Things to Do in Mexico City When It Rains: 7 Indoor Museums
Seven indoor museums in Mexico City for a rainy day, from MUNAL and the Franz Mayer to Papalote, with opening hours, highlights and transport tips.
When rain hits Mexico City, the easiest plan is a museum, and the Centro Histórico has four within walking distance of each other: the Museo de la Ciudad de México, the Museo de la Luz, MUNAL and the Museo Franz Mayer. Farther out, El Chopo in Santa María la Ribera, the Museo Soumaya in Polanco and Papalote for children in Chapultepec can fill a whole wet afternoon.
Afternoon storms can also come with a sharp drop in temperature, as in the cold rain forecast for Friday, so bring a layer as well as an umbrella. Most of the museums below close one day a week, so check the hours before you set out.
Museo de la Ciudad de México, Centro Histórico
The Museo de la Ciudad de México (Museum of the City of Mexico) sits a few blocks south of the Zócalo, inside the former palace of the Counts of Santiago de Calimaya. Architect Francisco Antonio de Guerrero y Torres finished the building in 1779. The city bought it in 1960, and it opened as a museum in 1964.
The permanent collection fills 26 galleries and follows the city from Aztec Mexico-Tenochtitlan to today, in sections for the pre-Hispanic era, the colonial period, the 19th century and the 20th century. You will find codices, maps, furniture, glassware, pottery, paintings and photography. One gallery covers the river system of the Valley of Mexico. Part of painter Joaquín Clausell’s studio and music room survives in the building, along with the Jaime Torres Bodet library of some 10,000 volumes. Temporary shows come with educational programs for children and adults, and there is a bookstore.
Hours: Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Museo de la Luz, Centro Histórico
The Museo de la Luz (Museum of Light) deals with light, color, optics and vision. It belongs to Universum, the science museum of UNAM (the National Autonomous University of Mexico). It first opened on Nov. 18, 1996, in the former church of the Colegio Máximo de San Pedro y San Pablo. In 2010 it moved one block to the building that once held the college’s school, and it opened at the new address in 2011.
The permanent exhibits are built with artists and designers in mind, though anyone curious about lenses, color and how we see will find plenty to do. It is a good stop with teenagers, and it sits close to the Templo Mayor and the Zócalo. Our guide to landmarks in the Centro Histórico covers the other sights nearby.
Hours: not listed on the city’s page; check before you go.
Museo Nacional de Arte (MUNAL), Centro Histórico
The Museo Nacional de Arte (MUNAL), the national art museum, is in a neoclassical palace with Tolsá’s equestrian statue of Charles IV of Spain in front. The city’s tourism page calls it one of the most visited museums in Mexico City. Italian architect Silvio Contri designed the building for the Secretariat of Communications and Public Works. Work began in 1904 and ended in 1911, and the museum opened in 1982. It is part of INBAL (the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature).
The permanent collection has more than 3,000 works in some 5,500 square meters of exhibition space. It is split into three periods: colonial art from 1550 to 1821, the first century after Independence, and the years after the Revolution through the 1950s. Temporary exhibitions cover Mexican art history and shows traveling from abroad. Look for the second-floor Reception Hall, where President Porfirio Díaz made public declarations and received foreign dignitaries. For more options, see our comparison of art museums in Mexico City.
Hours: Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Museo Franz Mayer, Centro Histórico
The Museo Franz Mayer shows the collection of Franz Mayer, a German-born collector who came to Mexico in 1905 and started collecting seriously in 1923. The museum has room for only about 25% of it. It opened in 1986 in the former Hospital de San Juan de Dios, a building that served as a hospital for 400 years after its conversion in 1582. Most of the museum is the 18th century cloister, entered from the Plaza de Santa Veracruz.
This is mainly a decorative arts museum. Ceramics, silverware, textiles, furniture, feather art, lacquer ware, ivory, tortoiseshell, enamels and glass sit alongside sculpture and painting, with pieces from the 16th through the 19th centuries. Temporary shows often cover books, graphic design, photography and industrial design. The library holds nearly 22,000 volumes, including 800 copies of Don Quijote in some 18 languages, all published before 1905.
Hours: Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; weekends, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Getting there: westbound Turibus Historic Center Circuit buses stop outside on Avenida Hidalgo; eastbound buses stop across the Alameda Central, about five minutes away on foot.
Museo Universitario del Chopo, Santa María la Ribera
The Museo Universitario del Chopo, known as El Chopo, is a UNAM museum inside an iron and glass building designed by Bruno Möhring in the German Jugendstil style. The structure first housed a 1902 exhibition of textile art in Düsseldorf before being taken apart and rebuilt in Mexico City. The National Museum of Natural History opened inside in 1913. Until the mid-1960s it drew some 1,200 visitors a day.
Today the program leans toward contemporary and alternative culture: art, photography, video, film, music and literature. A renovation between 2004 and 2010 restored the building. It suits visitors who want something current rather than colonial.
Hours: Wednesday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Museo Soumaya, Polanco
The Museo Soumaya is a private, nonprofit museum with two buildings in the city, at Plaza Carso and Plaza Loreto. The collection runs to about 66,000 works: sculpture from pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica, Mexican art of the 19th and 20th centuries and a large group of European old masters. Artists on show include Auguste Rodin, Salvador Dalí, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo and Tintoretto.
On a wet day the Plaza Carso site is easy to combine with the Museo Jumex, the Acuario Inbursa aquarium and the Plaza Carso shopping center, all close by.
Getting there: the Turibus Polanco Circuit stop is in front of the aquarium on Avenida Ferrocarril de Cuernavaca. Hours: check the museum’s own site.
Papalote Museo del Niño, Chapultepec
The Papalote Museo del Niño (Papalote Children’s Museum) is a hands-on museum for kids, built around the slogan “touch, play and learn.” It opened in 1993 in a blue, tile-covered building by architect Ricardo Legorreta that looks out over the Bosque de Chapultepec. “Papalote” is the Nahuatl word for kite.
The museum has five sections covering nature, biology, civics and creativity workshops, plus temporary exhibitions and an IMAX screen for educational films and documentaries. Adults get special open houses on Thursday nights. The Jardín Maya, an archaeology-themed garden with a pyramid, is outdoors, so save it for a dry spell.
Hours: Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Getting there: the Capital Bus tour through section 2 of Chapultepec stops at the museum.
Tips for visiting
- Monday is a poor museum day: MUNAL, the Museo de la Ciudad and the Franz Mayer are open Tuesday through Sunday, and El Chopo opens only Wednesday through Sunday. Papalote is the exception, open on weekdays.
- Group the four Centro Histórico museums so you spend little time outdoors between them. The Franz Mayer and MUNAL are both on the Alameda side of the center; the Museo de la Luz and the Museo de la Ciudad are near the Zócalo.
- Papalote closes at 2 p.m. on Saturdays, so go early with children.
- History fans can add more indoor stops from our list of history and archaeology museums.
Quick answers
Which Mexico City museums are open on Monday?
Of the museums in this list, Papalote opens Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. MUNAL, the Franz Mayer and the Museo de la Ciudad open Tuesday through Sunday, and El Chopo Wednesday through Sunday.
What is a good rainy-day museum for kids?
Papalote in Chapultepec is built for children, with five hands-on sections and an IMAX screen. The Museo de la Luz, with exhibits on light, color and optics, also works for older kids.
Can I see several museums without much walking in the rain?
Yes. The Franz Mayer and MUNAL are both near the Alameda Central, and the Museo de la Ciudad and the Museo de la Luz are close to the Zócalo. In Polanco, the Soumaya at Plaza Carso is next to the Museo Jumex and the Acuario Inbursa.
Checked against official sources in November 2026. Hours, prices and rules change: confirm on the official page before you go or apply.
