Mexico City on $25, $80 or $300 a day

Zocalo (free) and the Metropolitan Cathedral (free - the sinking nave, the extraordinary churrigueresque altarpieces). Templo Mayor ($80 MXN - the Aztec temple excavation beneath the city square). Palacio Nacional murals by Diego Rivera (free - arrive early, the murals are magnificent and uncrowded before 10am).

Lunch at a Centro mercado: pozole (a hominy stew, $60 MXN) or tacos de canasta ($15 MXN each) from a basket-taco vendor. Bellas Artes Palace (exterior free, entry $90 MXN - the Art Nouveau marble facade and the Diego Rivera mural inside the foyer). The Alameda Central park (free).

Tacos al pastor in the Centro: El Califa de Leon (the only taco stand with a Michelin star, $45 MXN per taco - a single taco, perfectly made). Mezcal at a Centro cantina ($60 MXN per copita). The Zocalo at night, lit and almost empty.

Metro to Coyoacan (M5). La Casa Azul ($270 MXN - book online at least a week ahead). The house where Frida Kahlo was born, painted, loved Diego Rivera, and died: the vivid blue walls, her studio with the mirror above the bed, her wheelchair, her dresses. Allow 2 hours.

Coyoacan market lunch ($50-80 MXN for a full meal with agua fresca). The Trotsky Museum ($80 MXN) and the main plaza market. Walk to Viveros park (free, a tree nursery for the city, serene and local). Return by metro.

Roma Norte evening: tacos de cochinita at El Turix ($30 MXN each, the best cochinita pibil in the city). Mezcal bar on Alvaro Obregon ($80-100 MXN per pour). The Roma parks at night with locals.

Metro + bus to Xochimilco (1h, M10 total). Rent a trajinera ($300 MXN for 2 hours - negotiate at the dock, the standard tourist price is $400 MXN). Sunday mornings are the best: the canal is busy with families, floating food vendors (corn, tlayudas, chicharron), and mariachi boats ($100 MXN per song).

Return to the city. Mercado de Jamaica (the flower market - the most colorful market in Mexico City, cempasuchil marigolds, orchids, and the flowers used for Dia de los Muertos altars, free to enter). Lunch at a market comida corrida stall ($80 MXN for soup, main, and agua fresca).

Farewell tacos: Los Cocuyos near the Centro (open late, $25 MXN each, cabeza - braised beef head - is the specialty and more delicious than it sounds). A final michelada ($60 MXN) at a cantina.

Museo Nacional de Antropologia ($90 MXN - the finest pre-Columbian collection in the world: the Aztec Sun Stone, the jade mask of Pakal, the Olmec heads. Allow 3-4 hours minimum). Bosque de Chapultepec park (free) around it.

Lunch in Polanco: a Roma or Polanco restaurant for $350-500 MXN (Mexico City's mid-range dining is exceptional value by international standards). The Soumaya Museum (free). Walk Masaryk avenue.

Roma Norte dinner: Contramar (the tuna tostadas and grilled fish, $600-800 MXN pp - the most beloved restaurant in Mexico City for a reason; reserve ahead, always full). Mezcal at Expendio de Maiz after.

Museo Dolores Olmedo ($90 MXN - the finest collection of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera outside a national museum, in a hacienda south of the city with peacocks and hairless xoloitzcuintli dogs in the garden). The Museo de Arte Moderno ($90 MXN) in Chapultepec.

Teotihuacan day trip alternative: Ubers ($300 MXN each way, 50 min) to the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon ($90 MXN entry - the third-largest pyramids in the world, pre-Aztec, built around 100 AD). Climb both pyramids. Return for late afternoon.

Lucha Libre at Arena Mexico or Arena Coliseo ($150-800 MXN depending on seat - the Mexican wrestling spectacle, every Friday and Tuesday at Arena Mexico; the ringside seats are under $20 USD and the crowd is part of the show). Tacos after from the vendors outside.

Museo Jumex ($90 MXN - the finest contemporary art museum in Latin America, in the Nuevo Polanco art district, Damien Hirst to Gabriel Orozco). The Soumaya Museum next door (free). The Nuevo Polanco street art and the Mercado del Parque in the neighborhood.

Condesa lunch at a terrace restaurant ($400-600 MXN - the Art Deco buildings, the tree-lined boulevards, the dog walkers and coffee drinkers). A final walk through Parque Mexico.

Farewell dinner at Rosetta ($700-900 MXN pp - Elena Reygadas' Italian-Mexican restaurant in a Roma mansion; the bread alone is extraordinary; one of the finest restaurants in the country).

Private guided tour of Teotihuacan before the public opening: the Pyramid of the Sun, the Avenue of the Dead, and the Temple of Quetzalcoatl at dawn with a specialist in Mesoamerican archaeology. The site at 7am, in silence, with the mountains around it emerging from mist. Breakfast at the Camino Real or St Regis.

Lunch at Quintonil ($2,500-3,500 MXN pp tasting menu - Jorge Vallejo's restaurant is consistently among the World's 50 Best; the ingredients are entirely Mexican, the techniques are precise, the flavors are unlike anywhere else). Private afternoon: the Palacio Nacional murals with a Rivera scholar, or a private mezcal tasting with a palenque representative.

Dinner at Pujol ($3,000-4,500 MXN pp - Enrique Olvera's flagship, consistently in the World's 50 Best; the mole madre (a mole aged for 2,500+ days, the longest continuously maintained mole in Mexico) is a dish unlike anything else in gastronomy). Reserve 2-3 months ahead.

Private flight or early morning flight to Oaxaca (1h, $150-250 USD return - worth it for a day trip): the Zocalo and the Santo Domingo Church (the finest baroque interior in Mexico), the Mercado Benito Juarez (the best food market in Mexico, tlayudas, chapulines, mole negro), and the Mezcal distilleries of the Valles Centrales.

Lunch at a Oaxacan restaurant (the most complex and varied regional cuisine in Mexico - mole negro, estofado, tasajo, the seven moles of Oaxaca). Return afternoon flight to Mexico City.

Dinner at Sud 777 ($1,500-2,000 MXN pp - Edgar Nunez's Mexican contemporary restaurant in Pedregal; the tasting menu celebrates Mexican biodiversity ingredient by ingredient). Or: a private dinner at a Roma mansion arranged through the hotel.

Private shopping tour with a design expert: the Mercado de Artesanias (artisan crafts from every Mexican state), the gallery district in Polanco, and the vintage furniture dealers of La Lagunilla. The talavera pottery, the alebrijes (the painted wooden animals from Oaxaca), and the huipil textiles are among the finest artisan traditions in the world.

Lunch at Contramar or Loup Bar (the private dining room, $1,200-1,800 MXN pp). Museo Soumaya for a final visit to the Rodin collection.

Farewell dinner at Maximo Bistrot ($1,000-1,500 MXN pp - Eduardo Garcia's market-driven restaurant, the menu changes daily based on what arrived that morning; one of the most consistent restaurants in the city). A final mezcal at a Roma mezcaleria.