Great Escapes: Mexico City’s Grand, Upscale Allure

Right now, Mexico City’s handsome downtown is something like a fusion among Manhattan, Lisbon, and Berlin—still low-cost plenty of for the hip established but with more than enough wealth and luxury for corporate and cultural elites, all suffused with bohemian design and style and electricity. Like Mexico as a full, Mexico City is vastly underrated. 

Nevertheless one particular wouldn’t guess it from an airplane, Mexico Town rests on a gargantuan old lake. That is how Spanish Conquistadors observed it, in the early 16th century, when its predecessor, the Aztec cash of Tenochtitlan, occupied an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco. Following Hernan Cortes’ forces and an alliance of indigenous peoples sacked the Aztecs, Spanish settlers gradually drained the lake. Today’s town, which sprawls for some 570 sq. miles, occupies a lot of that dried-up basin. It is for this explanation that components of the metropolis, this sort of as the giant 19th-century Metropolitan Cathedral, are sinking. 

Nowadays, the capital’s colonial roots are much more widespread than its Aztec ones. You spot them in its several Spanish-designed cathedrals, squares, and other grand buildings that appear straight out of Madrid. Coyoacan, one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods, courting to the 16th century, is full of them. But the marks of the Aztecs continue being if 1 is aware wherever to look, these as in the Templo Mayor ruins abutting the capital’s famed Zocalo sq.. Mexico City is like that, a sprawl of charming tiny tricks. It pays to know wherever to look. 

Keep

The centrally positioned Paseo de la Reforma, Mexico City’s Champ Elysees, is household to various 5-star lodges. Amid the better kinds is the St. Regis Mexico City, a 31-tale skyscraper visible from a lot of the bordering neighborhoods that one particular would wish to wander. The concierge services is excellent, the services up-to-day, and the place just throughout from Chapultepec Park is enviable. Even closer to the considerable park, which options many museums, is Marquis Reforma & Spa, an more mature, Mexican 5-star with a beautiful foyer and handsome rooms. Most recent to the city is the 58-tale Ritz-Carlton Mexico City, which opened in Polanco late last yr, and is fantastic. 

Encounter

The Nationwide Museum of Anthropology, home to the world’s premier selection of historic Mexican artwork, have to definitely depend as a single of the greatest museums in Latin America. It is an enriching put to start out a Mexico Town tour, situated in just Chapultepec Park. Its long term exhibit, which includes the gigantic round stone Aztec Calendar, is astounding, but it also presents rotating collections, so check the site. 

An additional incredibly common but worthwhile attraction is The Blue Residence, the pretty 20th-century home of artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, now transformed into an eclectic museum. With each artists’ functions along with particular belongings and flamboyant wardrobes, it is understandably chaotic it’s ideal to safe tickets in progress. Considerably significantly less visited but truly worth a stop is the Diego Rivera Mural Museum in Centro district, which showcases Rivera’s 51-foot-long mural, Desire of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda Central, a psychedelic collage of Mexican historical past and a modern-day masterpiece. Close by is the Latin American Tower, when the capital’s tallest constructing, the place cocktails and remarkable cityscape views can be relished at the Miralto Cafe on the 41st flooring. 

A 30-minute Uber ride away from downtown is the sacred metropolis of Teotihuacan, two towering pyramids and other ruins which rely between the most amazing pre-Hispanic creations in Mexico. An hour or so wandering the grounds is nicely worth the trip various guides will offer you you their solutions on site. As for travelers wishing to discover Spanish, the perfectly-reputed instruction company Fluenz operates outstanding, higher-finish programs at several destinations during the town, which double as cultural and culinary excursions.

Eat & DRINK 

As enriching as Mexico City can be, its culinary choices are even extra so. Mexican foodstuff of all stripes is located there, of training course, but so much too is significant-top quality Italian, Japanese, and other international cuisines. Its nascent cocktail scene, way too, is top rated-notch, with the awards to show it. 

Conventional Mexican dishes with an elegant twist are uncovered at Restaurante Sonia, in the hip Juarez neighborhood—try the heavenly duck mole. Similarly stylish but with a far more eclectic menu is Casa Prunes, which occupies a handsome art nouveau developing nearby the tortellini is delightful. An Italian mainstay is Sartoria, a minimalist cavern serving superb classics with handmade pasta. 

New dining establishments are continuously springing up in Mexico City and among the most impressive is Em, a cozy, ground breaking spot which artfully fuses Japanese procedures with Mexican elements in an ever-changing omakase menu consider dashi broth created with cactus or kampachi crudo with passion fruit and chiltepin pepper. Definitely, a Michelin star awaits head chef Lucho Martinez. 

For a consume, choose a seat at Licoreria Limantour, a well-liked cocktail bar that has solidified by itself as one of the nicest watering holes all around because its 2014 debut. World’s Best Bars ranks it as 2021’s top bar in North America their al pastor margarita is a ought to-check out. The nearby Hanky Panky is also excellent. For a drink with a watch, cruise by the Balcon del Zocalo, which has a great terrace for cityscape sights. 

And for a straightforward nevertheless profound taco strike possibly El Turix, which churns out Yucatan-design cochinita pibil pulled-pork tacos in the swanky Polanco community, or Taqueria Orinoco, for their unforgettable chicharron tacos. Also, make time for breakfast at Lardo, a Mexican-European eatery with delectable pastries and pleasant, bohemian vibes.  

The author was hosted by St. Regis and Marquis Reforma