Mexico City

The 16th-century House of Tiles, fronted with blue and white 18th-century Puebla tiles, was once occupied by the Zapatista army during the revolution. Today it serves as one of Sanborn’s chain of department stores and restaurants.

Avenida Insurgentes has plenty of surprises for the fervent traveler: the Teatros de los Insurgentes covered with Diego Rivera murals; Plaza México, the world’s largest bullring; and the strikingly decorated Polyforum Cultural Siqueiros, presently used as a convention center.

An important collection of European art since the 16th century is found inside an elegant 19th-century, neoclassical palace. From the Renaissance to the Baroque to the exquisitely Romantic, you are taken on a historical tour of art through the almost 2,000 exhibits of paintings, drawings, sculptures, and engravings.

This small square finds itself surrounded by the presence of beautiful colonial buildings: the former customs house Antigua Aduana, the Mexican baroque Convento de Santo Domingo, and the old Edificio de la Inquisición among others. The latter saw the tribunals of the Inquisition during colonial times.

One of Mexico’s trendiest districts laid out in a grid pattern is home to exclusive residences, upscale restaurants and boutiques, and a couple of art galleries. Some of the hotspots you should visit and stay awhile at are Restaurant DO with its Spanish-influenced haute cuisine; Bar Cosmo with its lineup of visiting international DJs; popular dance venue Bar Fly; and the unerringly Mexican Águila y Sol.

It was in 1525 when Templo de San Francisco was founded by the “Apostles of Mexico,” the first 12 Franciscans to set foot on the country. Rebuilt in 1716, this church is seen as by far the most important in the colonial times.

Literally meaning “Land of Flowers,” this 176-kilometer landscape of ancient canals especially used by the Aztecs for transportation and irrigation, offers a riveting ride aboard wooden boats and into a haven of fresh flowers.

Known as the third largest square in the world, La Plaza de la Constitución has been around since the pre-Hispanic times and has always been an important public site where mass demonstrations, festivities, and other socio-cultural activities are held.

A remarkable range of hotels, restaurants and bars, and nightclubs are to be enjoyed in this area right in the heart of the Juárez district. Be it European–style al fresco dining or a quintessentially Mexican fare, you are in for a great time in the bustling city.

Dominating the zócalo is the largest and oldest cathedral in Latin America, erected soon after the Conquest. Built with various architectural styles—Spanish Rennaisance and French neo-classicism, for instance—this immense cathedral houses five aisles with ornate altars and the 13-ton Santa Maria de Guadalupe bell.

Today’s Palacio Nacional dates back to 1693 and houses the presidential office and the Federal Treasury. It also shelters an impressive collection of Mexican Spanish Diego Rivera’s murals.

Unveiled in 1976, this pyramid-shaped Aztec temple saw human sacrifices inside its very walls. These remains and 6,000 other artifacts are exhibited in the museum.

The National Art Museum, built between 1904 and 1911, is housed in a glorious neo-classical building that is a wonder in itself. A Carlos IV statue stands guard by the entrance, while magnificent staircases abound inside. An extensive collection of Mexican art—paintings, sculptures, and ceramics, among others—from the 16th century to 1950 is the main attraction in this celebrated art haven.

One of the best museums offered in the world today is a work of art in itself: covered by a massive concrete mushroom—the world’s largest steel and concrete expanse supported by a single pillar—and life-symbolizing water cascading down around it. Eleven exhibitions of Mesoamerican prehistory and other American cultures rather comprehensively showcase collections of masks, pottery, fabrics, and other objects of beauty and rarity.

Mexico’s most venerated shrine witnessed the Virgin Mary in December 1531 imprinting her portrait on Juan Diego’s cape. Today’s massive baroque structure replaced the original 16th century church, yet the important cape remains in an encased glass by the altar.