Mexico City

1. ~8:30a●Breakfast on chilaquiles

   A neighbourhood fonda for chilaquiles verdes — fried tortilla simmered in salsa, crema, and queso, topped with a fried egg — and a café de olla spiced with cinnamon and piloncillo.

2. ~9:30a◆The Zócalo & Metropolitan Cathedral

   One of the world's great public squares, the flag being raised at its centre, and the slowly-sinking cathedral built from the stones of the Aztec city.

3. ~11:00a◆Templo Mayor

   The excavated Aztec great temple at the literal centre of Tenochtitlan, with a superb museum of what was dug from beneath the colonial streets.

4. ~1:00p●Tacos al pastor

   Lunch at a taquería with the spinning trompo by the door — pork shaved off the spit onto small tortillas, a sliver of pineapple, onion, cilantro, salsa verde. Order them 'con todo.'

5. ~3:00p◆Palacio de Bellas Artes & murals

   The Art Nouveau-Deco palace and its Rivera, Orozco, and Siqueiros murals — then the Diego Rivera mural at the Palacio Nacional if it's open.

6. 8:00p✦Pujol ⭐⭐Anchor table

   Enrique Olvera's landmark of modern Mexican — the smoke-shrouded baby corn with chicatana-ant mayo and the famous aged mole madre, a sauce kept alive for over a thousand days. The country's most influential table; book ~1 month ahead.

The centro is a morning-into-afternoon walk; everything here is within a few blocks. Pujol is in Polanco across town, so leave the evening clear and taxi over for the 8pm seating.

1. ~9:30a◆Museo Frida Kahlo (Casa Azul)

   The cobalt-blue house where Kahlo was born, painted, and died — her studio, her wheelchair at the easel, her clothes. Book timed tickets online; the door queue is long and slow.

2. ~11:30a→Coyoacán's plazas

   The colonial heart — Jardín Centenario, the twin squares, the fountain of the coyotes, and the leafy streets where Diego and Frida lived.

3. ~1:00p●Coyoacán market tostadas

   The mercado's famous tostada counter — pile-high tostadas of tinga, ceviche, and pata, plus an esquites cup of corn in lime, chile, and mayo.

4. ~3:00p◆San Ángel & the Saturday market

   Cobbled San Ángel nearby — the Bazaar Sábado craft market (Saturdays), and the Diego-and-Frida studio house with its linked rooftop bridge.

5. ~7:30p●Cantina dinner

   A historic cantina for the long Mexican evening — sopa de tortilla, cochinita pibil, and a mezcal sipped slow with an orange-and-sal-de-gusano chaser.

Casa Azul tickets must be bought ahead and timed — without them the wait eats the morning. Coyoacán and San Ángel are neighbours in the south; pair them and keep a taxi for the legs between.

1. 9:00a◆Museo Nacional de Antropología

   One of the world's great museums — the Aztec Sun Stone, the Maya halls, the reconstructed tombs. Allow two hours minimum and start before the school groups arrive.

2. ~11:30a→Bosque de Chapultepec & the castle

   The vast city park up to Chapultepec Castle — the only royal castle in the Americas, with terraces over the whole valley.

3. ~1:30p●Lunch in Roma or Condesa

   Back toward the leafy Art Deco neighbourhoods — a long lunch of tacos de guisado, or a modern Mexican room with a michelada.

4. ~4:00p✦Xochimilco trajineras

   Hire a painted flat-boat through the surviving Aztec canals — mariachis pole alongside, vendors sell elotes and micheladas, and the afternoon drifts. The closest thing to old Tenochtitlan.

5. ~8:00p●Mezcalería nightcap

   Back in Roma: a mezcal flight talked through by the bartender — espadín to tobalá — with botanas to line the stomach.

The anthropology museum genuinely needs the early start and two unhurried hours. Xochimilco is a south-side afternoon — go with a group to share a boat, and bring cash for the vendors.