One day in Mexico City, Mexico
This one-day plan for Mexico City covers the historic centre and the Museo Nacional de Antropología. Start in the centre, built on Tenochtitlan's ruins, then go to Chapultepec, have lunch at the museum and spend the afternoon in its 22 permanent rooms. It opens Tuesday to Sunday. Keep the canals of Xochimilco for another day.
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Updated October 2026
The historic centre in the morning
Start in the historic centre, built on the ruins of Tenochtitlan, the Mexica capital founded in 1325 on a small island in the Lake of Texcoco. The centre has the largest cathedral on the continent, and the remains of five Mexica temples found so far can be seen through the archaeological windows opened there.
The Templo Mayor, the main temple of Tenochtitlan, is at the corner of today's Argentina and Guatemala streets, and it served as the zero point for laying out the new city. The Palacio de Bellas Artes and the Museo Nacional de Arte are among the centre's 19th- and 20th-century buildings.
Lunch at the Anthropology Museum
From the centre, go to Chapultepec. By Metro, the museum is about 1.3 km from the Chapultepec station, on Line 1, and from the Auditorio station, on Line 7. It stands on Paseo de la Reforma at the corner of Calzada Gandhi.
You cannot bring food into the museum, and its services include a restaurant and a cafeteria, so have lunch there before you tour the rooms.
The Anthropology Museum in the afternoon
The Museo Nacional de Antropología opened on 17 September 1964 in the heart of Chapultepec Park. It is open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 9:00 to 18:00, so it is closed on Mondays.
It has 22 permanent rooms. The 11 on the ground floor cover archaeology, from the first settlers of the Americas to the Mesoamerican Postclassic, and they go around the central courtyard in chronological order, from the right-hand side to the Mexica room; from the Oaxaca room on, the order is geographic. The 11 rooms on the second floor show the cultures of the Indigenous peoples who live in Mexico today.
Among the pieces INAH names as the most representative are the Tláloc monolith that guards the entrance, the Piedra del Sol, an Olmec colossal head and the mask of Pakal, made from about 200 fragments of jade.
Another day: the canals of Xochimilco
Keep Xochimilco for another day: it lies 28 km south of the centre. Its network of canals and artificial islands shows how the Mexica built a place to live in a hostile setting, and among its small canals some chinampas, the ‘floating’ gardens, can still be found.
The historic centre and Xochimilco were inscribed together on the World Heritage list in 1987. The canals and what is left of the lake shelter exceptional water species in danger of extinction, such as the axolotl, and they are a refuge for dozens of migratory birds.
Plan your one day in Mexico City
Plan the day from Tuesday to Sunday, because the Museo Nacional de Antropología does not open on Mondays. INAH warns that the information on its pages may change at any time without notice, so check the hours before you go.
With children, go over the museum's rules before you go in: no pets, no smoking and no flash photography.
Sources
- INAH's page on the World Heritage site of the historic centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco: Tenochtitlan raised in 1325 on a small islet, the Templo Mayor at today's Argentina and Guatemala streets as the zero point of the new city, five Mexica temples seen through archaeological windows, the largest cathedral on the continent, Bellas Artes and the Museo Nacional de Arte, Xochimilco 28 km south with its canals, chinampas and axolotls, and the UNESCO declaration of 1987. — lugares.inah.gob.mx (checked 21 October 2026)
- UNESCO's World Heritage listing for the Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco, inscribed in 1987: a city built on the ruins of Tenochtitlan, which stood on a small island in the Lake of Texcoco, with the Templo Mayor (Main Temple), and a lake landscape 28 km south where some chinampas, or 'floating' gardens, survive among small canals. — whc.unesco.org (checked 21 October 2026)
- INAH's page on the Museo Nacional de Antropología: opened on 17 September 1964 in the heart of the Bosque de Chapultepec, open Tuesday to Sunday from 09:00 to 18:00, with 22 permanent rooms (eleven on archaeology on the ground floor, in chronological and then geographic order, and eleven on ethnography on the second level), its most representative pieces and the ban on bringing in food. — lugares.inah.gob.mx (checked 21 October 2026)
- INAH's listing of the Museo Nacional de Antropología: its address on Paseo de la Reforma at Calzada Gandhi, its hours from Tuesday to Sunday, 09:00 to 18:00, the Auditorio (Line 7) and Chapultepec (Line 1) Metro stations about 1.3 km away, a restaurant and a cafeteria among its services, no pets, smoking or flash, and a warning that its information may change at any time without notice. — lugares.inah.gob.mx (checked 21 October 2026)
Frequently asked questions
How can you spend one day in Mexico City with children?
Start in the historic centre, where archaeological windows show the remains of Mexica temples. Then go to Chapultepec, have lunch at the Museo Nacional de Antropología and spend the afternoon in its rooms. Keep Xochimilco, 28 km south, for another day: its canals shelter the axolotl.
Is the Museo Nacional de Antropología open on Mondays?
No. It opens from Tuesday to Sunday, from 9:00 to 18:00. INAH says its information may change, so check the hours on the day you go.
Which Metro stations are near the Anthropology Museum?
Chapultepec, on Line 1, and Auditorio, on Line 7. The museum is about 1.3 km from each one, on Paseo de la Reforma at Calzada Gandhi.
What is in the Museo Nacional de Antropología?
Twenty-two permanent rooms: eleven on archaeology on the ground floor, from the first settlers of the Americas to the Postclassic, and eleven on the second floor about the Indigenous peoples of Mexico today.
What are the chinampas of Xochimilco?
They are the artificial islands among the canals of Xochimilco, known as ‘floating’ gardens, where the Mexica way of farming still survives. Xochimilco and the historic centre of Mexico City form one World Heritage site.