There are about a thousand museums in Mexico City to visit, and it’s really tough to narrow down where to go, especially if your time is limited. Typically, I would recommend focusing on places near where you’re staying. The first time we came to this incredible city, we stayed in the historic center, so we walked around the Zocalo, the Cathedral, and other landmarks within this area. We loved our tour through WithLocals, and I would highly recommend it! This time, we stayed at the crossroads of the Condesa, Polanco, and Roma Norte neighborhoods, so we mainly focused on the museums near there, mainly in and around the absolutely massive Chapultepec park.

One of the highlights in Chapultepec Park is the “Chapultepec Castle,” more formally known as the National History Museum on the east side of the park. Admission here is only $100 Mexican Pesos, or around $5.50 USD. You can purchase tickets online, but the lines, at least in the morning, are not long. We didn’t purchase in advance and waited about 5 minutes. When you arrive at the base of the hill, there is a small house for ticket purchasing, and there are live people to take cash, or there are automated kiosks for credit cards. It’s not marked super well, but it’s obvious enough once you get inside the little house.

Note that the Museum is at the top of a relatively large hill, and it takes about 15 minutes to walk up. There are stops for vistas along the way, as well as benches if you need to take a break. Once you get to the top, the views of CDMX are absolutely beautiful, and you’ll want to spend some time not only inside the museum, but also walking around the grounds.

The building itself is beautiful, and originally built beginning in 1765, although was only finished in the mid 1800’s. It’s original use was to be the summer house of the Viceroy of New Spain, and was later remodeled to become the residence of the Emperor of Mexico, and later was officially declared the official residence of the Mexican President in 1882. The castle was turned into a museum in 1939.

The museum itself is relatively small, and easy to digest in about an hour or so. Most everything is written in Spanish, so bring your Google translate app to get the most out of being here. It’s logically laid out, starting with pre-colonial history (although most of that stuff is at the Anthropology Museum across the street), and going up through present-day Mexico. I was mainly interested in the architecture of the building itself which was beautiful, and the views, which are totally worth the hike up the hill!

This is a beautiful place, and you can easily combine it with another stop within Chapultepec park like the zoo or the Museum of Modern Art. Enjoy the views!