spa experience, with a shaman chanting and providing guidance, inside a traditional Temazcal sweat lodge. You can do this at the W Hotel in town.
• Go for the odd and tacky, starting with a meal at La Bipolar, with walls made from
plastic crates, and moving to Malverde for drinks. Here, the decor includes lucha libre masks, Virgin of Guadalupe prints and a lip-synching deer head.
• Sample foods you don’t find at home, such as escamoles (ant eggs) or cuitlacoche, or huitlacoche (a purplish-black corn fungus). Or, how about a pre-Hispanic dish made with maguey worms? Then fall back on more familiar staples like ceviche and guacamole.
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• Buy a pass that lets you use a hop-on, hop-off bus service linking the major tourists attractions and offering more than 25 stops along the way.
• Time your trip to be on hand for the August events commemorating the fall of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, to the Spaniards. Events, held at the Cuauhtemoc Monument and at the Plaza of Three Cultures, include dance performances designed to recall the Aztec defense.
• Swim with dolphins at the Bosque de Aragon Dolphin Aquarium.
• In Xochimilco, ride in brightly colored gondola-like boats on canals built by the Aztecs. Show up in March and attend an annual festival that uses Xochimilco and its floating gardens as a backdrop. It features culinary events and handicrafts exhibits.
• Make colonial neighborhoods a theme for your self-directed sightseeing. Samples are the San Angel and Coyoacan, two quiet Spanish colonial districts.
• If history is your love, spend uninterrupted hours in the Historic Center, a UNESCO World Heritage Site encompassing more than 680 city blocks including the Zocalo, the city’s main square. Besides the leavings of the Spanish colonial era, you’ll see the Templo Major, the Aztec archaeological site in one corner of the Zocalo.
• Sample the tacos in the popular Condesa neighborhood — or wherever you are hanging out. Try something else, too, a sandwich called the torta and much loved by Mexicans.
• Join a two-hour tour by bicycle in Chapultepec Park, or choose a tour in the Coyoacan neighborhood.
• Make a day of it. Head to Puebla, about 80 miles out of town, to see a city that retains much of its Spanish character — and that is known for its tiles. Shop for tiles here, as well as candy, onyx, terracotta, textiles and a raft other crafts. Get a look at Cholula, the world’s largest pyramid, located about five miles west of Puebla.
• Jog in the Primera Seccion, or first section, of Chapultepec Park where paths take you among the trees, across grassy meadows and around a couple of small lakes.
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•Take a half-hour trolley tour in either the Historic Center or Coyoacan districts, or both.
• Shop till your luggage pops. Look for handicrafts bazaars and the Carretones Glass Factory in the city’s historic center, cruise the specialty shops in the Zona Rosa and scour the Bazaar Sabado, a Saturday market in the colonial San Angel neighborhood. And that is just a sample.
• If you are not already with a guided tour, join a group for your first sightseeing half or full day in Mexico City. It’s a big city with lots to discover.
• Make Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (who was also married to artist Diego Rivera) your theme for a day. Include the Blue House, or Frida Kahlo Museum, her 1907 birthplace in Coyoacan; the House and Studio Museum of Rivera and Kahlo in San Angel; Dolores Olmedo Patino Museum in Xochimilco, and the Museum of Modern Art in Chapultepec Park.
• Attend the Ballet Folklorico in the Palace of Fine Arts for a spectacle that shows off traditional music, dance and costumes from around the country. Also, seek out the establishments that feature mariachi music.
• Undertake a personal pilgrimage to the important religious sites in Mexico City. The Basilica of Guadalupe is the second-most-visited Christian site after the Vatican.
• Buy stamps and mail a letter at the Palacio Postal. The letter may be superfluous after you see why this 1907 building is called the Postal Palace.
• Reserve a table for dinner at La Hacienda de los Morales, where the food is excellent and varied, and the building itself is a good reason to go. The site is a 16th century hacienda. Another alternative is the San Angel Inn, a 17th century hacienda where the food is Mexican and international.
• Of course, you will tour the important National Museum of Anthropology, but Chapultepec Park also houses Chapultepec Castle, home to the National Museum of History and former residence of the Hapsburg Emperor Maximilian.
• There are several day trip options. For one of those days, consider Toluca, noted for colonial architecture and its arts-and-crafts markets, and Malinalco, a colonial mountain town with fine examples of pre-Columbian art, as well.
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For more information, consult Mexico City Tourism Authority at the Spanish-language www.mexicocity.gob.mx and the Mexico Tourist Board at www.visitmexico.com, where you choose your language.
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