Mexico City 3 Day Itinerary (No Traps)
Three days is our 2-day plan plus the day it deliberately cuts: Chapultepec Castle and the murals inside Palacio de Bellas Artes. Still no day trips, still inside city limits. If Teotihuacan or Puebla matter to you, that is what our Mexico City Mexico itinerary is for, not this one.
Book these before you go:
- Casa Azul or a Coyoacan tour on GetYourGuide : mandatory advance tickets, no walk-up, book 2-4 weeks out
- A Xochimilco trajinera tour : skips the haggling with unlicensed boat touts
- A Roma Norte or Condesa hotel on Booking.com : the walkable base for all three evenings
| Day | Focus |
|---|---|
| 1 | Zocalo, Templo Mayor, National Palace, Anthropology Museum, Roma Norte dinner |
| 2 | Casa Azul, Coyoacan plaza, Xochimilco trajinera, Condesa dinner |
| 3 | Chapultepec Castle, Bosque de Chapultepec, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Centro dinner |
Day 1: Historic Centre and the Anthropology Museum
The Zocalo and the Metropolitan Cathedral beside it cost nothing to visit. Templo Mayor, the excavated Aztec temple a block northeast, runs roughly 100 MXN for the museum and archaeological zone (hours on inah.gob.mx ) and holds the Coyolxauhqui stone that construction crews found by accident in 1978. The National Palace across the square is free and carries Diego Rivera’s mural cycle on the history of Mexico around its main stairwell, worth thirty unhurried minutes.
In the afternoon, take the Metro or a taxi to Chapultepec Park for the Museo Nacional de Antropologia : 210 MXN for foreign visitors, 105 MXN for nationals and resident foreigners, closed Mondays. The Aztec Sun Stone, the Olmec colossal heads and the Mayan hall justify a full afternoon on their own; this is the museum a three-day trip should not rush.
Dinner in Roma Norte: a taco stall first, 20-35 MXN a taco, then a sit-down table if you want one. Reservations after 8pm land you in a room that is actually full.
Day 2: Coyoacan, Casa Azul and Xochimilco
Casa Azul is 320 MXN, includes the nearby Museo Anahuacalli, and sells every slot through boletos.museofridakahlo.org.mx , never at the door. Book two to four weeks out. Give the plaza and weekend artisan market outside equal time to the house itself.
In the afternoon, head south to Xochimilco for a trajinera through the chinampas, the floating-garden system that fed Tenochtitlan. The regulated rate is roughly 750 MXN per boat per hour, not per person, split across your group, contracted only at an official embarcadero pier. Weekday mornings are quiet; weekend afternoons bring music and food boats and a louder version of the same canals.
Is a private trajinera worth booking ahead rather than showing up? Only if you want certainty on price. Contracting at the embarcadero in person works fine and is how most locals do it; a pre-booked tour mainly buys you a fixed rate and no haggling, useful on a first visit.
Dinner in Condesa, around Parque Mexico: a mezcal pour first, then the taco counter with the longer line.
Day 3: Chapultepec Castle and Bellas Artes
Chapultepec Castle, on the hill above the museum you visited on day one, costs 210 MXN, up from 100 MXN before the January 2026 INAH price increase, free Sundays for nationals and resident foreigners only. It was Mexico’s only real imperial residence, home to Maximilian I in the 1860s, and the view over Paseo de la Reforma from the terrace is the best in the city.
In the afternoon, head back to the Historic Centre for Palacio de Bellas Artes: 75 MXN, seventeen permanent murals by Rivera, Siqueiros, Orozco and four other muralists, ticket sales ending at 5:30pm and the museum closed Mondays. Tickets are in-person only at the door, per palacio.inba.gob.mx , so build in a few minutes’ wait rather than assuming you can buy online.
Is Bellas Artes worth visiting if you already saw Rivera’s murals at the National Palace? Yes, they are different works. The National Palace mural is Rivera’s sweeping national history; Bellas Artes holds a broader set across several muralists, including Siqueiros and Orozco, in a building worth the entry fee on its own architecture.
For a final dinner, stay in the Centro: Alameda Central makes a good pre-dinner walk, and the taquerias around the park cost a fraction of a Polanco tasting menu for food that is just as good.
Before you go
Book Casa Azul the day your flights are confirmed, not the week before. CDMX sits at 2,240m, so mild headaches or breathlessness on day one are normal. Uber or Didi beat a street taxi after dark on all three evenings, and bottled water is sold at every OXXO you pass.