Mexico City

Mexico City — CDMX — is one of the largest and most layered cities on earth, a 21-million-person metropolis built on the ruins of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlán, itself built on an island in the middle of a lake that no longer exists. The city sinks very slowly into its old lakebed foundation, a geological reality that gives Mexico City its distinctive character: buildings tilt at slight angles, streets ripple like slow waves, and the whole place feels like a city defying the laws of physics while being extraordinarily alive. The historic centre, centred on the Zócalo, is one of the great urban squares of the world — flanked by a baroque cathedral, the ruins of the Aztec Templo Mayor, and the National Palace with Diego Rivera's extraordinary murals across its staircase walls.

The art and culture are extraordinary. The Frida Kahlo Museum in Coyoacán — La Casa Azul, the vivid blue colonial house where she was born and died — draws visitors from every country and is as intimate and emotionally resonant as any house museum in the world. The National Museum of Anthropology in Chapultepec Park is arguably the finest pre-Columbian collection on earth. And 50km to the north, the ancient city of Teotihuacán — with its 65-metre Pyramid of the Sun and ceremonial Avenue of the Dead — humbles every visitor who climbs to its summit at dawn.

The food scene alone would justify the trip. Mexico City has become one of the world's premier dining destinations — Pujol and Quintonil hold places on the World's 50 Best Restaurants list, yet the best food in the city costs less than a dollar: tacos al pastor from a street taquería, tlayudas from a Oaxacan market stall, or tamales from a corner cart at 7am. The Roma and Condesa neighbourhoods, with their art deco buildings and profusion of independent restaurants, coffee shops, and bars, represent urban Mexico at its most stylish and habitable.