We provide you the information to visit Los Pinos, and what to see there, which was the presidential residence in Mexico until 2018.
A place that, since I have the use of reason, I have heard: Los Pinos. And, of course, since it was the official residence of the presidents of Mexico. That changed in 2018 when the Los Pinos Presidential Residence became the Los Pinos Cultural Complex and was opened to the public. The truth is that I was always curious to pay a visit to Los Pinos, and it seemed impossible to me. But this was going to become a reality, and we provide you the information so that you can visit it too.
Information to visit the Los Pinos, ancient presidential residence, now Cultural Complex
How much is it?
The best price: FREE
Which are the schedules?
From Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Can you take photos?
Yes. But you have to avoid using the flash.
Take the subway line 7 and get off at the Constituyentes station. From there you can get to Gate 1 effortlessly.
The approximate visiting time is about two hours, but we took a little longer because we were walking slowly.
A bit of history about Los Pinos
The official residence of the presidents of Mexico was the Chapultepec Castle, that changed when Lázaro Cárdenas took office as president in 1934. He decided not to live in the castle so that the public could visit it. He said that, until then, 95% of the population did not know the interior of the castle, which is very attractive and has a high historical content. And, after having visited it, I couldn’t agree more.
The area where this new presidential residence would be located had the name of “La Hormiga” (the ant) ranch. But, because President Cárdenas considered that “the ant” was not a suitable name for an official residence, he called it “Los Pinos” (the pines). This to remember the name of the Michoacan farm where he met his wife, Amalia Solórzano.
Our visit to Los Pinos
We were walking towards the security checkpoint, where they just check what you have in your bag and go through a metal detector. As we arrived, we quickened our pace as a huge wave of students was being allowed to come!, but we did pass before them, and we even saw a cat on the road.
Calzada de los presidentes (president avenue)
After going through the security checkpoint, we walked down the Presidents’ Causeway. In this one, we can see the statues of the presidents, starting with Lázaro Cárdenas, who was the first president to reside in Los Pinos. It made me curious to see the presidents one by one, and I was telling Vincent about something about each one.
Casa Miguel Aleman
Upon assuming the presidency in 1946, Miguel Alemán Valdés decided that the “Lázaro Cárdenas” house was too austere for the image they wanted to project of the country. For this reason, he ordered the construction of a much more ostentatious French-style house. Interestingly, he never occupied it, since it was completed at the end of his mandate.
The presidents occupied it until the year 2000, the two presidents of the new century decided to convert it into offices and occupy “Las Cabañas”, a smaller building. Then Enrique Peña Nieto, the president who held office from 2012 to 2018, refurbished this building as a home for himself and his family.
Throughout this period, there was only one president, Adolfo López Mateos, who did not live in Los Pinos and decided to remain in his private home. Of course, until now, that Los Pinos ceased to be an official presidential residence.
Upon entering the Miguel Alemán house, indeed, we realize that it is enormous. The chandeliers, the huge space, we went through the rooms and what caught our attention is that some were furnished, others were not. In the rooms they always put a sign that said, “that’s how they gave it to us”, I thought it was curious, to say the least. On the tour, we could even see a movie theater.
One of the rooms that most caught my attention was the presidential office. One of those places I thought I’d never stop at. But there I was on this visit to Los Pinos, which I never thought would be possible.
Salon Venustiano Carranza
The next building we visited was the Venustiano Carranza room, in this place we could see a huge meeting room as well as a painting of Venustiano Carranza, who was one of the presidents of Mexico after the 1910 Revolution. The painting was made by David Alfaro Siqueiros.
Casa Lazaro Cardenas
And now, yes, we come to the “original house” of Los Pinos: the Lázaro Cárdenas house. This house was adapted and chosen by him. This was where were conceived and drafted decrees as important for the country as the one commemorated on March 18: the oil reform.
I have to say that, of the houses of the visit to Los Pinos, I liked this one much more than the “Miguel Alemán”, it was still a big house but not so huge, it was much more welcoming, without ceasing to have those “presidential” rooms It felt more like home.
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We took advantage of the beautiful garden with orange fish to sit down for a while to rest our feet, and for this reason, I tell you that the visit can last more than two hours, it all depends on how long you take between each building.
Casa Miguel de la Madrid
Although Miguel de la Madrid did not live here, since he lived in the Miguel Alemán house, this building bears his name. Here what we can see is a huge meeting room where we can see the official portraits of the presidents hanging.
More to see in Los Pinos
To end the visit, we went to the area where the “Molino del Rey” (Mill of the Rey) is located, which was the headquarters of the extinct “Presidential General Staff”. This institution was intended to take care of the president’s security, but it was disbanded in 2018. We were also able to see a collection of old cars that transported the different presidents who inhabited Los Pinos.
A recommended visit
Certainly, I highly recommend a visit to Los Pinos if you are passing through Mexico City. Despite having run into several school groups, we did not feel crowded, I had already seen photos of people who visited it, and it seemed much more crowded. I recommend you come during the week, if possible.
For your trip to Mexico City
In addition to Los Pinos, do not miss these other places on your trip to CDMX:
- Visiting the Torre Latinoamericana in CDMX
- The murals of Diego Rivera in the SEP
- Visiting Chapultepec Castle
- Pyramids of Teotihuacán, walking through our history
And to finish here, we leave you some options of FREE TOURS through Mexico City:
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