Mexico City In 3 Days

The square at its emptiest, with the army raising the flag in the middle of it. The cathedral opens early; the floor slopes because the whole district is sinking into the lake bed.

Walk round the cathedral's east end to Calle Seminario for the next stop.

The Mexica great temple, found in 1978 when an electricity crew hit an eight-tonne carved disc. Forty minutes on the walkway over the ruins, then the museum behind, which is the better half.

Leave by 11:00 to keep the morning.

Rivera's history of Mexico up the main staircase. Access changes without notice because the president works here — ask at the gate before you queue, and if it is closed, walk on to lunch.

Head west along Madero.

Market counters at San Juan or a cantina off Madero. This is the local comida hour; eat properly, because the afternoon is walking.

Murals by Rivera, Orozco, Siqueiros and Tamayo on two upper floors, in an Art Deco interior behind a marble facade. An hour is enough.

The terrace café across Eje Central is three minutes away.

Coffee on the terrace opposite for the photograph of the tiled dome, then up the Torre Latinoamericana as the lights come on. It is open until 22:00 every day of the year, which makes it the one late option in the Centro.

Up the ramp — about 15 minutes on foot, or MX$40 on the park train — to the imperial apartments, the murals and the terrace down Reforma. Ninety minutes inside.

Walk west through the park, or take the train part of the way.

The lake, the Museum of Modern Art and the Tamayo if you want them; otherwise cross to Polanco for lunch or eat at the museum's own cafeteria.

Three hours minimum for the ground floor: the Sun Stone in the Mexica hall, the Teotihuacán facade with its colour restored, the Olmec heads, Pakal's tomb under the Maya hall. It closes at 18:00, an hour after the castle.

Afterwards: dinner in Polanco ten minutes north, or back to Roma.

Only on a Tuesday, Friday or Sunday. Three hours of masks, chanting and theatre, ten minutes by car from Roma. Order the car home from inside the arena before the last bout.

Book this slot before you fly: the museum has no box office at all. An hour covers the house, the studio, the bed with the mirror and the wardrobe opened in 2004.

Walk to the plazas afterwards.

Two squares, a sixteenth-century church, the coyote fountain, and the market where lunch at a tostada counter costs a tenth of a restaurant.

Car to the canals by two.

The official rate is per boat for up to eighteen people, the same at every authorised pier. Two hours on the water puts you back on land before the afternoon rain in season.

Cuemanco for the quiet chinampa route, Nativitas for the party.

Back north for the evening. Two of the city's Bib Gourmand entries are in these streets, and the eating page names them with the guide that lists them.