Visit Mexico City Guide
What Is Open In Mexico City On A Monday
The list of museums open Monday, Mexico City edition, is short: the Anthropology Museum, Chapultepec Castle, the Templo Mayor, the Casa Azul and the Palacio de Bellas Artes all close, and so do most of the smaller ones. Four things stay open and they are enough for a full day — which is why every itinerary in this guide gives Monday to Teotihuacán. Hours below were read on each venue's own site on 30 August 2026.
Quick answer What closes, what stays open, and what to do with the day
Almost every museum in Mexico City closes on Mondays, including all four of the big INAH sites in the city and the Casa Azul. What stays open: Teotihuacán, the Basílica de Guadalupe, the Museo Soumaya, Museo Casa Kahlo in Coyoacán, and the whole outdoor city — parks, markets, plazas and the Torre Latinoamericana.
Key takeaways
- Give Monday to Teotihuacán: it opens every day of the year, 08:00 to 17:00, and it is the one thing a short trip most often misses
- The free pair — Basílica de Guadalupe 06:00–21:00 and Museo Soumaya 10:30–18:30 — cover a Monday in the city without a ticket
- In Coyoacán, Casa Kahlo opens Wednesday to Monday, so it covers the day the Casa Azul is shut
- Public holidays close the federal museums outright — the dates are below
- Which day gets which district is set out on the independent Mexico City guide
Open On A Monday
Everything on this list is open on Mondays according to its own published schedule, read on 30 August 2026. Prices are the foreign-visitor rate.
| Place | Hours | Price | Worth the day? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teotihuacán | Daily 08:00–17:00, last entry 16:30 | MX$210 / MX$105 | Yes — this is what Monday is for |
| Basílica de Guadalupe | Daily 06:00–21:00 | Free | Yes, and it is on the road back from the pyramids |
| Museo Soumaya | Daily 10:30–18:30 (reported) | Free | Yes, with the Museo Jumex next door |
| Museo Casa Kahlo | Wed–Mon 09:00–19:00 | Not published; shown at checkout | Yes, if you are in Coyoacán |
| Torre Latinoamericana | Daily 09:00–22:00 | MX$220 | Yes, especially in the evening |
| Zócalo, cathedral, streets, markets, parks | Daily | Free | The whole outdoor city is unaffected |
Two caveats: the Soumaya's hours are reported rather than read at source, and the Palacio Nacional's access changes daily for reasons that have nothing to do with the weekday.
Closed On A Monday
The list is short because it is nearly everything. Each of these states the closure on its own page.
| Place | Normally open | Also closed on |
|---|---|---|
| National Museum of Anthropology | Tue–Sun 09:00–18:00 | Public holidays |
| Chapultepec Castle | Tue–Sun 09:00–17:00 | 'No Monday of the year', in the museum's words |
| Templo Mayor | Tue–Sun 09:00–17:00 | Mondays for maintenance, per INAH |
| Museo Frida Kahlo | Tue, Thu–Sun 10:00–18:00; Wed 11:00 | 1 May, 16 Sep, 1 and 25 Dec, 1 Jan |
| Palacio de Bellas Artes museum | Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00 | Public holidays |
| Museo Diego Rivera Anahuacalli | Tue–Sun 11:00–17:30 | — |
The pattern is federal: INAH and INBAL both close their museums on Mondays, which is why the closure is so nearly universal here.
How To Build A Week Around It
One decision, and the rest of the itinerary falls into place.
Put Teotihuacán on the Monday. The pyramids open every day, they are an hour out, and they are the thing four-day trips most often drop. Doing that turns the city's most annoying scheduling rule into the reason you see the site at all — and Monday is quieter there than the weekend, when domestic visitors fill it.
If your Monday cannot be the pyramid day, it becomes the free day: the Basílica in the morning, the Soumaya and the Jumex after lunch, and Coyoacán with Casa Kahlo in the afternoon — or simply the Centro on foot, where the square, the cathedral and the streets do not close. The three-day itinerary is written to start on a Tuesday for exactly this reason.
The Public Holidays That Close Things
Six dates that behave like an extra Monday, plus the ones that only affect the Casa Azul.
Federal museums and archaeological zones close on the main national holidays, and the Museo Frida Kahlo publishes its own list.
| Date | What it is | What closes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January | New Year | Federal museums; the Casa Azul states it explicitly |
| 1 May | Labour Day | Federal museums; the Casa Azul |
| 16 September | Independence Day | Federal museums; the Casa Azul; the Zócalo is closed off from the night before |
| 1 and 25 December | Christmas | Federal museums; the Casa Azul |
| 12 December | Guadalupe | The Basílica is a pilgrimage, not a visit, on the 11th and 12th |
| Semana Santa | Easter week | Museums keep normal days; the city empties and the roads out of it fill |
Two dates in that list are worth planning around rather than avoiding: 16 September, when the Grito fills the Zócalo the night before, and 1–2 November, when Día de Muertos is the reason many people come. The dates that change a trip has the wider calendar.
And The Other Day That Behaves Oddly: Sunday
Nothing closes, but the prices and the crowds change in a way that catches foreign visitors.
At every INAH museum and archaeological zone, Sunday entry is free for Mexican nationals and foreign residents only. A visiting foreigner pays the full MX$210 and shares the rooms with the biggest domestic crowd of the week. The one genuinely universal free day is at the Palacio de Bellas Artes museum, where Sunday is free to everyone.
Sunday also closes Paseo de la Reforma to cars until 14:00 for the city's cycling programme, fills Coyoacán and Xochimilco with families, and is the busiest day at the Basílica. None of that is a reason to avoid it — but a Sunday spent in the federal museums is the worst-value day of a foreign visitor's week. The tickets page explains the two-tier rule behind it.
What To Book For A Monday
The pyramid departures, which run every day of the week. Prices as listed on 30 August 2026.
from $68
Mexico City: Teotihuacan Early Access Tour & Optional Lunch
Listing details checked 2026-08-30
Early access at the gate before the coaches arrive, with transport from the centre and a licensed guide.
Check Availability
from $68
Mexico City: Teotihuacan & Guadalupe Shrine Tour with Lunch
Listing details checked 2026-08-30
Full day to the pyramids with the Basílica de Guadalupe and lunch — the version most first visits take.
Check Availability
from $162
CDMX: Teotihuacan Balloon Flight with Optional Pyramids Tour
Listing details checked 2026-08-30
Balloon flight over the pyramids at sunrise, with the option to add the guided site visit afterwards.
Check AvailabilityPages This One Feeds
The closure rule drives the itinerary and the ticket buying.
Monday In Mexico City: Questions
What museums are open on Monday in Mexico City?
Very few. The Museo Soumaya, free and reported open every day of the year, and Museo Casa Kahlo in Coyoacán, open Wednesday to Monday. Beyond museums: Teotihuacán, the Basílica de Guadalupe and the Torre Latinoamericana all open every day. The full list is above.
Why are Mexico City museums closed on Mondays?
Because the two federal bodies that run most of them — INAH for archaeology and history, INBAL for fine arts — both close on Mondays for maintenance and staffing. It is an institutional pattern rather than a city rule, which is why it is so nearly universal and why the private and church-run sites are the exceptions.
What should I do in Mexico City on a Monday?
Teotihuacán, if the trip has any flexibility: it is open, it is an hour away and it is quieter than at the weekend. Otherwise a free day — the Basílica, the Soumaya and the Jumex — or the Centro on foot, where the square, the cathedral and the markets are unaffected.
What is open in Coyoacán on a Monday?
Museo Casa Kahlo on Aguayo, which opens Wednesday to Monday and closes Tuesdays, plus the plazas, the church and the market — the whole district is walkable and free. The Casa Azul is shut, as it is every Monday and on five public holidays; the Coyoacán page has the day either way.
Are museums free on Sundays in Mexico City?
At INAH sites, only for Mexican nationals and foreign residents with proof — a visiting foreigner pays MX$210 as on any other day. The exception is the Palacio de Bellas Artes museum, where Sunday is free to everyone. The Sunday section sets out what else changes that day.
Do museums close on public holidays in Mexico City?
The federal ones do, on 1 January, 1 May, 16 September and 1 and 25 December, and the Casa Azul publishes the same list. 16 September also closes the Zócalo from the night before for the Grito. The holiday table is above.
The One Sentence Version
If you take nothing else from this page.
Give Monday to Teotihuacán, start the three-day plan on Tuesday, and do not save Sunday for the federal museums unless you are a Mexican national or a resident. Everything else about the week arranges itself around those three sentences — and the wider trip is on the Mexico City city guide.
Planning The Week, On Film
Three itinerary videos that show how other visitors handled the closures.
3 days in Mexico City with a local
A three-day route and the order it takes.
Video: Tourist to LocalFirst-time Mexico City: everything you really must know
Practical planning points including opening days.
Video: Indie Traveller46 tips I wish I knew before visiting Mexico City
General first-visit advice, several about timing.
Video: Camden DavidVideos load from YouTube only when you press play.
Page last reviewed 2026-08-30. Prices, hours and terms are set by the venue or operator and confirmed at checkout.
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