A weekend in Mexico city

Built from the rubble of violent conquest, Mexico City has endured both the torment of Pacific Rim fault lines and the explosive force of its own expansion. It now has a greater metropolitan area population of 21 million. Mexico’s nearly 500-year-old capital is made of ancient stone and gleaming glass, Old World architecture and indigenous tradition. With its plazas and palm trees, its murals by Mexican masters and its contemporary street art, it is a beautiful city – and one that has been spared from much of the country’s drug war violence. In recent years, the Distrito Federal has been treated to the opening of one art inst itution after the next, from the Carlos Slim -funded Soumaya Museum, which moved into a $70 million (€51 million) building in 2011, to the new David Chipperfield-designed Jumex Museum, which focuses on contemporary work.

Friday
3pm
1. To the market
Mercado de Medellín isn't the dizzying spectacle of the larger, citywide markets, like the wonderful Mercado de Jamaica flower market or the Mercado de San Juan, where chefs shop.

Instead, Medellín is a neighbourhood institution that offers a glimpse of what is being lost with the proliferation of supermercados . Stalls specialise in spices, kitchen implements, fresh fruit juices, whole pig's heads or sheets of chicharrón .

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Grilled meats at the Mercado de Medellin. Photograph: Kirsten Luce / The New York Times

For a market lunch, look for a large yellow banner. Since 1968, Los Canarios has been serving grilled meats, like sliced fillet steak (90 pesos, €5). Nearby, Ostionería La Morenita has shrimp empanadas (20 pesos/€1.11) with a flaky crust and a dollop of mayonnaise.

4:30pm
2. Old world
Take a walk through Colonia Roma, a gorgeous old neighbourhood of Art Deco and Porfirian (a distinctive mix of European architectural styles, popular during the presidency of Porfirio Díaz).

In recent years, antiques showrooms, sidewalk cafes and boutiques have opened along Álvaro Obregón – a boulevard with a tree-lined pedestrian walk along its spine – as well as nearby streets, like Calle Colima.

Stop into Panadería Rosetta, a narrow bakery with white tile walls, well-made espresso drinks and croissants, vegan muffins and classic Mexican baked goods such as pan de pulque and conchas . There's also a selection of sandwiches, including one with house-made pâté.

6pm
3. Happy hour
For beer drinkers, who may see Mexico as the land of beach-friendly lagers and little else, the newest outpost of El Depósito, a small chain of beer-bar-bottle shops, has an unusually wide selection. When atmosphere trumps innovation, Cabrera 7 has a full (if uninspired) bar and one of the area's most attractive settings, complete with hanging plants, bright textiles and a balcony overlooking the fountains at Plaza Luis Cabrera, where artists sell their paintings, dogs wrestle and teenagers strut.

8:30pm
4. To the max
Maximo Bistrot Local, run by a young husband-and-wife team, is a subdued, elegant corner bistro, with green and cream floors, an open kitchen and a handwritten daily menu.

On a recent visit, there was a rich, flavourful lamb loin with huitlacoche purée (280 pesos/€15.55) and a delicious and surprising tartar of steelhead (135 pesos/€7.50). Service is excellent; reservations are required.

If the nearly 8,000ft elevation hasn’t got the better of you, Roma Norte is home to an outrageous discoteca, Patrick Miller, which has its own subculture devoted to high-energy 1980s dance music, laser lights and neon graffiti.

Saturday
8 am
5. Popularity contest
At the 24-hour Café El Popular Restaurante, potent coffee is mixed at the table with warm milk. Beneath beamed ceilings, this retro cafeteria offers breakfasts like huevos rancheros or enchiladas verdes and, if you're lucky, live Spanish guitar.

Then, take the efficient transport system (in this case, the Metrobus) to Mexico's largest public university, the National Autonomous University of Mexico. In one corner of an expansive nature preserve, the Institute of Biology's Jardín Botánico has trails leading through a surreal landscape that includes volcanic outcrops, waterfalls and several hundred species of endangered cactuses, succulents and orchids. Or save your UNAM visit for the evening, and head for the bucolic Centro Cultural Universitario, a complex of theatres, galleries and performance spaces. The Sala Nezahualcóyotl is home to the university's philharmonic orchestra, while its cinemas screen a mix of Mexican and international art films and documentaries.

11:30 am
6. Along the clock tower
In the Centro Histórico, at the Metropolitan Cathedral, climb a stone staircase to the small photo gallery, then continue onto the roof and into the bell towers, where giant bronze bells (the oldest, Doña María, weighs about seven tons) are rung by hand once a day, during the 11:30 tour (15 pesos/83 cent).

Afterwards, take the incense-scented passageway ( Pasaje Catedral), where devotional statues, crosses, vestments and rosaries are sold, to El Mayor, a rooftop bar and restaurant that looks directly into the ruins of the Aztec city Tenochtitlán at the Templo Mayor archaeological site. The view is the draw here, so sit on the teak deck and skip the food in favour of a coffee or beer.

1:30pm
7. The classics
Just down the street, the Spanish Cultural Center has a permanent, free exhibition featuring pre-Columbian artifacts, such as Aztec ceramics and carved jawbones. Upstairs, there are temporary exhibits, like one recent display in which marionettes performed erotic scenes behind a velvet curtain. On Friday and Saturday nights, the terrace has musical performances beginning at 10pm. For lunch with yet another impressive view, La Casa de las Sirenas has a tequila salon featuring dozens of agave spirits, and a rooftop dining area that peers into the cathedral's hidden garden. Among the many indulgent dishes, the cazuela de mariscos Claudia (230 pesos/€12.79) is a brothy dish of fish, shrimp, clams, octopus and crab, big enough to share.

4pm
8. Toy story
Since he was 10, the Museo del Juguete Antiguo México founder, Roberto Shimizu, quietly accumulated mass-produced toys (Mexican action figures, German-made racecars, dolls' heads) in the warehouse of his family's imports store in the Doctores neighbourhood. After a life-threatening illness several years ago, he began building what has become a multi-story museum and art space, where repurposed objects of all kinds are used as display cases for Barbie dolls, game pieces, lucha libre wrestlers and an ever-expanding universe of playthings. Shimizu's unique vision – strange and magical – is captivating.

7pm
9. Going downtown
Opened last year in a historic building in the Centro Histórico, the Downtown complex has two hotels (one boutique, one hostel), with a tapas spot, mezcal bar, chocolate shop and a collection of crafts stores. Try Caracol Púrpura for "arte popular" from around the country or Remigio for intricate Oaxacan textiles.

In the cavernous patio of the 17th-century Palacio de los Condes de Miravalle building, Azul Histórico is a romantic restaurant, with trees growing overhead like thick pythons, strung with lights. The food, the work of Ricardo Muñoz Zurita, includes regional dishes from around the country, like a flavourful shredded pork cochinita pibil (180 pesos/€10) and shrimp with pipián verde sauce (215 pesos/€11.95).

9pm
10. Maguey City
After dinner, walk to Bósforo, an unmarked bar with a thrilling list of mescals, an eclectic playlist and a small selection of snacks, including a blue corn quesadilla with chapulines , or grasshoppers.

For a pre-Columbian beverage, head to La Hermosa Hortensia, a pulquería on the Plaza Garibaldi, where the mariachis roam with their instruments and sequined outfits. The 77-year-old bar, which serves the viscous, lightly alcoholic Aztec drink in flavours such as strawberry and coconut, is included in the intriguing Museos Vivos (museosvivos.com) project, which highlights so-called "Living Museums," everyday places of cultural and historic significance.


Sunday
8am
11. Sweet and Savory
On Sunday mornings, Mexico City's grand boulevard, the Paseo de la Reforma, is closed to car traffic and becomes a bike highway. Pick up one of the communal EcoBici bikes, which have only recently been made available to tourists (inconveniently, visitors must sign up at the tourism office, which is closed on Sunday, so plan ahead: ecobici.df.gob.mx), and join the crowd. For brunch (after 10am), head to Condesa's Duo: Salado y Dulce, a small restaurant with an atomic blue tile floor and mismatched chairs. The Sunday menu changes often, but always includes a terrific chocolate croissant made with Oaxacan chocolate.

1pm
12. Imperial view
Walk through Condesa's twin parks, Parque Mexico and Parque España, toward the Castillo de Chapultepec, free on Sundays. On clear afternoons, locals climb Chapultepec Hill to the immaculate grounds of what was once an imperial palace and, later, home to seven Mexican presidents. Today, the hilltop castle is the National History Museum, with chequerboard marble terraces, fountains, historic artifacts and tremendous views.

© 2014 The New York Times / Distributed by The New York Times Syndication