Mexico City

Mexico City stands on the drained lakebed where Tenochtitlán, the Aztec capital, once sat, and the city has never stopped building on top of itself. On the Zócalo, one of the largest squares in the world, the Templo Mayor excavations sit a few steps from the Metropolitan Cathedral and the Palacio Nacional, where Diego Rivera's murals tell the country's whole story up a single staircase.

Walk west and the Centro Histórico opens onto the Art Nouveau and Art Deco Palacio de Bellas Artes, the Alameda park and the Torre Latinoamericana. Further on, Chapultepec Park holds the castle and the National Museum of Anthropology, and the leafy streets of Roma and Condesa are the city's cafés-and-restaurants quarter. To the south, Coyoacán keeps its colonial squares and the blue house where Frida Kahlo was born and died, and the canals of Xochimilco are a remnant of the old lake. The Cablebús cable cars glide above the hillside boroughs, giving a view of the everyday city most visitors never see.

Most visits to Mexico City mix a few kinds of day:

• The historic centre: the Zócalo, the Templo Mayor, the cathedral and Rivera's murals, the best introduction to how the city was built.
• Neighbourhoods and food: Coyoacán and the story of Frida Kahlo, Roma and Condesa, markets, tacos and street food, mezcal and pulque, and street art seen from the Cablebús.
• Day trips: the pyramids of Teotihuacán, the canals of Xochimilco, and colonial towns such as Puebla.

Each tour page lists its exact meeting point, what is included and the languages available on each date.

March to May is the driest and warmest stretch and the easiest for walking. The rainy season runs June to September, but that mostly means a heavy shower in the late afternoon — mornings stay clear, so morning tours are rarely affected. Bring a light rain layer anyway.

Late October and early November are the most atmospheric time to be here, with Día de Muertos filling the squares, markets and cemeteries. Book well ahead for those dates. One practical note whatever the season: the city sits at roughly 2,240 metres, so take your first day gently, drink plenty of water and save the most demanding walk for day two.