Things to see in Mexico City

The ruins of the Templo Mayor are one of the best attractions in Mexico City. Rediscovered in 1978 while telephone cables were being laid in the area, the temple was first constructed by the Aztecs in 1325. There are actually seven temples, one built on top of the other. Each time one was completed a new temple was immediately started, using the prior one as a base to showcase the increasing importance of the city. Museo del Templo Mayor, an excellent museum within the Templo Mayor site, displays various artefacts found in the main pyramid of Aztec Tenochtitlán.

Tues-Sun 0900-1700.

Yes

Dubbed the Champs Elysées because of its Parisian-style architectural influences, the Paseo de la Reforma is Mexico City's main boulevard and most prestigious address. Running from Alameda to Chapultepec Park, it is lined with shops, offices, hotels, restaurants and some modern skyscrapers that are home to multinational corporations, financial institutions and foreign embassies. Monuments, fountains and statues of Mexican heroes also hem the route, built as a direct path for the Emperor Maximilian between the Centro Histórico and his palace in Chapultepec Park. Particularly worthy of note is Monumento a la Independencia (Monument to Independence), or Angelito as it is affectionately known, a gilded statue of a winged Victory set atop a 46m-high (150ft) column. In 1957, the statue toppled to the ground in an earthquake, but was completely restored. Displayed inside the monument is the skull of Hidalgo, the executed leader of a group of rebels who rose against the Spanish in October 1810 (open daily 0900-1700, free).

Arguably Mexico's City's finest museum, the Museo Nacional de Antropología is also one of the best of its kind in the world. Huge collections span vast themes in a giant building centred on an expansive patio. Though housed in an extension of Chapultepec Park, it can take days to fully explore. Some of the most fascinating exhibits are the famous Aztec 'sun' (or 'calendar') stones, the giant stone Olmec heads from Tabasco and a replica of a Mayan tomb from Palenque. Daily performances staged outside of the museum's main entrance are publicised by voladores (fliers) - most re-enact ancient ceremonies in colourful, traditional costumes and perform daring aerial acrobatics – known as dances – while suspended upside down from the top of a 30 meter (99 ft.) pole.

Tues-Sun 0900-1900.

Yes

Now absorbed by Mexico City, the suburb of Coyoacán was once a city in its own right. It became the first capital of New Spain as Cortés designated it the main camp from which he launched his attack on Tenochtitlán. Tranquil tree-lined avenues link the handsome colonial-era buildings and strings of craft stalls. Jugglers, street musicians and mime artists converge on the central squares of Plaza Hidalgo and Jardín del Centenario at weekends and lend a bohemian vibe. Artist Frida Kahlo was born in Coyacán in 1907 and the Museo Casa de Frida Kahlo, Londres 247 (corner of Allende), occupies her family home. Kahlo and her husband, the revolutionary muralist Diego Rivera, lived here from 1929 and formed part of Mexico City's glamorous, leftist, 1930s intellectual set. Today the house is full of mementoes from this era with two rooms preserved as lived in and the rest crammed with paintings by both artists. A small collection of folk art - a passion of Kahlo's - includes a number of regional costumes worn by the artist, who continued to live in the property until her death.