It’s a trip that has been in the making for over two decades. We have planned to visit our friends who are from Mexico City we first met them but for some reason it never happened even though it is just a 2-hour flight from Houston. But this year, with very little planning, we just landed there and let ourselves be guided by the native born of one of the most beautiful cities in the world. And believe me, there is no better way of seeing a city.
We stayed at the W Hotel in Polanco, which we would highly recommend for its amazing service and wonderful breakfast spread. It is also centrally located in a very walkable part of city, and you can walk to most of the major museums and restaurants.
Mexico City is full of amazing museums and public spaces and showcases its Aztec history in every aspect. We were there for just three days and therefore were mostly limited to major tourist attractions which are spread between the downtown and Reforma areas.
Downtown CDMX
We started the day at the Balcón del Zócalo which overlooks the main city square around the Presidential palace. Around the same area there is the largest Cathedral in the Americas, the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral and Templo Mayor is basically the archeological finds of the Aztec nation before the Spaniards under Hernan Cortez colonized the country. From there we walked to Casa de los Azulejos which is a building covered in beautiful tiles and houses a restaurant. After another quick walk we reached Palacio de Bellas Artes . It houses murals and art from some of the most influential Mexican artists, David Alfaro Siqueiros and Diego Riviera.
Polanco and Reforma
The museums around Polanco and Reforma area are all walkable from the W Hotel. We started the day at the Museo Nacional de Antropología , which houses an enormous collection of Central and South American archeological finds from Incas, Mayas, Aztecs and beyond. It is very impressive, and I could have spent the entire day here if we had more time. But we did want to the see the amazing Two Fridas at the Museo de Arte Moderno and the Chapultepec Castle, so we hurried.
It was a whirlwind tour and the wonderful dinner at Pujol was the perfect ending to trip that we will fondly remember and return to resume soon.
