Visiting Mexico City with kids
Casa de los Azulejos (House of the Tiles), Historic Center, Mexico City
(Photo: Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
After shifting travel plans unexpectedly, my family and I decided to book a trip to Mexico City for just over a week. Four people—two young kids (5 & 7), one adult, and an art historian. What could go wrong?
We weren't sure if this would be a brilliant or terrible idea. After all, Mexico City is a big, busy city! But it is filled with museums, cultural experiences, great food, large parks, and so much more. The art historian (me) was eager to introduce them to a city I adore, but worried that my love of it might also overwhelm them.
Despite my worries, we figured we'd give it a shot and see if we'd love our decision or regret it.
Diego Rivera, Man, Controller of the Universe, 1934, Palacio de Bellas Artes
(Photo: Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
It turns out, traveling to Mexico City with kids was awesome! With so much to do and see and eat, there was never a dull moment. Plus, there was a lot of walking and pointing, so we all slept well.
Diego Rivera, Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park (Sueño de una tarde dominical en la Alameda Central), 1947, originally in the Hotel del Prado (destroyed), Mexico City; now in the Museo Mural Diego Rivera, Mexico City
(Photo: Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
We stayed just off the Alameda Park. It was a great location for us because it allowed us to walk to a lot of places in the Centro of Mexico City. There is a lot of art and architecture clustered in this part of the city, so it allowed us to see and do more.
We did A LOT during our week in Mexico City. It helped that the art historian in the family has spent a great deal of time in Mexico City and speaks Spanish. Even if you have never been to Mexico City and speak little to no Spanish, have no fear! It is a navigable city with a lot to do in a few areas.
Templo Mayor from above, Historic Center, Mexico City
(Photo: Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
The heart of Mexico City is the Centro
Most people will visit Mexico City and spend a lot of time exploring the Centro. It has a ton of stuff to see, do, eat, and drink, and it is home to some of the city's most incredible sites and museums. The main plaza (or Zócalo) is bordered by the Metropolitan Cathedral, the National Palace with modernist murals, the Aztec Templo Mayor site and museum, the National Museum of Art (Museo Nacional de Arte), the Diego Rivera Mural Museum, and many many others!
Altar of Forgiveness, Metropolitan Cathedral, Historic Center, Mexico City
(Photo: Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
If you enjoy art, architecture, and history, then you will likely want to spend a lot of time here. Our kids enjoyed visiting some of the museums and churches and other historic buildings.
They were less amused by any tour that we were required to do in order to see things. For example, it is now required that you take a tour to see Diego Rivera's History of Mexico murals in the National Palace. Alas, you also cannot walk up the stairs close to them either. Still, they are very worth seeing, but keep in mind that it is an hour long tour and if you have kids like mine that want to twirl and shout and touch, well then . . . ye be warned.
One of our favorite places to eat delicious snacks was Churrería El Moro. What is not to love about delicious churros and hot chocolate? The place gets busy, but tables turn over quickly.
Mexica (or Aztzec) Hall. National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City (Museo Nacional de Antropología)
(Photo: Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Chapultepec Park, more museums and a zoo!
In my opinion, one of the greatest museums in the world (yes, WORLD) is in the Bosque de Chapultepec (Chapultepec Park) in Mexico City. That would be the National Museum of Anthropology, filled with absolutely stunning objects made by the Indigenous peoples of Mexico across thousands of years. This museum is glorious!
Replica of a mural from the Tetitla mural compound, Teotihuacan. National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City (Museo Nacional de Antropología)
(Photo: Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
The National Museum of Anthropology is massive, so it is not possible to see and do everything in one day. I still woke everyone up early and we headed to the museum right when it opened because we knew we'd be here for as long as the kids would allow. We spend about 4.5 hours there, with a long break for lunch and snacks.
Sun Stone in the Mexica (or Aztec) Hall of the National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City (Museo Nacional de Antropología)
(Photo: Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Most people will go to see the Hall of Aztec (or Mexica) art, which is incredible. With monumental sculptures like the “Calendar Stone” (Sun Stone) and Coatlicue, it’s hard not to be impressed.
Figure depicting coyote with warrior's head in its jaws, Toltec culture, 10th–12th century, from Tula, mother-of-pearl. National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City (Museo Nacional de Antropología)
(Photo: Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
But equally intriguing are the gorgeous featherworks, turquoise mosaics, ceramic sculptures, and finely crafted objects on smaller scales. But I’d be remiss not to mention the other halls (or salas)—they are just as remarkable. Around every corner is something eye-catching, such as a man emerging from a coyote head made in shell or a massive stone head made by the Olmecs.
Colossal Head (Monument 17), from San Lorenzo, Veracruz, Olmec culture, c. 1200–600 BCE. National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City (Museo Nacional de Antropología)
(Photo: Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
I could spend days here and still feel like I didn't have enough time. I have never been able to do the bottom floor with the historical art AND the upper level with the contemporary Indigenous art and cultural heritage in the same day. It is just too much. With the kiddos, we only did a portion of the bottom floor.
To make this enjoyable for them, I made a scavenger hunt. Granted, I know the museum so well I could make an elaborate scavenger hunt, but it would be worth it to even do basic things like "Find a bird, find a person, find a fish" to get them looking at art. They enjoyed hunting for art far more than if I just said, "take a look and enjoy in calm silence." That and they just wouldn't be able to do it.
Museums are often very unfriendly spaces or at least unwelcoming to kids because they don't know what to do or how to act. The National Museum of Anthropology is a great museum to get them excited about looking and discovering (without touching!). Plus, each sala has a little outside space with models of buildings, objects, or spaces that aren’t at the museum, which makes them the perfect place to let kids stretch and get a little loud if they need to.
I've spent too long talking about one of the best museums in the world (did I mention that already?), but if you head into Chapultepec Park, and you happen to find yourselves with more time, there is a ton to do! You can just walk through the park, people watching and eating delicious food bought from street vendors. You could paddle on a lake. Or you can visit a fantastic zoo for free! It was worth it just to go to the Axolotl space here, though the zoo itself has a lot to see if you are OK with crowds.
Other museums are also in the Park, including the National History Museum (which is actually a castle!). This museum has fabulous views of the city, though it is a short but steep upward walk to get to the top of a hill. Totally worth it if you can make it though. My kids did protest this walk toward the end of the 20-minutes ("my legs are falling off!"). Though, once they saw the castle they had a lot of questions about WHY there is a big castle in Mexico City. I got to get on my soapbox and complain about how people in the US celebrate Cinco de Mayo (LOL, yes, I do love to complain about this), but I also got to talk about the French invasion and Cinco de Mayo and Emperor Maximilian and the Second Mexican Empire!* At least my husband was intrigued; my kids were mainly just impressed with the castle.
Miguel Cabrera, Portrait of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, c. 1750. Museo de Historia, Castillo de Chapultepec, Mexico City
(Photo: Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
The museum has a wonderful collection, including the fantastic portrait of the most famous Mexican woman of the 17th and 18th century: Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. She was a prodigy, author, playwright, musician—and nun! Her portrait, by the famed Mexican artist Miguel Cabrera, is a powerful one. It prompted a lot of questions from my kids about women in art, women in history, and more.
There is a lot more I want to write about visiting Mexico City, but lest I truly write a novel I will end here, offering just a few morsels of all the good things that Mexico City has to offer art history and travel nerds.
Learn more about traveling to Mexico City!
Read about the amazing art of the Aztecs in Mexico City.
Discover some ways to get kids excited about art history!
If you head to the National Museum of Anthropology, you can learn more about some of the most famous artworks on display there:
If you head into Chapultepec Park further, you could head up to the Chapultepec Castle (Castillo de Chapultepec) and see a portrait of the most famous woman in colonial Mexico: Sor Juana! (video)
* If you are still wondering what Cinco de Mayo is all about, then I am delighted to say more about it! The May 5th holiday commemorates the Mexican victory in battle over the French (specifically the Second French Empire) who had invaded Mexico. At the Battle of Puebla, the Mexican army defeated the French on this day in 1862—it was a big deal! Still, not long after, the French would wage war again with new forces and occupy Mexico—installing Maximilian I as Emperor of Mexico. Cinco de Mayo is unrelated to Mexican Independence.
