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Weekend in Mexico City: how to make the most of your time?

Let’s see what plans can you make to spend a nice weekend in Mexico City. Some itineraries to help you make the most of your time.


Are you passing through CDMX and don’t know what you can visit to make the most of your time? Whether you stay a whole weekend in Mexico City, or just one day, even if you are on a stopover, here we are going to give you some ideas of visits that you can make.

un fin de semana en la cdmx

Here we present you some plans, don’t worry if it is not exactly the weekend when you in Mexico City. The idea is to see what can be done if you are passing through for 1 or 2 days.

Weekend in Chapultepec

We will start with a classic plan, although just with the title you must surely think that I am referring to going to the forest, and maybe to the zoo, and that’s it. But no. There is much more to see in this area.

Day 1:

Angel of Independence

We are going to start the weekend in Mexico City from the emblematic Angel of Independence, which is located in the roundabout at the confluence of Paseo de la Reforma with Rio Tíber and Florencia. It was inaugurated in 1910 by Porfirio Díaz to commemorate the centenary of Mexico’s Independence, a date that we celebrate with great joy throughout the country.

Diana Cazadora

If you start walking down Av Paseo de la Reforma towards Chapultepec, you will come across Diana the Huntress. She represents the goddess Artemis (or her Roman equivalent Diana). It was inaugurated on October 10, 1942. Although the statue that can be seen today is not the original since it was damaged and was rebuilt in 1967. The original has been in Hidalgo since 1970.

Altar a la Patria (Altar to the Homeland)

Keep walking along the avenue, or if you want to take the metro, from Diana Cazadora take Sevilla avenue. Then in the direction of Chapultepec avenue and you will find the Sevilla metro stop, just one metro stop and you will be in Chapultepec. Although looking at the map I don’t know if you will save a lot of walking 🙂

In any case, whether you come by subway or by foot, be sure to make a stop at the Altar to the Fatherland. This mausoleum was built between 1947 and 1952. It is also known as “Monument to the Boy Heroes”. It is made up of six marble columns, arranged in a semicircular manner, which have sculptures of torches on top. The remains of General Felipe Santiago Xicoténcatl and the six members of the Mexican Army identified as the “boy heroes” are kept here.

Chapultepec castle

Keep walking until you reach the Chapultepec Castle, here in addition to visiting the castle whose construction began in 1785, you will be able to enter its museum and you will be able to observe works from different periods of the history of Mexico, even this Maximilian’s carriage!

In this dedicated article, we tell you about what you can see on a visit to the Chapultepec Castle.

Chapultepec zoo and/or forest

After lunch, I think it’s a nice plan to spend the rest of the afternoon enjoying the Chapultepec forest, and if you want to complement the visit you can take a tour at the zoo.

Chapultepec Lake

Get your flight to Mexico at the best price

Day 2:

National Museum of Anthropology

Start the second day of your weekend in Mexico City at the National Museum of Anthropology, but before that, have a nutritious breakfast, so you don’t have to leave mid-visit because you got hungry. In our case, when we visited, we rather had to leave because closing time was approaching. That is why I tell you to start the day visiting it, this museum is enormous: it has more than 20 exhibition halls and they show us from the first settlers of America, through the civilizations known throughout the world such as Teotihuacan or the cultures of Oaxaca that they built the great site of Monte Alban. Without forgetting the Mayans who built one of the seven wonders of the modern world: Chichen Itza.

Information to visit the National Museum of Anthropology the schedule is from Tuesday to Sunday from 9 AM to 5 PM. The cost of admission is 85 pesos and on Sundays admission is free for Mexicans and residents.

Centro Cultural Los Pinos

In the afternoon, if time is enough, as it closes at 5PM, take a walk around the Los Pinos Cultural Center, which was for many years the presidential residence and today is open to the public at the best price: FREE.

In this dedicated article we tell you about what you can see on a visit to Los Pinos and we tell you how it is.

If the previous day you did not manage to visit all the corners of the Chapultepec Forest and you still have time, you can continue.

And this is the map of the area, so you can locate the places where you will spend a nice weekend in the area of Paseo de Reforma and Chapultepec:

Weekend in the Historic Center

The Historic Center is not far behind in terms of options to spend the weekend, let’s see how you can spend a weekend in CDMX full of visits.

While you’re in the area, don’t forget to stop by to eat at the delicious Casa del Pavo, which has been preparing its delicious tortas and meals for decades.

Day 1:

To start your weekend in CDMX, I recommend you take a free Tour of the Historic Center, since it quickly takes us to the interesting points in the area, which we can return to later to visit in depth.

Zócalo

The CDMX “zócalo” (plaza) deserves a section all to itself. Its official name is Plaza de la Constitución, although no one calls it that, we all simply call it “El Zócalo” and it is the second largest plaza in the world. You may see it empty when you arrive, with this you can get an idea of how big it is. Or depending on the time of year there may be some activity taking place, for example in December they usually install a skating rink. Also do not forget to look for the classic letters for the photo 🙂

Catedral Metropolitana

This Cathedral has been part of the World Heritage Site since 1987. It took just under 250 years to build, for this reason it can be said that all the architects, painters, sculptors, etc. who worked during the viceroyalty contributed at some point to the construction.

The visit to the cathedral is done quite quickly, what we did was go to the National Palace to ask at what time we could go in to visit it. So we knew how much time we had to visit the Cathedral, which is right next door.

Catedral CDMX

Palacio Nacional

This building is the headquarters of the Executive Branch and, like the Cathedral, has been inscribed on the list of World Heritage Sites since 1987. It was the official residence of the presidents from 1822 to 1884, and it was not until 2019 that it became again a presidential residence.

Obviously we are not going to be able to enter the president’s bathroom 😀 but we are going to visit a place full of history, with murals by Diego Rivera, beautiful patios, a museum that takes us on a tour of the presidents that Mexico has had. Making a special stop with President Don Benito Juárez, since we can see personal objects, furniture and it is remembered that it was there that he died.

In order to visit the National Palace, you have to bring your ID with you. Whether it is voter ID or passport.

Museo del Templo Mayor

The museum opened its doors in 1987. Outside you can see, free of charge, vestiges of the Templo Mayor and upon entering you can see several rooms with objects discovered in the area. Being one of the strong points of the visit the enormous sculpture that represents the goddess Coyolxauhqui, those of us who remember the coins of the 80s know the figure of her.

Information to visit the Museo del Templo Mayor the schedule is from Tuesday to Sunday from 9 AM to 5 PM. The cost of admission is 80 pesos and on Sundays admission is free for Mexicans and residents.

Museo del Templo Mayor

SEP building

Very close to the National Palace is the SEP (Ministry of Education) building where we can see a large number of murals by Diego Rivera. In addition, the price is ideal: FREE. You just have to verify that you can visit the day you are there (if you are there only Saturday and Sunday, it is most likely that you will not be able to visit it since it is closed).

In this dedicated article we tell you about Diego Rivera’s murals in the SEP.

Welcome to the SEP

After these visits, spend the rest of the afternoon strolling through the streets of the historic center, such as Francisco I. Madero Avenue. There are many shops, cafes, churches, places full of history, such as the Casa de los Azulejos, an 18th century palace which is now a restaurant. So you can see inside… if you’re going to have a drink 😀

Casa de los Azulejos CDMX

Day 2:

Bellas Artes

This place is considered the most important cultural venue in terms of Arts in Mexico. If you don’t have a ticket to attend a show, you can go on museum-type tours. These visits allow us to see the murals of Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and other artists.

In this dedicated article we tell you about what you can see on a a visit to the Palacio de Bellas Artes in CDMX

Leaving Bellas Artes, take a walk through the Parque de la Alameda Central and if you want to continue seeing more murals, take a tour of the Diego Rivera Mural Museum, which is very close to there.

Torre Latinoamericana

For your weekend in CDMX, go to the top, although it is not as tall as the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, this building was one of the tallest at the time. In addition, it must be taken into account that it has survived several very strong earthquakes.

In this dedicated article we show you what you can see in the Torre Latinoamericana in CDMX

Plaza de Garibaldi

If you have enough time, you can go for a walk around Plaza de Garibaldi, it’s not very far from there. Take your list of songs, and your piggy wallet, there you will get mariachis who will perform them for you.

I only have one day, what can I do?

Of course, if you have a choice, I would tell you to spend more than one day in CDMX. But it may happen that you are passing through, for example in the case of a stopover of many hours, and that in any case you want to visit and take advantage of the time.

In fact, take into account that in case of a stopover of many hours or a very early flight, you have the option of booking a hotel at the Mexico City Airport. Just check that the hotel is close to your terminal and/or that it offers transportation to the terminal where you need to go.

If you only have one day, you can take as a base the activities of the two weekend options that I show you above. Or you can choose these activities for a day in CDMX:

If you have any other idea of how to spend the weekend in Mexico City, leave us a comment. It will give us one more excuse to return to the capital of Mexico 🙂

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Olga Grijalva

Olga is a traveler and travel content creator with 17 years of experience. Her goal is to share useful information to help you plan your adventures. She has visited more than 40 countries and is excited to share her experience with you.

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