Museo Nacional de Arte (MUNAL)
The imposing Neoclassical façade of the Museo Nacional de Arte is impressive enough, but what is kept inside is truly jaw-dropping. Covering the spectrum of fine arts in Mexico from the early colonial period to the mid-20th century, the museum houses a wonderful collection of archival photos of Mexico’s Belle Époque on the ground floor, while exhibition spaces up the grand sweeping marble staircase (peep the lavish frescoed ceiling) are devoted to the kind of monumental Renaissance-era oil paintings you would expect to find in cathedrals.
More Things To Do in Mexico City
Palacio de Bellas Artes
This magnificent opera house, completed in 1934, hosts a wide range of permanent and temporary fine art exhibitions.
Markets
Mexico City is full of bustling markets, but the Mercado de San Juan and Mercado Roma offer two of the best (and pleasantly contrasting) experiences.
Teotihuacan
Only 25 miles outside of Mexico City sits a Mesoamerican settlement that at one time was the largest metropolis in the pre-Columbian Americas.
Xochimilco
This World Heritage Site, what’s left of an extensive canal and lake system built during pre-Hispanic times, is worthwhile detour on a beautiful day.
Plaza Carso
This huge development in Nuevo Polanco includes excellent cafes, shops, and restaurants, and two of the most spectacular museums in the city.
Museo del Templo Mayor
The ruins of the Great Temple, once the center of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan, offer a thought-provoking lesson on the rise and fall of empires.
Kurimanzutto
One of the most important contemporary-art spaces in the country, this acclaimed gallery represents the work of Mexico’s rising art-world stars.
Local Design Museums
Brush up on Mexico's homegrown design heroes at several institutions around town.
Chapultepec Park
The 1600-acre Bosque Chapultepec is the metropolis's answer to Central Park, a vast green space at the heart of the city with leafy rambles and noteworthy stops.
