Museums in South Mexico City: Frida Kahlo, Anahuacalli and More

Four museums in the south of Mexico City cover Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and the oldest ceremonial center in the Valley of Mexico: the Casa Azul in Coyoacán, the Museo Anahuacalli built from volcanic stone, the Museo Dolores Olmedo in Xochimilco and the Cuicuilco archaeological zone near Perisur. Two of them are tied directly to Kahlo and Rivera, and the other two hold large pre-Hispanic collections.

The order below runs from Coyoacán south toward Tlalpan and then east to Xochimilco, which is a sensible route if you want to see more than one in a day or split them across two trips.

Museo Frida Kahlo (Casa Azul), Coyoacán

The Casa Azul (Blue House) on Londres street was Frida Kahlo’s family home. She spent her childhood there and lived there again in her last years, and it became a museum in 1958, four years after she died. According to Mexico City’s official tourism site, it is one of the most visited museums in the city, with only the Museo Nacional de Antropología drawing comparable crowds.

Inside are her personal belongings and paintings including Viva la Vida (1954), Frida y la cesárea (1931) and Retrato de mi padre Wilhem Kahlo (1952). Guests at the house over the years included León Trotsky, Henry Moore, Remedios Varo and André Breton. The largest collection of her paintings is elsewhere, at the Museo Dolores Olmedo, so the Casa Azul is the place to see how she lived. Our Casa Azul tickets and tips guide goes into more detail on visiting.

Address: Londres street, Coyoacán. Tickets: Prices change by day of the week and differ for Mexican residents and foreign visitors; discounts apply to teachers, students and holders of the INAPAM card (Mexico’s senior citizens’ card). Buy ahead, since the museum is busy. Taking photos requires a separate permit. Getting there: The southbound Turibus route stops at the corner of Tres Cruces, one block west of the museum, and the northbound bus stops outside or close by.

Museo Anahuacalli, Coyoacán

Diego Rivera designed the Anahuacalli to hold his collection of pre-Hispanic art. The land was once a small ranch where he and Kahlo grew vegetables, kept bees and milked cows, and around 1946 Rivera began turning it into a museum as part of a planned “Ciudad de las Artes” (City of the Arts). Juan O’Gorman did the architectural design, modeled on a teocalli, the Nahuatl word for a house of the gods. The U-shaped building sits on a large base topped by a temple and is built of dark basalt from the eruption of the Xitle volcano.

Rivera died before it was finished. O’Gorman, Ruth Rivera Marín and Heriberto Pagelson completed it with money from Dolores Olmedo, and it opened in 1964. Its 23 exhibition rooms hold about 2,000 archaeological pieces from Olmec, Toltec, Nahua, Zapotec and Teotihuacan cultures. Look up at the ceiling mosaics by Rivera and O’Gorman, and go up to the roof for views over the city. The museum also runs guided tours, contemporary exhibitions, concerts, children’s workshops and classes, according to the city tourism page for the Anahuacalli. See our Anahuacalli hours and tours guide for more.

Hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 11:00 to 18:00. Guided tours last 30 to 45 minutes; the first starts at 11:00 and the last at 17:00. Getting there: The Xotepingo and Nezahualpilli light rail (Tren Ligero) stations are each about 15 minutes away on foot.

Zona Arqueológica Cuicuilco, Tlalpan

Cuicuilco was the first ceremonial center in the Valley of Mexico. The name is Nahuatl for “place of songs.” Recent research cited by the city’s Cuicuilco page dates the first settlement to the year 2,000 BCE, and the city may have had as many as 20,000 people. Eruptions of the Xitle volcano between 245 and 315 CE buried the area in lava and drove people out. That lava field is today’s Pedregal de San Ángel, which takes in much of Ciudad Universitaria.

The main structure is the Gran Basamento, a large platform dedicated to Huehuetéotl, the Old God of Fire, with drawings in red cinnabar inside. Cuicuilco A, the visitor area, includes the Gran Basamento, the Kiva, Building E1 and the Stela, plus a trail through the ecological reserve. The site museum opened in 1970 and displays tools, personal objects and burials found in the excavations. Readers who want more pre-Hispanic sites can use our list of museums for history and archaeology lovers.

Address: Where Avenida Insurgentes meets the Anillo Periférico, across from the Perisur shopping center. Hours: Monday to Sunday, 9:00 to 17:00. Tickets: Entry includes the museum, parking and restrooms.

Museo Dolores Olmedo, Xochimilco

The Museo Dolores Olmedo occupies the former Hacienda La Noria in Xochimilco. Olmedo, a businesswoman, philanthropist and art collector, bought the estate in 1962 and used it as her main office while it remained her home until 1994. The collection includes about 150 paintings she bought from Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, along with colonial, folk, modern and contemporary art, sculpture, prints and photography.

On Rivera’s advice she also collected pre-Columbian art, and that collection numbers 6 000 works. Permanent rooms show the work of Angelina Beloff, the Russian-born Mexican artist who was Rivera’s first wife, and Olmedo’s own belongings; temporary exhibitions bring in artists from abroad. Peacocks, geese, ducks, turkeys and xoloitzcuintle dogs (Mexico’s hairless breed) still live in the gardens, according to the city tourism page for the museum.

Address: Former Hacienda La Noria, Xochimilco. Getting there: The museum is a few minutes from the historic center of Xochimilco and pairs easily with a trip to the canals. Check hours and ticket prices on the museum’s own site before you go.

Tips for visiting

• The Anahuacalli is closed on Mondays, while Cuicuilco is open every day, so a Monday trip south works better for the archaeological zone.
• Book Casa Azul tickets ahead and combine the visit with central Coyoacán and its market, which are close by.
• Arrive at the Anahuacalli by 17:00 if you want the last guided tour.
• Plan the Museo Dolores Olmedo with Xochimilco’s canals, since it is far from the other three.
• If the weather turns, our list of indoor museums for rainy days has more options.

Quick answers

Where can I see the most Frida Kahlo paintings in Mexico City?

The largest collection of her work is at the Museo Dolores Olmedo in Xochimilco. The Casa Azul shows her home, belongings and some paintings.

What are the Anahuacalli’s opening hours?

Tuesday to Sunday, 11:00 to 18:00, with guided tours from 11:00 until the last one at 17:00.

Is Cuicuilco open on weekends?

Yes. The archaeological zone and its museum open Monday to Sunday, 9:00 to 17:00.

Do I need to book the Casa Azul in advance?

The city tourism office recommends buying tickets ahead because the museum is very busy.

Checked against official sources in November 2026. Hours, prices and rules change: confirm on the official page before you go or apply.