From the same hand-researched library as our Mexico itinerary. Last reviewed 2026-07-29.
Mexico City
Mexico City is built directly on the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, the cathedral leans on the temple it replaced. Layer on colonial palaces, Rivera murals, and arguably the best street food on Earth, and you get the great underrated megacity of the Americas.
1Zócalo and Metropolitan Cathedral
One of the largest city squares in the world, flanked by the cathedral Spain built from the stones of the Aztec temple precinct, the flag-raising ceremony and the sinking, tilting naves tell the whole city’s story.
Mexico City
2Teotihuacán
The Pyramids of the Sun and Moon on the Avenue of the Dead, an hour northeast, a city of 100,000 people that was already ancient ruins when the Aztecs found it. Climbing has been restricted since 2020; go at opening for the scale, not the summit.
Mexico City
3Chapultepec Castle
The only royal castle in the Americas, on a hill above the park, Maximilian’s doomed empire upstairs, sweeping murals and a Paseo de la Reforma view from the terrace.
Mexico City
4Palacio de Bellas Artes
The marble Art Nouveau opera house with a Tiffany glass stage curtain and Rivera’s defiant re-creation of “Man at the Crossroads” inside, the building sinks a little more into the old lakebed every year.
Mexico City
Oaxaca
Oaxaca is Mexico’s soul kitchen, home of the seven moles, of mezcal, and of sixteen indigenous cultures whose weaving, pottery, and markets are living traditions, not performances. The green-stone colonial center shares a UNESCO listing with the Zapotec ruins on the mountain above it.
5Templo de Santo Domingo
Oaxaca’s baroque masterpiece, a gold-leafed interior that seems lit from within, fronted by a cactus garden of the region’s botany. Come back at golden hour when the facade glows green-gold.
Oaxaca
6Monte Albán
The Zapotec mountain capital, its summit leveled 2,500 years ago into plazas, ball courts, and observatories with the whole valley spread below. Twenty minutes from town; go at opening before heat and buses.
Oaxaca
7Mercado 20 de Noviembre and Benito Juárez
Twin covered markets a block apart, mole pastes and chapulines in one, the famous smoke-filled grilled-meat hall in the other. Bring appetite and small bills; this is Oaxaca’s pantry.
Oaxaca
Museums, parks, and neighborhoods are on the full Mexico itinerary, sequenced into a realistic day-by-day plan with transport between cities.
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