Frida Kahlo travel tips

Once home to a great ancient empire and now a cutting-edge and progressive modern capital, Mexico City has been one of the Americas’ mightiest metropolises since its inception. 

Towering above the iconic “Diana the Huntress” fountain on Mexico City‘s bustling Paseo de la Reforma, the 31-story The St. Regis Mexico City is a dramatic landmark in the heart of the metropolis.

Famously beautiful, San Francisco is one of the most filmed, photographed (and shared on social networks) cities in the world. It’s even better in real life.

There’s no bad time to visit the Big Apple — but when winter takes hold, the city has an extra sheen of glitter. Department stores are brightened with kaleidoscopic light shows; a large ice rink springs up in Central Park; and the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree sits pretty in the plaza. If you’re lucky, the streets might even be blanketed in white, catapulting visitors into a scene of a festive Hollywood film. 

Aerial view of Guanajuato, Mexico. (Photo Credit: Juan Antonio Oseguera)

It’s a bit ironic that the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the first museum dedicated entirely to female artists and which reopens on October 21, 2023, occupies a former masonic temple once owned by the Freemasons - famous for their refusal to admit women.

Even with traffic on the 405, it probably would have taken at most three hours for Victoria Pardo Uzitas to drive from her home in San Diego to SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles to see a performance of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. Instead, she and her teenage daughter crossed the border to Tijuana, flew to Mexico City, enjoyed classic tacos al pastor and churros, saw a Frida Kahlo masterpiece at the Museo de Arte Moderno, and yes, saw Taylor Swift.

Mexico City is one of the more expensive destinations in Latin America, yet visitors are still left impressed by its relative affordability when compared with major European and US cities.

Mexico is a wonderland. One moment, you're sipping smoky mezcal, and the next you're floating in the bluest of natural pools or being serenaded by mariachi singers while Frida Kahlo peers down from a mural.

Thinking of visiting Mexico for the first time? Watch a few films before you go. Like great works of fiction, movies often provide an illuminating insight into the culture of a country, its landscape and its peoples. Mexico has always been a rich source of movie material, with its own prodigious film industry and plenty of Hollywood blockbusters set in the country. Here are a few cinematic gems to whet your appetite:

With sandy beaches, colourful markets and plenty of family-friendly attractions, there’s a huge amount to keep children entertained in Mexico. Our mini guide will help to make travelling in Mexico with kids fun, exciting and (relatively) stress-free.

America may still be off-limits for international travellers, but as Halloween approaches, Siobhan Warwicker recalls her experience of exuberant Mexican festivities in San Diego last year.