ENGLISH / SPANISH THE CONNOISSEUR’S GUIDE TO THE CITY’S BEST CULTURE, FOOD, SHOPPING AND NIGHTLIFE BY The connoisseur’s guide to the city's best culture, food, shopping and nightlife by Welcome to Mexico City Because of their number, variety and splendor, it’s nearly impossible to get to every great attraction the city offers. A good idea is to explore the city by neighborhoods—neighborhoods filled with history and tradition as well as modernity and conveniences plus architecture, visual beauty and, of course, the human warmth that’s characteristic of a cosmopolitan, friendly, open and diverse metropolis. Visiting the Centro Histórico and its plaza centerpiece the Zócalo, for example, means wandering narrow streets awash in Aztec and colonial influences, a space whose museums, churches, historic sites, parks and monuments create a zone that is in fact one of the historical environments in Mexico the world knows best—in addition to being a UNESCO World Heritage Site. With its highly European feel, the Paseo de la Reforma—along a several-kilome- ters-long boulevard that stretches from the east to the west of the city, and featu- ring exceptional museums like the Museo de Antropología or the Papalote children’s museum as well as grand Chapultepec castle—or indeed, the Zona Rosa and toney Polanco, are all great spaces where visitors discover and live Mexico City’s urban grandeur. The south of the city incorporates Mexico’s National Autonomous University, Cuicuilco Pyramid, the Floating Gardens of Xochimilco and colonial neighborhoods such as Coyoacán and San Ángel, plus lots of museums throughout the area. Sophisticated Mexico City is all that and much more, as home to cultural events for every kind of visitor, whether it’s a top music venue, a traditional forum or alter- native space for theatre, ballet and opera—among other arts. Numerous sports and traveling exhibitions are on offer every day as well. Visiting Mexico City also means reaching one of the planet’s most important bu- siness and enterprise capitals, endowed with superior infrastructure and connectivity that links it to the rest of Mexico and the world, supported by a varied and appealing hotel and entertainment offering amid a robust, buzzy business climate. StyleMap CDMX is an invitation to explore this and more, in the form of a pocket guide that leads to discovery on both first-time and repeat visits to Mexico City—the capital that’s also a world-class, all-encompassing urban experience. Cordially, Dr. Miguel Ángel Mancera Espinosa Mexico City Mayor TABLE OF CONTENTS 06 MEXICO CITY: A TREASURE WAITING TO BE DISCOVERED 08 MUAC MEXICO CITy’s zonES 08 — Downtown / Historic Center 18 — Roma 28 — Condesa 36 — Reforma 44 — Polanco 54 — West 62 — South 70 — Other Outings 71 MAPS Bus Rapid Transit Mexico City Subway MEXICO CITY: a Treasure Waiting to be Discovered In 1325, when the Aztecs set out to find a place to build their capital, they found the sign they were looking for: an eagle perched on a prickly pear tree devouring a snake. Improbable in itself, what was even stranger about this sight was that the ochimilco prickly pear tree was in the middle of a lake. This very specific X sign was a foretaste of what the city was to become over the Schedules Transport centuries: a place where weird and wonderful things happen, Breakfast is generally a light meal on The subway (metro) has 12 lines and a promised metropolis of sorts. the go, as is dinner. Most bars open at the bus rapid transit (metrobús) has midday, but you won’t see much action five (see central pages for information). There are still plenty of things to be discovered in Mexico’s until around 8 pm. The clubs (known as The same card is good for both and capital. As you explore its nooks and crannies, you’ll come “antros”) start heating up at midnight can be recharged at any metro or across all kinds of surprises, not unlike the image of the ea- and close in the early hours. Rush hour metrobús station. Another alternative is from 7 to 10 in the morning and is the Ecobici (ecobici.df.gob.mx), a gle and the snake. There are the more obvious places, like from 6 to 9 in the evening. The most public bicycle service that covers the the Historic Center and Xochimilco, where you can see part important meal of the day is lunch more touristy parts of the city. Day and of the original lake the city was built on, and then there are (between 2 and 4 pm). weekly passes are available. districts like Condesa, Roma, Cuauhtémoc and Juárez, whose Weather Practical Information early-twentieth-century residences today house bustling res- The weather in Mexico City can be www.mexicocity.gob.mx taurants and cool clubs, not to mention the city’s fabulous unpredictable —it’s been known to rain in January!— but, generally speaking, Emergency helplines museums and art galleries and its peculiar stores. temperatures vary from approximately Police: 066 This guide is a map to all the unlikely experiences to be 3 to15oC during the colder months Assistance for victims of criminal had in Mexico City and we are confident these finds will put (November through February), activities: 01 800 007 4533 averaging 20 to 28oC in the warmer Emergency services: you on the trail of many more. months (March through June). The rainy 5683 2222 season runs from July through October. Fire services: 5768 2532 Thunderstorms are most common in the Red Cross: afternoons, sometimes accompanied by 065, 5395 1111 hail, but you can find yourself caught in Tourist Information: a shower at any time of day. 01 800 008 9090 6 7 rte A acional de N Downtown Museo On foot Mexico City’s Historic Center is not just Start at the Zócalo, the main square where legend has the ruins of the impressive Aztec capital, it the Aztecs saw an eagle perched on a prickly pear tree devouring a snake — a sign they should build their colonial buildings and the city’s bustling capital there. On the northwest side of the square is the social and commercial life of the last Templo Mayor, the Aztecs’ principal ceremonial center. If you visit the Cathedral, you’ll notice its chandeliers 500 years. A decade ago, some of its lean to one side, revealing just how much the building has sunk over the years. On your left as you leave, is the buildings were renovated and today Palacio Nacional, once occupied by the viceroys of New house cultural centers, world-class Spain, boasts murals by Diego Rivera. Head south to Madero, a pedestrian street with stunning architecture. restaurants and bars. Pedestrian streets Of special interest are the Museo Nacional de Arte (in the square out front is Tolsá’s famous Caballito like Regina and Madero preserve that sculpture) and the old central post office, Palacio de inimitable air of yesteryear, yet invite the Correos, indisputably one of the city’s most beautiful buildings. Visit the Palacio de Bellas Artes, the Alameda unsuspecting visitor to rediscover a part Central, and finish at the Torre Latinoamericana, a tower of the city that refuses to grow old. that commands impressive views of the city center. downtown 9 Luis Donaldo Colosio 16 Pedro Moreno 10 27 Honduras República de Nicaragua Soto Incas V Altuna ioleta República de Perú Fco. Javier Mina República de Perú Zaragoza Salgado República de Bolivia Eje 1 Poniente Fco. Javier Mina Héroes Zarco Esmeralda República de Colombia Pensador Mexicano Belisario Domínguez República deChile 8 PuenteSan Fernando de Alvarado ValerioTrujano Santa Veracruz Hidalgo República de Cuba Mariscal 23 República de Cuba Av. Hidalgo Bellas EjeCentral LázaroCárdenas Donceles Paseo de la Reforma Artes 24E 7 Colón Xicoténcatl Allende Alameda Central República deArgentina 19 2 Allende Doctor Mora F Justo Sierra Av. Juárez G Tacuba I República de Brasil Av. Juárez Condesa 32 Ángela Peralta 25 14 Museo del Filomeno Mata Templo Mayor Motolinía 6 9 Palma Isabel laCatólica D Iturbide Humboldt 11 5 de Mayo Azueta Bucareli H 22 20 12 Torre 18 Monte de Piedad B Latinoamericana 26 Francisco I. Madero Moneda 3 Independencia17 28 21 Balderas Gante 15 4 29 Zócalo Revillagigedo Luis Moya 1 Palacio Juárez Artículo 123 A C Dolores 16 de Septiembre Nacional López 30 31 Bolívar 13 Victoria Corregidora E. Martínez Venustiano Carranza San Juan de Letrán Centro Histórico Ayuntamiento República de Uruguay A. Zócalo Correo Mayor B. Catedral Metropolitana 22 C. Palacio Nacional República de El Salvador Ernesto Pugibet D. Templo Mayor Isabel laCatólica E. Museo Nacional de Arte 5 de Febrero 11 F. Palacio de Correos Vizcaínas 20 de Noviembre Mesones G. Palacio de Bellas Artes José María PinoSuárez Metro Aranda López Delicias BuenTono Metrobús H. Torre Latinoamericana Regina 5 EjeCentral LázaroCárdenas Turibús I. Alameda Central Aldaco Bolívar Regina Salto del Agua Luis Moya Arcos de Belén Hostería de Santo Domingo Roldán 37 Belisario Domínguez 70 y 72, Roldán 37, Centro; 5542 1951; Centro; 5526 5276. FB: Roldán 37. Yep, they serve chiles en nogada This erstwhile chili-pepper warehouse (stuffed chiles in nut sauce) year round, has been turned into a restaurant by and that’s made them famous. But you Rómulo Mendoza, great-grandson might want to try ranchera chicken of the original owners. Needless to breast (in creamy pasilla chile sauce), say, chili peppers are the stars of the bite-size, tostada-like tlacoyos, ant eggs menu. We recommend the chili in and maguey worms. The building it is in cream, the Veracruz-style chili (stuffed zul Histórico A —from 1860 and groaning with history— with shrimp and smothered in melted is worth the visit alone.