Chapultepec Forest on Foot: Mexico's Story in Five Museums

Where Mexico's story begins

Why it's here. This is the starting point and the heart of the route: the country's great museum of ancient Mexico, with permanent rooms that go from the first peoples of the Americas to the Mexica, the Maya and the cultures of the west and the north. The building itself, by Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, opened in 1964 and is a landmark of Mexican architecture; its central courtyard is covered by a single great "umbrella" held up by one column.

Don't miss.

• The Mexica room, with the Sun Stone and the Coatlicue.
• The Maya room, with the reconstruction of the tomb of Pakal, the ruler of Palenque.
• The Teotihuacan room, to see the city of the pyramids before you visit it.
• The ethnography rooms upstairs, on the Indigenous peoples of Mexico today. Most visitors skip them; don't.

Plan for three hours at least. You won't see it all, so choose the rooms you care about most.

Next: Chapultepec Castle is about a kilometer south, across Reforma and up the hill.

The castle on the hill

Why it's here. The National Museum of History lives in Chapultepec Castle, which picks up the story where Anthropology leaves off: from the meeting of two continents and the kingdom of New Spain to the start of the 20th century. The building is part of that story. It was built as a summer house for the viceroys, became the Military College, was the residence of Emperor Maximilian and Empress Carlota, and later of Mexico's presidents, until Lázaro Cárdenas turned it into a museum.

Don't miss.

• The galleries on New Spain, which show how Indigenous, European, Asian and African elements mixed into a new people.
• The great murals, including David Alfaro Siqueiros's From the Dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz to the Revolution and Juan O'Gorman's Altarpiece of Independence.
• The rooms of the Alcázar, furnished as they were in the time of Maximilian and Carlota, and the view of Reforma from the terraces.

Plan for about two hours, plus the walk up the hill.

Next: the Museo del Caracol is just below the castle, a few minutes down the same hill.

History, one spiral at a time

Why it's here. The Galería de Historia, known as the Museo del Caracol, takes its name from its shape: a spiral that you walk down, room by room, through the years from the end of New Spain to the Constitution of 1917. It tells the century of Independence, the Reform, the French Intervention, the Porfiriato and the Revolution with dioramas and scale models, which makes it the easiest history lesson on the route, and the best one for kids.

Don't miss.

• The dioramas, especially those on Hidalgo, Morelos and the consummation of Independence.
• The final room, where the spiral ends with the Constitution of 1917.

Plan for about an hour. It closes earlier than the other museums on the route, so visit it right after the castle.

Next: walk back down the hill to Reforma; the Museum of Modern Art is about 600 meters away.

The 20th century on the walls

Why it's here. After the history comes the art the country made from it. The Museum of Modern Art, opened in 1964 like the Museum of Anthropology, holds one of the most important collections of 20th-century Mexican painting. Its collection includes Frida Kahlo's The Two Fridas, along with works by the painters of her generation.

Don't miss.

• The Two Fridas, if it's on view. Works rotate and travel, so check the museum's page.
• The sculpture garden around the buildings, a quiet place to rest before the last stop.

Plan for about an hour and a half.

Next: the Tamayo Museum is about 400 meters away, across Reforma, next to the Museum of Anthropology.

Ending in the present

Why it's here. The route ends with contemporary art. The museum was founded by the painter Rufino Tamayo, who gave his collection of international modern art to Mexico, and it opened in 1981 in a concrete building by Teodoro González de León and Abraham Zabludovsky that sits low among the trees. Today it is known for its exhibitions of contemporary art from Mexico and the world.

Don't miss.

• Whatever exhibitions are on: the program changes through the year.
• The building and its outdoor spaces, designed to blend into the forest.

Plan for about an hour and a half. You end next to the Museum of Anthropology, right where you started.