Mexico City

Mexico City has an infectious energy: taco stands on every corner, salsa music drifting through plazas, and neighborhoods that each feel like their own village, sophisticated Polanco, artistic Coyoacán, hipster Roma.

Ancient roots lie meters beneath the historic center, where Spanish conquistadors found Tenochtitlan: a floating city of canals and palaces. History has layered on ever since; colonial, revolutionary, then a hub for mid-century European creatives. Culture runs deep: the Anthropology Museum, Chapultepec Park, and Frida Kahlo’s Casa Azul. Landmark buildings by famous architects, alongside epic murals by the likes of Diego Rivera.

The “floating gardens” of Xochimilco give a living glimpse of the city’s pre-Hispanic past, and an hour outside the city, the pyramids of Teotihuacan can be explored on foot or by hot air balloon. Back in town, Michelin-starred restaurants sit beside street stalls, and boutique hotels line neighborhoods near Paseo de la Reforma, the capital’s grand boulevard.