16 Best Museums In Mexico City To Visit

If you’re looking for a guide to help you discover the best museums in Mexico City, you’ve come to the right place!

The Mexican capital has loads of fascinating places 🛕 where you can learn about the millennia-long history of the region, as well as immerse yourself in the country’s rich artistic heritage.

👱🏻‍♀️👱🏻‍♂️ We live part of every year in CDMX, so we’ve had plenty of time to explore not just the top museums that every first-time tourist must see but also some of the lesser-visited exhibitions that are ideal for people looking to dig a little deeper into the culture.

A couple of quick tips before we get started. First, bear in mind that even some of the most modern, heavily frequented museums in CDMX, for some reason, still 🚫 don’t accept cards, so make sure you have pesos ready to hand. Second, 🚫 Monday is the day when most of the best museums in the city take the day off, so plan your itinerary accordingly. 

🤫 And let us tell you the secret, many cultural venues in the city have free admissions on Sundays, so check out our detailed guides below ⬇️⬇️ to find out which ones.

5 Must Visit Mexico City Museums

If it’s your first visit to CDMX and you’re only in town for a few days, you probably won’t want to spend all your time ogling exhibits! That’s why we’ve made a shortlist of the 5 best museums in Mexico City that we think are absolutely essential.

#1 Frida Kahlo Museum

Arguably the most famous museum in Mexico City, the Frida Kahlo Museum, is a dazzlingly blue building that’s hard to miss. Also known as the Casa Azul, this popular art museum was formerly the birthplace and childhood home of Kahlo, later becoming the marital residence for her and her husband Diego Rivera.

Today, the building contains a mixture of Kahlo’s artwork and artefacts from her life.

Mal is a big fan of Frida and her work. She admires her expression of feminism and self-acceptance. Our favourite area is the studio, which has been preserved to showcase how it would have looked during Kahlo’s lifetime, but there are plenty of fascinating little things to discover for Frida fans.

#2 National Museum of Anthropology

Another of the best museums in Mexico City is the National Museum of Anthropology, often cited as the most visited attraction in CDMX. An enormous collection of 600,000 pieces is contained within its walls, spanning a diverse array of Mesoamerican cultures, from the Olmec to the Toltec, Maya to Aztec. 

There are lots of cool pieces to see here, including the elaborately carved Aztec sunstone, giant Olmec heads, and a Zapotec jade mask, as well as recreations of temples and tombs from different eras that really bring the past to life.

#3 Tamayo Contemporary Art Museum

Founded in 1981 by the artist and collector Rufino Tamayo, the Tamayo Contemporary Art Museum is arguably the finest modern art museum Mexico City has to offer, blending a solid permanent collection of artworks by 20th-century greats like Picasso and Magritte with visiting exhibitions dedicated to avant-garde painting, video, and sculpture.

The building itself is also a work of art, composed in a very modern concrete style but with nods to pre-Hispanic architecture. 

#4 Teotihuacan Museum 

The Teotihuacan architectural complex is one of the best-preserved ruins of pre-Hispanic civilisation you’ll see in Mexico, containing one of the world’s largest pyramids, the Pyramid of the Sun. 

As part of the entry ticket, you get entrance to the Museo de Siteo (also known as the Museo de la Cultura Teotihuacana), which contains exhibitions and explanatory plaques that contextualise the incredible buildings of Teotihuacan. We also find it makes for a refreshing, air-conditioned respite from the sun on hot days!

#5 Diego Rivera Mural Museum

The main reason to visit the Diego Rivera Mural Museum is to see the artist’s 15.6-metre-wide Sueño de una tarde dominical en la Alameda Central (Dream of a Sunday Afternoon at Alameda Central Park). This iconic work features many famous figures from the history of Mexico gathered in a colourful group portrait.

While it’s one of the smaller art museums Mexico City has to offer, it’s an essential visit for anybody who’s interested in the work of one of Mexico’s most famous painters. Plus, it’s easy to incorporate into a wider exploration of downtown CDMX.

Best Art Museums In Mexico City

If you’re a true art aficionado, there are loads of Mexico City art museums that you can visit beyond the Tamayo, Casa Azul, and the Diego Rivera Mural Museum. Some of these provide interesting spaces to explore contemporary Mexican creations, while others focus on pre-Columbian collections.

#6 Museum of Modern Art

One of the best contemporary art museums in Mexico City, the Museum of Modern Art (MAM) is a distinctive circular building set amidst a garden of sculptures. There’s a nice mix of pieces here, covering international and Mexican artists.

Frida Kahlo’s Two Fridas is the most famous work on display, though we also enjoyed learning more about the art of surrealist Remedios Varo, who seems to be something of a speciality of the MAM. 

#7 Anahuacalli Museum

The Anahuacalli Museum is another building that is a stunning work of art in its own right. Conceived by the artist Diego Rivera, it is made from black volcanic rock and pays homage to pre-Hispanic architecture. 

Inside is Rivera’s extensive collection of Mesoamerican artefacts, making it one of the best art galleries in Mexico City for pre-Columbian pieces.

#8 National Palace

The seat of the Mexican government, the National Palace, is an elaborate building with a unique tezontle (porous volcanic rock) façade of earthy red. While not all the Palacio is open to the public, there are still plenty of opulent interiors to explore.

For art lovers, the building also houses another iconic Rivera mural entitled The History of Mexico, an enormous, vibrant work that covers several walls and depicts the country’s rich past.

#9 University Museum of Contemporary Art

Solely housing artworks that have been created since 1952, UMAC is one of the best museums in Mexico City if your focus is staunchly on the contemporary. 

The permanent collection centres mainly on Mexican creators working across all kinds of media, while the temporary exhibitions have a more international bent.

Best Science & History Museums In Mexico City

So far, we’ve largely focused on CDMX’s art museums purely because there are so many great ones to check out! Not all the best museums in Mexico City, however, are about painting and sculpture, and some of our fondest memories in the capital have been digging into treasure troves of little-known historical facts.

#10 National History Museum

Found inside Chapultepec Castle, the National History Museum covers thousands of years of history in brief. The collection contains a mixture of coins, carriages, and innumerable decorative objects in what feels to us like a fascinating, if jumbled, hodgepodge. 

It’s worth visiting just to see the fantastic interiors and enjoy the great views from the outdoor terrace.

#11 Templo Mayor Museum

Once upon a time, the Templo Mayor was the most important place of worship in Mexico City. Following the arrival of the conquistadors, however, the once proud temple was ripped apart to make way for the Metropolitan Cathedral, leaving the Aztecan remnants a rather underwhelming site today.

That’s why, for history buffs, the Templo Mayor archaeological museum in Mexico City is a must, showcasing some of the best signage we’ve seen in CDMX to tell the story of what once was. There are eight main rooms here, each one covering a different topic, from ancient gods to agriculture and commerce. 

#12 Leon Trotsky Museum

One of the best museums in Mexico City for people who enjoy their political intrigues, the Leon Trotsky Museum is dedicated to one of the most important communist thinkers of the Russian Revolution. And since Leon Trotsky has a love affair with Frida Kahlo, it was on Mal’s bucket list for a long time!

The museum occupies the house where Trotsky lived the final years of his life. Rather macabrely, everything in the house has allegedly been left exactly as it was when Trotsky was murdered with an axe in his study by a Stalinist goon. 

#13 Memory and Tolerance Museum

Despite the grim subject matter, we found the Memory and Tolerance Museum a very informative, worthwhile visit. It’s been very thoughtfully arranged, with audio guides supplying information in a range of languages.

The content of the permanent exhibitions principally focuses on the Holocaust but also touches on other genocides that have taken place in recent memory. 

Best Museums Mexico City Has To Offer For Kids

Many of the best museums to visit in Mexico City are kid-friendly – plus most of them offer free entrance to youngsters – but the three we’ve highlighted here have been specially designed to entertain children. You may find these particularly useful when one of CDMX’s rainy spells strikes!

#14 Papalote Museo del Niño

Filled with interactive as well as educational activities to keep the kids occupied, the Papalote Children’s Museum has everything from an axolotl aquarium to a pretend supermarket.

Workshops are run throughout the day so children can indulge their creative side – just bear in mind that the place is primarily geared towards local Spanish speakers.

#15 Universum, the Science Museum

The Universum boasts three floors of exhibits aimed at getting children interested in all kinds of science topics, from the wonders of nature to the enormity of the universe.

As you would expect, given the name and the location, the Universum is a bit more education-focused than the Papalote, but we still saw plenty of interactive aspects for kids.

#16 KidZania

KidZania has locations throughout the world, including two on the outskirts of CDMX. Leaning into the edutainment concept, the brand creates role-playing experiences for children where they can take on the occupation of an astronaut, a restaurateur, a scientist, or several other jobs.

Keep in mind that KidZania is all about the children, so parents are largely relegated to hanging around, which might not be your ideal way to spend a family holiday.

Best Museums In Mexico City: FAQ

Are there any famous museums in Mexico?

Many of the best museums in Mexico City are among the capital’s most famous attractions, including the Frida Kahlo Museum, the Tamayo Contemporary Art Museum, and the museum in the Teotihuacan archaeological site. Several famous landmarks in Mexico City have also been converted into museums in recent years, including Chapultepec Castle, which is now the National History Museum.

What is the most visited museum in Mexico?

The most visited museum in Mexico is the National Museum of Anthropology, which contains a fascinating examination of the various Mesoamerican cultures that have thrived at one time or another around Mexico. It may even be the most visited attraction in CDMX, though it’s hard to say for sure as some very popular places aren’t ticketed.

Are there free museums in Mexico City?

Yes, there are several free museums in Mexico City, including the striking Museo Soumaya, with its diverse collection of world art throughout the ages. Other museums, like the Museum of Modern Art and the Tamayo Contemporary Art Museum, offer free access to the public on Sundays.

How many museums are there in Mexico City?

While we haven’t tallied the exact total ourselves, there are estimated to be more than 150 museums in Mexico City – and a lot of them are in Chapultepec Park! While we’ve highlighted some of our favourites here, there are also some fun alternatives that are worth visiting for their quirkiness, including the MUCHO Chocolate Museum and MODO, a museum dedicated to the story of daily objects.

Best Museums In Mexico City: The Wrap-Up

And there you have it, our pick of the best museums in Mexico City! We’ve tried to include something for everybody, but inevitably, we couldn’t include everything that CDMX has to offer. There are more than 150, after all!