Mexico City travel guide: art and design

Being in Mexico City feels, I imagine, like being in Paris in the 1920s, or London in the 1960s: at the epicentre of a new world. 

Art, design, music, fashion, food… Mexico's thriving capital wasn't named Time Out's 2023 top cultural destination in the world for nothing. A high-altitude valley ringed by mountains is an appropriately dramatic setting for a megalopolis built on ancient ruins: the famed Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan. Even for this lifelong Londoner, the sheer scale of Mexico City is dizzying. I was grateful for the 17th-floor rooftop restaurant of my hotel, the Andaz Mexico City Condesa: its 360-degree views of the city, with the high rises of the bohemian La Condesa neighbourhood reflected in the infinity pool, offer a way to get your bearings. 

There's so much to do in a city of over 20 million people that it's best to narrow your focus. With its 170 museums, innumerable galleries, a world-famous annual art fair, architectural history and punchy street murals, the home of Frida Kahlo sits deservedly alongside Rome or Barcelona as an art capital of the world. If you know your avant-garde from your art deco, this is the city for you. 

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What to see and do

The newly opened hotel, Andaz's second in Mexico and 25th globally, is inspired by the work of famed Mexican architect Luis Barragán, so it would be spurious not to begin with Casa Estudio Luis Barragán, the studio-turned-museum of the 20th-century titan, 10 minutes' walk away.

The nearly intact 1948 building is considered one of the most important 20th-century homes. It blends modern landscaping with light, colour and clever use of corners to bring the outdoors inside, emblematic of Barragán's style. This stylish-but-soothing Unesco World Heritage Site, with its floor-to-ceiling windows, will give you the worst kind of interior design envy – and that's to say nothing of its art collection, with works by Picasso and homegrown Diego Rivera. The warm, glowing pink walls make Farrow & Ball's Dead Salmon look like… well, dead salmon. 

Head around the corner to the tiny Kurimanzutto, a large warehouse room that's one of Mexico City's trendiest galleries and contemporary art spaces, showcasing 33 international artists.

Next, walk via the artificial 19th-century lake to another of the many artistic offerings in the bosque de Chapultepec (Chapultepec forest): the National Museum of Anthropology. It's an ode to the country's rich pre-Hispanic history, and one of the world's foremost archaeological museums. Contemporary art lovers also shouldn't miss the Museo de Arte Moderno (MAM) or nearby Rufino Tamayo Museum.

If street art is preferred, the tree-lined nextdoor neighbourhood of La Roma is home to a corner of delight: La Romita. A little plaza and its adjoining tiny cobbled streets are plastered in the type of spontaneous murals most cities would commission at great cost. The brightness of the colours, and the ambition of the murals, contrast with the shabby, pre-gentrified village vibe. 

Walking around the shaded avenues of Roma Norte and La Condesa gives design fans something to look at. There seems to be some sort of local competition for the most attractive, art nouveau-style security bars on the windows, usually ringed by bright colours beloved of Mexicans or a dramatic flourish of flowers. 

It's a fair way south from artistic La Condesa, but a must-see is the Frida Kahlo Museum. Her Casa Azul (Blue House) was home to arguably the most famous female artist of all time – and certainly, the international face of Mexico – as well as tempestuous Diego Rivera, who she married twice, or one of their many lovers. 

It's hard to describe the sensation of seeing her familiar work in the context of her cobalt home. Looking out from her bedroom window to her lush jungle of a garden, or standing by her painting table to see your own face in the mirror, surrounded by her pre-Columbian artefacts, European antiques and Mexican folk art, as well as her crutches and carefully adapted indigenous costumes that hid her broken body is like a glimpse inside her mind. 

A word of warning: you have to buy your tickets (270 Mexican pesos, or about £12.50) via the official website, at least a week in advance. If you do not have the right ticket for the correct time slot, you won't get in, even if you are a reincarnation of Kahlo herself. 

Where to stay: Andaz Mexico City Condesa

Andaz, a luxury boutique brand, is a Hindi word for "personal style". Andaz Mexico City Condesa can attest to that. 

The neon-lit mirrored staircase that goes up to the lobby is outrageously flamboyant, while the lobby itself is understated elegance in soothing earthy colours, neatly encapsulating the two faces of this hotel. 

Downstairs there are little touches like QR codes with information about the contemporary artwork and a discreetly tucked away Pasa Spa & Wellness centre, where you can have one of the most effective massages I've ever experienced. 

The relaxed Derba Matcha Café is a popular spot for young professionals for a smoothie or latte. The warm pastel velvets, plentiful plants and pastries are an influencer's paradise. The chef claims his concoctions are better than any you can get in Paris, which I put to the test.

The compact, ultra-modern rooms are also everything you'd expect from five-star boutique luxury: off-the-charts thread counts, sophisticated lighting systems and gleaming marble bathrooms. But the designers evidently had fun, with the bright pink obelisk and the vinyl records that seemed to have been chosen for their tantalising covers. 

The Tulum beach-style 17th-floor Cabuya Rooftop, a boho bar and restaurant, is accessible via a bright pink geometric-patterned lift. The walls are covered with vibrant murals by artist Edoardo Aldama: whales, turtles, octopuses and seabirds in primary colours, lit by lanterns dangling from the foliage ceiling. 

This is a destination: a place to be seen. The seafood-dominated menu, inspired by the flavours of the Baja and Yucatán regions, make it too compelling to leave. I particularly adored the sweet and sour octopus and fresh ceviche. 

The hotel goes on an unexpected tangent with its 'Wooftop' Beer Garden & Canine Club, a dog-friendly restaurant with a terrace. You can sip a beer and enjoy some nachos or a blackened fish taco, made in a street-food truck, while your pampered pooch sits on a bean bag next to you. There's also a doggy exercise area and – you'd have to see it to believe it – a special dog menu serving "vegan barkcini", non-alcoholic "beer for dogs" and the "woof slider" of ground beef, rice and beet. 

It's the kind of place a certain type of influencer would come to celebrate their dog's birthday – out-of-place kitsch, but very fun.

While this hotel might not be right for honeymooners or families with young kids, it's ideal for trendy professionals, fashion designers or bohemian art lovers.

How to get there

There are direct flights from London to Benito Juárez International Airport, with British Airways or Virgin Atlantic, but at nearly 12 hours it's a big ask. Stop off en route on Mexico's east coast – direct flights from all over the UK will get you to Cancún in just over 10 hours – and fend off the jet lag on the beach. 

Then it's just a 2.5-hour flight west to Mexico City, and a short cab or subway ride into the city. 

Harriet Marsden was a guest of Andaz Mexico City Condesa, and luxury tour operator, Untold Story Travel, which offers bespoke travel experiences to Mexico and destinations around the world. 

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