36 Hours in Mexico City: Things to Do and See

When Mexico City was the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, the district of La Merced, on the southeastern edge of the historic center, served as a port for goods from the mainland. There is no water anymore, but with its thousands of informal vendors and about eleven covered markets, La Merced still feels like a harbour: raw, tempestuous and overwhelming. To avoid getting lost, it is best to visit for a full breakfast with Eat like a locala small tour operator that spends part of its proceeds on educational programs for young women in the area. The company’s flagship four-hour walking tour ($120 per person) includes both La Merced and the Mercado Jamaica flower market, but it can also organize shorter, tailor-made tours focused on this landmark in Mexico City.

As you walk from La Merced to the spectacular ceremonial square known as the Zócalo, stop at Cerería de Jesús for handmade beeswax candles (24 pesos) and the Ex-Teresa Arte Actual (free), a museum in a steeply tilted former monastery. From there you will cross the sunken ruins of the Aztecs Mayor of Templo (100 pesos) on the way to the new flagship store for FONARTthe National Fund for the Development of Crafts, and, around the corner, the moving works of José Clemente Orozco at the Colegio de San Ildefonso (50 pesos), widely considered the birthplace of Mexican muralism. Finally, see Diego Rivera’s dynamic series of paintings – ranging from romantic depictions of Mexican folk customs to dizzying lampoons on capitalist excesses – in the former Secretariat of Public Instruction, open since 2024 as the Museo Vivo del Muralisme (free).

The restaurant opened in April 2025 Charco, on the roof of the new, child-friendly Museo del Cacao & Chocolateoverlooks the domes and buttresses of the Metropolitan Cathedral. Charco’s kitchen, run by Chilean chef Ricardo Verdejo, delivers an inventive, seafood-heavy menu with a strong program of cocktails, mezcals and natural wines (cocktails from 190 pesos, dinner for two around 1,500 pesos, without drinks). On a clear day (admittedly, they are few and far between), the twin volcanic peaks of Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl may appear on the horizon, but sunsets are spectacular in any weather. For a quiet drink with a touch of history, try one of the classic cantinas nearby El Gallo de Oro (beer from 65 pesos), open since 1874 and with a decor that has remained virtually unchanged since the 1970s.

In 2022, after nearly six years of collecting rare agave distillates across Mexico, food writer Natalia de la Rosa and photographer Jason Thomas Fritz opened one of the city’s top tasting rooms, Ahuehuetein the historic center. The owners host six visitors at a time and serve a wide range of high-quality spirits purchased from producers in remote villages, from the highlands of Sonora to the tropical hills of Guerrero and the volcanic valleys of Michoacán. The two-hour, $90 tastings include at least six servings of mezcal, painting an incomparable picture of Mexico’s cultural and environmental diversity. For a more self-guided experience, Bosforoalso in the Centro district, remains the city’s standard-bearer for agave spirits and experimental music – still sexy and surprising more than 15 years after opening (an ounce of 80 pesos).

In Mexico City, where lunch lasts well into the evening, late-night provisions, often served under fluorescent lights and a halo of smoke, are a common substitute for dinner. Options are plentiful. Café La Pagodeone of the historic center’s venerable Cafés de Chinos – coffee shops opened by Chinese immigrants from the 1930s onwards – sells enchiladas (149 pesos) and chilaquiles (94 pesos) 24 hours a day, keeping the same schedule Caldos de Gallina Luis in la Roma, known for its warming bowls of chicken soup (from 65 pesos). In the Narvarte district, Tacos Tony turns out fragrant tacos de suadero (32 pesos), a block away El Vilsitoa mechanic’s shop by day and a taquería by night, serving marbled parson’s leaves (27 pesos) until 5 a.m.