BAZAR DEL SABADO

Located in San Angel, the charming colonial-era neighborhood in the southern part of the city, the "Saturday Market" is my top recommendation for passing a weekend afternoon in Mexico City. The market takes place outside on the Plaza San Jacinto and inside a bazaar building (part of a two-story mansion) next to it. High-quality handicrafts, antiques, art, and Mexican food are all offered here.

In the center of the actual bazaar building is a wonderful Mexican cafe where waiters hustle to serve authentic tacos and frosty margaritas, plus antojitos (finger foods) and traditional dishes such as enchiladas. Marimba music plays in the background. Dozens of small rooms surrounding the courtyard serve as permanent stalls featuring original decorative art pieces. You'll find blown glass, fine jewelry, papier-mâché figures, masks, and embroidered clothing. On adjacent plazas, hundreds of easel artists display their paintings, and surrounding homes abound with antiques, fine rugs, and hand-carved furniture for sale. Members of indigenous groups from Puebla and elsewhere bring their folk art - baskets, masks, pottery, textiles, and so on - to display in the parks.  It's open Saturday from 9am to 6pm.

COYOACAN

Has an intense cultural life that submerges us daily into a world of archeological sites, colonial buildings, beautiful plazas, picturesque market place, handicrafts, numerous museums, art galleries, churches, libraries, popular fiestas, restaurants, cafes, bars, and bohemian life.

 Among the main features very close, we mention: a shopping mall, Olympic installations, the National Cinteque, the National Autonomous University of Mexico, more than 15 museums including: The Frida Kahlo House "La Casa Azul", the Diego Rivera Museum "Anahuacali", the National Museum of Popular Cultures, and the National Museum of Aquarel.

Coyoacan possesses an interesting patrimony from the viceroyalty.  Among them: Casa Colorada or of the "Malinche", the Palace of Cortes that houses the local authorities' offices; various monuments, sculptures, and water fountains.

XOCHIMILCO

Which in the náhuatl dialect means “place of the flowery orchard” is one of the areas in Mexico City in which the lake-based society that once characterized the whole Valley of México still remains, and takes part in a society full of traditions that has centuries of history, and has been declared Cultural and Natural Heritage of the World by the UNESCO.
The history of Xochimilco dates back to very early stages of the prehispanic era, as it was an area populated from the beginning by indigenous groups that belonged to the villages of Copilco and Cuicuilco in the river-strewn area to the south of the lakes that covered the southern part of the valley. Later, with the arrival of the Xochimilcan tribe, little villages started to be established, and they gave place to some of the towns of the area that remain to this day immersed in the city like Tlahuac, Mixquic or Culhuacan. Agriculture was the main productive activity; maize, chili, beans and courgettes, among others, were grown, in a form of cultivation that would later characterize the whole Anahuac: the famous chinampas, small islands of land built with clay and mud, and fixed among the roots of the ahuejote trees, a species native to the area. This form of cultivation was extremely productive, as the people could obtain up to three harvests a year, thanks to the high mineral content of the land, the abundance of water and the good climate of the region. Today, Xochimilco finds itself in a period of definition and assimilation, between its rich traditions and the urban challenges that come with being a part of an urban area like Mexico City. Nevertheless, it’s still possible to witness this great lake past by visiting its wharves and traveling through its channels and chinampas in the traditional trajineras, it is an essential visit while in Mexico City, to experience a party of nature, music, colour and water.  Near there we can find the famous plant and flower Market, a colorful place where peasants of the area sell hundreds of exotic flowers.

ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES NEAR MEXICO CITY...

MUSEO DEL TEMPLO MAYOR
The Templo Mayor was one of the main temples of the Aztecs in their capital city of Tenochtitlan, which is now Mexico City. Its architectural style belongs to the late Postclassic period of Mesoamerica. The temple was called the huey teocalli  in the Nahuatl language and dedicated simultaneously to two gods, Huitzilopochtli, god of war and Tlaloc, god of rain and agriculture, each of which had a shrine at the top of the pyramid with separate staircases. The temple, measuring approximately 100 by 80 m (330 by 260 ft) at its base, dominated a Sacred Precinct. Construction of the first temple began sometime after 1325, and it was rebuilt six times after that. The temple was destroyed by the Spanish in 1521. The modern-day archeological site lies just to the northeast of the Zocalo, or main plaza of Mexico City, on the corner of what are now Seminario and Justo Sierra streets. The site is part of the Historic Center of Mexico City, which was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1987.

TEOTIHUACAN

Teotihuacan is an enormous archaeological site in the Basin of Mexico, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas. Apart from the pyramidal structures, Teotihuacan is also known for its large residential complexes, the Avenue of the Dead, and numerous colorful, well-preserved murals. Additionally, Teotihuacan produced a thin orange pottery style that spread through Mesoamerica.
The city was thought to have been established around 200 BCE, lasting until its fall sometime between the 7th and 8th centuries CE. At its zenith in the first half of the 1st millennium CE, Teotihuacan was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas. At this time it may have had more than 200,000 inhabitants, placing it among the largest cities of the world in this period. The civilization and cultural complex associated with the site is also referred to as Teotihuacan or Teotihuacano.
Although it is a subject of debate whether Teotihuacan was the center of a state empire, its influence throughout Mesoamerica is well documented; evidence of Teotihuacano presence, if not outright political and economic control, can be seen at numerous sites in Veracruz and the Maya region. The ethnicity of the inhabitants of Teotihuacan is also a subject of debate. Possible candidates are the Nahua, Otomi or Totonac ethnic groups. Scholars have also suggested that Teotihuacan was a multiethnic state.
The city and the archaeological site were located in what is now the San Juan Teotihuacán municipality in the State of México, Mexico, approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) northeast of Mexico City. The site covers a total surface area of 83km² and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. It is one of the most visited archaeological sites in Mexico.