Mexico City is alive with beauty — beauty both in the architecture and in the everyday exchanges at markets, gardens, and street stalls. Mexico City is always on the move, so it is difficult to isolate specific streets from the encounters, occasions, and moments of joy that take place along them.
To help you create some moments of your own, however, this guide introduces the streets that together encompass the different types of beauty that Mexico City offers.
To get a real insight into Mexico City’s beauty, you need a local guide who understands the historical and contemporary significance of the small details.
Please get in touch with us at Sabores Mexico for passionate local knowledge about our city and its culture. In the meantime, let us take you on a walk to some of our favorite places….
Paseo de la Reforma
This is a wide avenue that runs across the heart of the city. Modeled on European boulevards, it is home to some of Mexico’s tallest buildings, and some major monuments, including the iconic Angel of Independence.
As you might imagine, this avenue is quite something to navigate as it stretches for several miles, but it has real cultural significance to the city, being the site for major protest rallies and celebrations of the national football team.
We can help you out there if you fancy combining your appreciation of Paseo de la Reforma with some tacos, beer, and mezcal!
Our Mexico City Taco, Beer, and Mezcal Tour starts on Paseo de la Reforma, and you will take in the splendor of the avenue with a local’s perspective on its significance.
Avenida Álvaro Obregón
This is a pedestrian-friendly street in the heart of Colonia Roma. As you stroll along, you can identify Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and Neoclassical architecture, colorful tiles, and the flowering Jacaranda, Tabebuia, and Tipuana trees that line the avenue.
The shops here specialize in unique fashion, design, and crafts, and the area is frequently the site of cultural events. Street stalls also bring a colorful and delicious addition to the scene, filling the air with the warm smell of grilled corn and churros.
Avenida Álvaro Obregón lies right next to the meeting points for two of our popular tours; our Mexico Chocolate Experience and our Colonia Roma Food Tour.
We love this area for its culinary fusion of traditional and avant-garde. Our tour includes, naturally, the most gourmet vegan tacos in the city!
Avenida Francisco Sosa
Avenida Francisco Sosa crosses the village-like neighborhood of Coyoacán, known for the generations of artists living and working there.
This 450-year-old cobblestone street is a lovely place to walk, and you will be walking in the footsteps of some of the city’s earliest residents.
The street is named after the poet Francisco Sosa and contains a former home of Nobel Laureate Octavio Paz.
We recommend that you stop for a coffee on one of the street’s lovely outdoor cafe spaces and courtyards with these words from Paz’s poem “Between coming and going” in mind:
Between going and staying
the day wavers,
in love with its own transparency.
The circular afternoon is now a bay
where the world in stillness rocks.
If you find this neighborhood as captivating as we do, our Coyoacán Food and Culture Tour will introduce you to the history of this beautiful area, including Frida Kahlo’s Blue House, which lies not far from the Avenida Francisco Sosa.
Chimalistac
Chimalistac is another cobblestoned street lined with Jacaranda trees, right on the Parque de La Bombilla — a park with fountains, monuments, and playgrounds.
The Chimalistac neighborhood lies next to Coyoacán and was originally a stretch of orchards operated by the nearby Carmelite monastery.
The Carmelites built a series of bridges in the area which still stand today. One, the Puente del Pulpito, was used by priests to rehearse their sermons.
Another historical curiosity is the Hermitage of Secrets — a small vaulted chamber with acoustics that enable a whisper to be heard across to the other side if you stand in the right place.
Avenida Francisco I. Madero
Avenida Francisco I. Madero is a pedestrianized street right in the heart of the historic city center; it is a great place to take in the historic architecture and enjoy the buzz of city life.
It forms part of our Historic Mexico City Center Food Tour, and, like our tour, this street blends ancient and modern in its architecture and culture.
Calle Tacuba
Calle Tacuba is the oldest street in the city, now bright and bustling and lined with shops and street stalls for locals and tourists alike. It was formally called Tlacopan, and was one of the original Aztec avenues, making it possibly the oldest street in America.
The street is home to Mexico’s National Museum of Art and the Postal Palace, a magnificent architectural fusion that was designed to celebrate Mexico’s brand-new national post system and the uniting of the country symbolized in that project. It still operates as a post office today.
We hope this guide has whetted your appetite for exploring Mexico City. Please do get in touch with us for more local tips or ideas. Our commitment is to make every visit to Mexico City truly reflective of the beautiful culture that the city lives, breathes, and eats!
