Mexico City

Velvet

A great place for lovers of live music and nightclubs, Velvet hosts both Mexican and foreign bands. The goal of this disco is to create the necessary intensity for a night of movement and to this end it features numerous strobe lights and plasma screens as well as robotic lighting and huge speakers. The music played, when there is no live band, tends to include the typical pop and rock hits with an emphasis on oldies. The bar offers mainly cocktails, martinis, vodka and rum.

Insurgentes Sur 878, Col. del Valle, Phone: 5523-2991

Cream

This electronic music bar has its eye fixed more on the avant garde than complacency and still manages to be a success. The styles it offers are Techno, House, Drum and Bass, Acid House and Minimalist Electronic. The DJs set the mood for visitors using lasers and neon lights. The bar is divided into four rooms on two floors: downstairs you can listen to Lounge, the smoothest way to usher in a night of fun, while upstairs it is more Indie which definitely raises the tone. Many of the cocktails are prepared especially to complement the suggestive atmosphere.

Versalles #52, Colonia Juárez, Zona Rosa, Phone: 5292 6114

El Imperial

A cultural and recreational space for serious events, El Imperial has two floors and while downstairs you can enjoy live music on a well mounted stage, upstairs you will find the lounge where you can go for a relaxed conversation or a moment of sensuality. It is decorated in a vintage style with alternative lighting, walls with prints and everything is decorated in red and gold.

Álvaro Obregón 293, Col. Roma, 03640. Phone: 5525 1115

Centro Cultural España

The terrace of the Centro Cultural de España has become one of the most popular weekend spots in the city. This popular destination doesn’t offer a specific type of event but changes the program constantly so you will have to check if you want to know the type of show it is offering. DJs, rock concerts and recorded music are just some of the options. The terrace usually fills quite early and offers a pleasant atmosphere as well as an impressive view of the back of the Metropolitan Cathedral. What’s more, admission is free.

Guatemala 18, Centro, 06010. Phone: 5521-1925. www.ccemx.org

Bar La Ópera

This cantina offers tradition and elegance and the principal attraction of the Bar La Ópera is its decoration. It can be visited while strolling through the city’s Historic Center and here you will find Mexican, Spanish and International dishes and appetizers, served with an excellent selection of drinks naturally. The decoration is fairly opulent and features dark timber fixtures and oil paintings as well as a long bar featuring an impressive mirror, all in a mixture of French and traditional Mexican styles dating from the period of the Revolution. According to legend Pancho Villa, a popular leader during the bloody Mexican Revolution, perforated the ceiling of the bar with a bullet. However, the bar is a little less raucous these days.

Cinco de Mayo 10, Col. Centro. Phone: 55/5512-8959

Salón Corona

A traditional, noisy and happy bar in the Historic Center that is ideal for having a few beers drawn from the keg which can be accompanied by their tasty rolls filled with octopus, seasoned pork (al pastor) or stewed cod, quesadillas, and even a shrimp soup if you have a taste for the sea. All of this can be found in a setting that dispenses with extensive menus that make choosing a problem and without the need for glamour and white tablecloths. The atmosphere in the Salón Corona is eclectic, inclusive and rowdy, generated by the improvised musicians, spontaneous poets, soccer fans, students, office workers…and the cantina itself which shares its name with the most famous beer in Mexico. This is an obligatory stop if you want to try the best in popular food in an atmosphere of diversity.

Bolívar 24, Centro Histórico. Phone: 52 555 5129007

Los Danzantes

This restaurant specializes in the preparation of huitlacoche (a fungus that grows on corn) and other traditional Mexican dishes such as shrimp wrapped in coconut with a sweet and sour sauce, seafood soup with chipotle chili, and baked quince and cream cheese pie. Some dishes are prepared with Mezcal, which is a clear indication of the restaurant’s Oaxacan tradition. The service is very friendly and the atmosphere is pleasant with contemporary music playing in the background. What’s more it’s located in Coyoacán, a place you simply must visit while in the city.

Jardín Centenario 12 Coyoacán Centro. Phone: 5658-6054

This hotel is located on the Paseo de la Reforma, one of the most important avenues in Mexico City, and offers easy access to the Diana statue, the Ángel de la Independencia and the Pink Zone. It offers first class services including tourist information, room service and car rental as well as an outdoor swimming pool and a sauna. This enormous two-tower hotel has 755 rooms, including five penthouses and different categories of suites and rooms, private salons especially designed for business and work, banqueting rooms, a lobby bar and restaurants specializing in Italian, Mexican and International cuisine.

Paseo de la Reforma 325, México D.F, 06500. 55/5242-5555. www.sheraton.com

Condesa DF

This hotel with its exclusive, contemporary and Mexican design, both bohemian and luxurious at the same time, can be found in a pleasant and traditional residential area. There is a wealth of activity in the basement with a discotheque and a movie theater while on the roof you will find its heavily frequented bar. The building dates from the 1920s and is in the neoclassical style, with the principal attraction being its stylish atmosphere. You do, however, need to be prepared for a party atmosphere and the sound of music because this is more a hotel for celebrations and activities than peace and rest. 

Veracruz Avenue 102, Colonia Condesa. 55/5241-2600. www.condesadf.com

La Casona Hotel-Relais

This mansion dates from the early 20th century and is located in the historic and traditional Colonia Roma. The architecture is typical of the area and features a classical European style with high ceilings while the rooms are designed for peaceful relaxation. The decoration of the hotel also includes antiques and Oriental carpets and the patio has been declared an artistic monument by the National Institute of Fine Arts. The hotel is located near Chapultepec Park and the Museum of Anthropology and History and the services it offers include Internet access, a gymnasium, a spa, cable TV and a restaurant-bar.

Durango 280, Col. Roma. 06700. Phone: 55/5286-3001. www.hotellacasona.com.mx

Zócalo

One of the largest public squares in the world, the Zócalo is the subject of a long and interesting legend. Prior to the arrival of the Spanish this was the ceremonial center of the Aztec empire, Tenochtitlán, the ruins of which can still be seen at a site adjacent to the square that is the only area not later built on. This site, which is perhaps the most representative of the Spanish Conquest –it includes examples of architecture from both cultures- was an island in the middle of a lake. The Museum of the Templo Mayor, dedicated to Aztec culture, has eight rooms and a lobby offering temporary exhibitions.  The rooms are mostly dedicated to Huitzilopochtli, the Sun God of War, and Tláloc, the Rain God.
On the Eastern side of the square is the Palacio Nacional, which in ancient times was a site dedicated to the Aztec emperor Moctezuma Xocoyotzin. After the occupation of the city by Hernán Cortés, the Palacio de los Virreyes was built here in 1563. This building has undergone various modifications over the centuries, one of them as the result of a riot staged by 8,000 indigenous people who set fire to it to demand food from the Viceroy in 1692.
On the northern edge of the Zócalo you will find the Metropolitan Cathedral which was previously the site of the Aztec Templo Mayor. Construction of the cathedral began at the end of the 16th century and it has 16 chapels and five naves, enormous bells (the largest weighs six tons) and a main altarpiece dating from the 18th century covered in gold leaf. On the western side of the square is the Portal de Mercaderes (previously the El Parián market) and to the south is the Mexico City Town Hall. This square is the site of the city’s principal celebrations and protests and provides the stage for a diversity of cultural and artistic events: it must be noted that its holds great significance in Mexican public life.

Museo Nacional de Antropología

This museum is the most important temple built in honor of the pre-Colombian cultures that occupied the territory of what is today Mexico. The museum is divided into two main sections: the lower floor, which is dedicated to archeology, and the upper floor which is dedicated to ethnography. The rooms dedicated to anthropology are organized chronologically and geographically while there is a statue of Tlaloc at the entrance to the building. The museum also offers courses, conferences and guided tours.

Paseo de la Reforma and Calzada Gandhi. http://www.mna.inah.gob.mx

Teotihuacán

This ancient pre-Hispanic city site was the most important city in Mexico during the Classic Period (2nd-5th centuries) and was home to the largest concentration of people at the time. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987. The site’s major monuments, the Pyramid of the Sun (the tallest in all Mesoamerica) and the Pyramid of the Moon, receive the most visitors. The name Teotihuacán, which means City of the Gods, was given to the site by the peoples who later settled here and was based on the way the site was organized according to the cycles of nature. The influence of this cosmopolitan city, a major trading point, reached as far as Oaxaca in the south where documents and handicrafts have been discovered that refer to it. Paintings and engravings allude to the dominant cosmogony of this mystical city that venerated nature and animal life, in particular the jaguar and serpent which were attributed with godlike qualities. It is located 40 km north of Mexico City, but given its importance a visit is obligatory if you want to see the monumental scale of ancient pre-Hispanic cultures.

Museo de Arte Moderno

The Museum of Modern Art offers a permanent exhibition featuring the most important modern Mexican artists: Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Ruffino Tamayo, José Luis Cuevas, Alejandro Colunga and Francisco Toledo. The temporary exhibitions often feature European artists while the gardens are used to exhibit large scale sculptures.

Paseo de la Reforma and Gandhi, Bosque de Chapultepec

Palacio de Bellas Artes

The Fine Arts Palace hosts the city’s most important cultural activities. It houses the most important opera theater in the city and events staged here include concerts of classical music, jazz and other musical genres. The architectural style is a hybrid of mainly Art Deco and the neoclassical and was designed by the architect Adamo Boari. The exterior is finished in white marble and the interior in a variety of tones with decoration by the muralists David Alfaro Siqueiros, Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco.

Eje Central and Av. Juárez, Centro Histórico-Alameda. Phone: 55/5553-6233. www.conaculta.gob.mx/mam

Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil

This singular museum, with an interior consisting of modern ramps and featuring a skylight, is more closely related to a gallery than a traditional Mexican museum. It houses works by many talented artists including Rivera, Siqueiros and Orozco. Due to its independent status the museum has been able to serve as a laboratory for experimenting with alternative artistic languages related to painting, engraving, lithography, collage, drawing, serigraphy and video, among others.

Revolución 1608, Col. San Ángel. Phone: 55/5550-3983. www.macg.inba.gob.mx

Casa Frida Kalho

This blue house located in the traditional neighborhood of Coyoacán was the birthplace of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo and where she not only painted but also hosted parties for Mexican intellectuals during the 1930s and 1940s. In addition to housing works by Frida the house also conserves its original appearance and decoration featuring archeological pieces from the pre-Colombian collection of Kahlo and her husband, muralist Diego Rivera. In this singular museum you can perceive the tortured intimate life of perhaps the first Latin American woman who managed to express her political inconformity and feelings without resorting to euphemisms.

Londres 247, Coyoacán. Phone: 55/5554-5999

Colonia Roma

This residential area was built during the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz (a period known as the Porfiriato) at the request of demanding affluent figures at the beginning of the 20th century. It was designed in a French style featuring boulevards, parks and street dividers. The large houses in this neighborhood are executed in a variety of styles including Art Dec, Belle Époque and Art Nouveau. A number of buildings in this area collapsed after the devastating earthquake that hit Mexico City in 1985, but since then the neighborhood has been reborn as an area rich in cultural centers, cafés, restaurants, boutiques, squares and walks. The Fine Arts Institute has catalogued a number of the houses here as architectural heritage sites and while some of them are abandoned others are currently undergoing restoration. Among the architectural treasures of the Colonia Roma are the Casa Lamm (Álvaro Obregón and Orizaba), the Balmori building (facing the Casa Lamm), the Iglesia de la Sagrada Familia (Orizaba and Puebla), El Parián (a shopping arcade located on Álvaro Obregón), the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Rosario (Av. Cuauhtémoc),  the Edificio Rió de Janeiro and the Casa del Libro de la UNAM (Puebla and Orizaba).