Chapultepec Park (Bosque de Chapultepec)

Chapultepec is the Central Park of Mexico City — except it's twice the size, contains seven museums, a castle, a zoo, a lake, and 800-year-old ahuehuete trees that were already ancient when the Aztecs used this hillside as a retreat for their emperors. At 686 hectares, it's one of the largest urban parks in the Western Hemisphere, and on a Sunday morning it fills with families, joggers, vendors selling cotton candy and balloons, and the general atmosphere of a city that takes its public spaces seriously.

Chapultepec Castle, perched on the hill at the park's centre, is the only royal castle in the Americas — built as a viceregal retreat in the 18th century, used as a military academy (the famous Niños Héroes, boy soldiers who died defending it against American invasion in 1847, are national heroes), and served as the presidential residence until 1939. It now houses the National History Museum, and the views from the terrace — across the park canopy to the Paseo de la Reforma and the city skyline — are the best in Mexico City.

The park's cultural density is staggering. The National Museum of Anthropology anchors the northern edge. The Museum of Modern Art and the Rufino Tamayo Museum sit among the trees. The Chapultepec Zoo (free admission) has been operating since Aztec times — Moctezuma maintained a menagerie on this site. The ahuehuete trees (Montezuma cypresses) that line the main paths are some of the oldest living things in the city, and their massive trunks and drooping branches create a canopy that makes even the hottest day feel liveable.