Mexico City · With kids
WITH KIDS
Enormous parks, a children's museum with real ambition, and boats poled through canals in the south.
Chapultepec zoo and park
The zoo is free, the lake has rowing boats and the park runs for kilometres. Closed Mondays; go before the afternoon crowds arrive. Ages 2+.
Papalote Museo del Niño
A hands-on science and play museum built for children rather than adults, with a domed cinema. Book online for weekends. Ages 3–11.
Xochimilco trajineras
Flat-bottomed boats poled through the old canals, hired by the hour with a table on board. Bring food; mariachis charge per song. Ages 4+.
Museo Nacional de Antropología
Vast, but the Aztec and Maya halls plus the courtyard fountain carry an hour or two easily. Ages 7+.
Altitude, rain and mealtimes
At 2,240 metres small children tire fast for the first day or two, and rain arrives most afternoons May to October. Lunch is the big meal, around two.