Time Out Mexico City contributors

Mexico City is full of nightlife surprises at every turn. Some of the best mixologists in the world can be found in Mexico City, in charge of the most iconic bars. Since 2016, Mica Rousseau has been recognized in the World Class as the best bartender in America for his Fifty Mils creations, while Limantour ranked 14th in the world on The World’s 50 Best Bars in 2017. Another highlight of the bars in Mexico City is the setting, such as the secret entrance to the 1920s world of USA prohibition found at the Hanky Panky Cocktail Bar, where you can also try the improved recipe of Ada “Coley” Coleman’s hanky panky drink from the Savoy Hotel in London. We ranked the 10 best bars in Mexico City list to reflect the way that people are actually enjoy the nightlife. Discover using your senses the most seductive mixology formulas. You will experience the magic if you sit at the bar; it doesn’t matter if you don’t know what to order, the bartender will have a special combination of unmissable cocktails in these top nightlife bars of the city. Drank somewhere on this list and loved it? Share it with the hashtag #TimeOutDrinkList. You can also find out more about how Time Out makes recommendations and reviews bars here.

Some of these cocktail bars have no signage, or at least unobvious signage, nor do they share their addresses on social media but you can often find them listed as some of the best bars in the world. These types of clubs prefer to hide themselves in unsuspecting places. Most of these bars have been inspired by the speakeasies and blind pigs of the 1920s Prohibition era in the United States, during which it was illegal to purchase or consume alcohol. Let yourself discover and explore these concept bars that will change your idea of an average night out on the town. 

Mexico's pre-Hispanic era (which chronologically began in the year 2000 BC) is culturally rich and particularly captivating. The experience of seeing with our own eyes the grandeur that was the pre-Hispanic villages through their architecture, daily tools and other objects of either religious or decorative significance, is the best way of taking us back in time to understand the Aztec way of life. The best archaeological sites in Mexico City, and the surrounding areas, are both excellent options for a trip in order grasp the pre-Hispanic history of Mexico. These sites give us a clearer idea of the social and religious relations that existed within these spaces and they allow us to marvel at the passage of time and the contrasts with current society.  Be prepared for your expedition! We highly recommend comfortable footwear, drinking water, a hat and sunscreen.

Mexico City is one of the cities with the most museums in the world. Don’t wait until International Museum Day, which is celebrated annually on 18th May, to visit them. Among the huge number on offer, we are recommending which 10 museums to visit if you are staying or living in Mexico City.  Mexico City is home to the most visited museum in the country: the Museo Nacional de Antropología, which holds one of the most important collections of pre-hispanic art. You’ll also find places dedicated to the rich history of Mexico, such as Chapultepec Castle which used to be the official residence of Charlotte and Maximilian of Habsburg; in others, you will find wonderful photography and contemporary art exhibitions.  

Mexico City is home to legacy of many great Mexican artists, such as the muralists Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and José Clemente Orozco. The painter Frida Kahlo is no exception. Frida Kahlo’s life was marked by tragic events, such as the accident she suffered at age 18 which caused various fractures in her spinal column. The painter surrounded herself with the great muralists of that era and maintained a strong transgressive opinion in regards to topics such as politics and gender. All this was depicted in her work of art which André Breton labelled as surrealist, but for her it was nothing more than her feelings. Metaphorically, sensitive and hostile are adjectives which are used to describe her work and that has made her one of the most emblematic Mexican artists in the world. Her work has been exhibited in places such as the Orangerie Museum in Paris, the Botanical Garden in New York and the Cultural Museum of Milan. Find out which of Mexico City’s museums exhibit her work, such as the Frida Kahlo Museum, “Casa Azul”, where she was born on 6th July 1907 and also died on 13th July 1954; in fact, her ashes are now found in what used to be her bedroom. You can also discover other spaces, such as the Studio House of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, in which the architect Juan O’Gorman (1932) understood Diego and Frida’s needs, combined them with his own queries and exhibited the result in a functioning building.