Mexico CityCiudad de México

The Mexica, often called the Aztecs, founded Tenochtitlan on an island in Lake Texcoco, traditionally in 1325. Their city grew into the capital of a powerful alliance and, by the early 16th century, was one of the largest cities in the world. Causeways linked the island to the shore, canals carried goods, and raised farming plots called chinampas fed the population. At its centre stood the Templo Mayor, the sacred precinct that mirrored the cosmos.

Spanish forces under Hernán Cortés arrived in 1519 and, with the help of many indigenous allies who resented Mexica rule, besieged the city. It fell in August 1521. The Spanish built their capital on its ruins, using the old stones, and the city became the seat of New Spain. The Metropolitan Cathedral was begun in 1573 and finished in stages until 1813. The lake was gradually drained over the centuries, changing the city's ground for good.

Mexican independence was proclaimed from the town of Dolores in 1810 and secured in 1821, and Mexico City became the national capital. It saw invasion by the United States in 1847, when cadets defended Chapultepec, and the brief reign of Emperor Maximilian in the 1860s. Under Porfirio Díaz, from 1876 to 1911, the city gained grand boulevards and buildings such as the Palacio de Bellas Artes. The Revolution of 1910 to 1920 reshaped the country, and its stories still fill murals and museums.

The 20th century brought rapid growth, the 1968 Olympic Games and the tragedy of the Tlatelolco massacre days before them, the earthquake of 1985 and, in 2017, another quake on the same date. In 2016 the Federal District was officially renamed Ciudad de México, and residents, called chilangos, still argue about what to call themselves. The city today holds more than 20 million people in its wider region.

Mexico City sits in a closed basin at about 2,240 m. The valley once held a chain of lakes, and Tenochtitlan was an island city that used causeways and chinampas to manage the water. After the conquest, the Spanish saw the lake as a threat, because floods repeatedly damaged the city, and they built drainage channels and tunnels to send the water out of the basin. Over four centuries the lakes shrank and the lakebed became streets.

The result is ground that is soft and uneven. Many parts of the city sit on clay that compresses as groundwater is pumped out, and in some districts the ground sinks by tens of centimetres a year. You can see the effect in tilted buildings, uneven pavements and the cathedral, which has needed decades of engineering to stay upright. Water supply is a related challenge: the city brings in water from distant systems, and shortages and leaks are common.

Xochimilco, in the south, is a fragment of the old system. Its canals and chinampas survive, and the area is listed by UNESCO together with the historic centre. Visitors know it for colourful boats called trajineras, but it is also a working farming landscape and a place where the old lakes are still visible. If you go, prefer a weekday and agree the price and length of the boat ride in advance.

The soft ground also makes the city vulnerable to earthquakes. The seismic waves from distant quakes are amplified by the old lakebed, which is why the 1985 and 2017 events did so much damage far from the epicentres. Since then the city has invested in an early-warning siren system, stricter building rules and regular drills. As a visitor, know your hotel's exits, follow instructions if a siren sounds and do not be surprised by a drill.

Mexico City is best read as a set of neighbourhoods, called colonias, each with its own history. The Centro Histórico is the colonial and Aztec core: the Zócalo, the cathedral, the National Palace with its Rivera murals, old shops, cantinas and dozens of small museums. It is busy by day and much quieter in the evening, especially on Sundays.

West of the Centro, the Alameda is a park that dates to the 16th century, and Bellas Artes stands at its edge. Paseo de la Reforma, modelled on Paris boulevards and laid out under Emperor Maximilian, runs south-west to Chapultepec, lined with monuments such as the Angel of Independence. The great park of Chapultepec has been a sacred and royal space for centuries and now holds museums, a lake, a zoo and a castle.

South of Reforma lie Roma and Condesa, which were developed as elegant suburbs in the early 20th century. Roma is a grid of tree-lined streets with Art Nouveau and Neoclassical houses, and it was badly shaken in 1985 and 2017. Condesa's oval Avenida Amsterdam follows the line of an old horse-racing track. Both neighbourhoods are now known for cafés, bookshops, bars and restaurants, and they are the easiest places to walk and linger.

Further out, Polanco offers upscale dining and museums, and Coyoacán and San Ángel keep the feel of old villages, with plazas, markets and the house where Frida Kahlo lived. The lesson for a visitor is to choose one district per half-day. Distances are large, traffic is heavy, and the best days are those that stay in one or two neighbourhoods, with a long lunch in the middle. Give the driver a colonia and a landmark as well as a street, and rely on an app car after dark. A good rule of thumb is to walk within a colonia and ride between them, and to leave the evening for the neighbourhood where you sleep, when the streets are lit and the cafés are full.

Few cities have as many museums, and the best ones tell the story of Mexico in stone, paint and objects. The Museo Nacional de Antropología, which opened in 1964 in Chapultepec Park, holds the great collections of pre-Hispanic Mexico: the Mexica halls with the Sun Stone, the Maya, Oaxaca and Olmec galleries, and an ethnography floor on living peoples. Its huge courtyard and umbrella fountain are part of the experience. Give it at least two hours.

The Templo Mayor museum shows what lay under the modern street. Workers digging for a power cable in 1978 uncovered a great carved disc of the goddess Coyolxauhqui, and the excavation that followed exposed the temple precinct of the Aztec capital. The museum displays offerings brought to the temple from across the empire, and the ruins let you see how successive temples were built over earlier ones.

Mural painting is the city's signature art. After the Revolution, the government commissioned artists to paint public walls, and Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros made huge works about history, labour and identity. Many are in the Palacio de Bellas Artes and in the National Palace, and more are at the Museo Mural Diego Rivera near the Alameda and around the university campus. Visit with an open mind: the murals are political, sometimes ironic and often dramatic.

The Castillo de Chapultepec, on its hill, is a different kind of museum. Begun in the late 18th century, it was a military academy and the residence of Emperor Maximilian before it became the National Museum of History. Its terraces give one of the city's best views. Check opening days before you go: most national museums close on Mondays, and hours and prices change. Bring your passport or another photo ID if a museum asks for it, carry small notes for entry fees and cloakroom tips, and expect bag checks at the larger buildings.

Mexico City's food starts with corn. Long before the Spanish, people here treated dried maize with lime in a process called nixtamalisation, ground it into masa and made tortillas, tamales and atole. Beans, squash, chiles, tomatoes and cacao were staples, and street sellers were already feeding the crowds of Tenochtitlan's markets. UNESCO recognised traditional Mexican cuisine as intangible cultural heritage in 2010.

The Spanish brought pigs, cattle, dairy, wheat and sugar, and the cuisine became a mix. Pork gave carnitas and chorizo, wheat gave the bread and pastries of the panaderías, and sugar and chocolate gave sweets and drinks. Later waves of migrants also left marks: tacos al pastor, carved from a spit and topped with pineapple, are widely traced to Lebanese immigrants in the 20th century, who adapted the shawarma. The result is a cuisine that is both very old and constantly changing.

A day of eating in the city follows a rhythm. Breakfast might be chilaquiles, tamales with atole or sweet bread with hot chocolate. The main meal, la comida, comes from about 14:00 to 17:00 and can be a set lunch of soup, a main and a drink, or a long table conversation that stretches into the afternoon. Tacos are the everyday snack at any hour, with suadero, campechano, pastor and tripe among the favourites. Dinner is late and often light.

Drinks matter too. Pulque, a fermented agave drink, is older than the Aztec empire and is served in traditional pulquerías. Mezcal and tequila come from agave too, and Mexican beer, often with lime and salt, is the everyday choice. Coffee culture has grown quickly in Roma and Condesa. If you are cautious about your stomach, choose busy places where the food is cooked to order, drink purified water and take a day to adjust to altitude before diving in.

The calendar drives the city. The two biggest civic dates are Independence Day, when on the night of 15 September the president rings a bell and shouts the Grito from the National Palace to a Zócalo packed with people, and the Day of the Dead, on 1 and 2 November. On the second, families build altars called ofrendas with photographs, food, candles and orange marigolds, and they visit cemeteries. UNESCO listed the indigenous festival of the dead in 2008.

Day of the Dead is not Halloween, and it is not sad. It is a celebration of remembered people, and offerings include pan de muerto, sugar skulls and favourite dishes of the dead. In recent years the city has added a large parade, popularised by a film scene, and altars appear in squares and museums from late October. Coyoacán and the Centro are busy, and villages such as Mixquic hold candlelit vigils. Visit with respect: do not treat cemeteries as photo sets, and ask before photographing.

Other dates matter as well. Holy Week in March or April brings processions, and the passion play in Iztapalapa draws huge crowds. The Pride march in late June is one of the largest in Latin America. On 12 December, millions of pilgrims travel to the Basilica of Guadalupe. From 16 to 24 December, the posadas re-enact the search for lodging with songs and piñatas. Each of these can fill hotels, close streets and change how you plan the day.

Practically, check the calendar before you book. Around 15 September, the Zócalo is closed to visitors for days. During Day of the Dead, hotels and tours book out early. On public holidays, museums may change hours and shops may close. If your dates fall on one of these, treat it as a chance to see something special and plan a flexible day with an app-car ride in reserve.

Mexico City rewards a slow start. On the first day, altitude can bring a headache and breathlessness, so keep the plan light: a morning walk, a long lunch, an early night. Drink purified water, use sunscreen and carry a warm layer, since mornings and evenings are cool all year. From June to September, expect afternoon storms and do outdoor sights in the morning.

Move sensibly. Use app cars or a hotel taxi between districts and after dark, and avoid hailing street cabs. The Metro is cheap and fast but crowded at rush hour, and pickpockets work the platforms, so keep bags in front. Keep phones out of hand on the street, use ATMs inside banks and never carry more cash than you need. If a stranger spills something on you or offers unrequested help, decline and keep walking.

Be a good guest. Greet people with buenos días or buenas tardes, learn a few phrases and tip 10 to 15 per cent in restaurants unless a service charge is added. Ask before photographing people and follow the rules at museums and churches. Respect the ways people remember the dead, and remember that many neighbourhoods have residents who live with noise, tourists and rising rents. Spend money at local shops, markets and small restaurants.

Finally, choose depth over breadth. A day with one museum, a long lunch, a walk in Roma and a mezcal in the evening will teach you more than a checklist. If you have extra days, add Teotihuacán, Coyoacán or Xochimilco. Book popular tickets ahead, keep Mondays in mind, and leave room for a wrong turn. In a city this large, the unplanned hour is often the one you remember. Keep a small notebook or a phone note of the places you liked, since the names of streets and stalls slip away quickly, and you may want to return on another trip.