6 Best Sights in Side Trips from Mexico City, Mexico

This impressive art and history museum is housed in a pair of adjoining Spanish Colonial hospital buildings from the 1800s with a gorgeous contemporary atrium, several galleries, and a dramatic rooftop terrace with a bar, glass walls, and grand views of the Zócalo. Home to the private collection of pre-Columbian and colonial-era art of Mexican banker and philanthropist Manuel Espinoza Yglesias, Museo Amparo exhibits unforgettable pieces from all over Mexico, including nearly 5,000 pre-Hispanic artifacts. The collection includes colonial-era painting, sculpture, and decorative objects as well as a small modern art section notable for works by Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Miguel Felguérez, and Vicente Rojo.

Resting in the shadows of the Zona Arqueológica de Cholula, this engrossing museum inside a beautifully transformed 1910 psychiatric hospital has corridors connecting with the tunnels beneath the Great Pyramid. There are eight exhibit areas, each one touching on a different aspect of the region's art and history, including the nearby and quite active Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl volcanoes, Pueblan pottery and meticulously painted alebrijes folk art, and, of course, the fascinating history of the pyramids. It's a pleasure walking through this extensive property's tree-shaded pathways and landscaped grounds. The outstanding gift shop, which is filled with interesting books and artwork, is set inside a contemporary structure with a curving roof and glass walls.

On the southeast side of Plaza de Armas, you'll find this fascinating museum that reopened following a massive renovation that was needed after the building was badly damaged in the major earthquake that struck the region in 2017. Prior to that, the building was named Museo Regional Cuauhnáhuac, but it's also known as the Palacio de Cortés. The fortresslike building was constructed as a stronghold for Hernán Cortés in 1522, as the region had not been completely conquered at that time. His palace sits atop the ruins of Aztec buildings, some of which have been partially excavated. There are plenty of stone carvings from the area on display among the 19 exhibit galleries, with a highlight being the murals Diego Rivera painted between 1927 and 1930 on the second floor, depicting the history of Morelos.

This former convent (sometimes called Ex-Convento de Santa Mónica) opened in 1688 as a spiritual refuge for women whose husbands were away on business. Despite the Reform Laws of the 1850s, it continued to function until 1934. It is said that the women here invented the famous dish called chiles en nogada, a complex recipe that incorporates the red, white, and green colors of the Mexican flag. In the museum's 23 permanent exhibit galleries, curiosities include the gruesome display of the preserved heart of the convent's founder and paintings in the Sala de los Terciopelos (Velvet Room), in which the feet and faces seem to change position as you view them from different angles.

Officially called the Museo Universitario Dr. Luis Mario Schneider and located near the entrance to Zona Arqueológica de Malinalco, this small but informative museum installed within a gracious orange mansion with galleries surrounding a plant-filled courtyard makes an excellent companion piece to the archaeological site. Exhibits are filled with both original and reproduced artifacts and artwork dating back to the Aztec period as well as photos and dioramas that interpret the region's history right up until the present day. 

No visit to the lovely Spanish colonial city of Tepotzotlán is complete without checking out the National Museum of Viceroyalty of New Spain, which contains an exceptional collection of art, furniture, and other items from primarily the 1500s through the mid-1800s. The museum is set inside the former College of San Francisco Javier, which was built by Jesuit priests in 1580. The ornate baroque architecture—in particular the gilded interiors—of the museum and its surrounding complex of colonial buildings is reason alone to visit. But the decorative arts inside, including stunning carved cedar retablos covered in 23-karat gold-leaf, as well as fascinating exhibits that detail the 300 years of Mexico's New Spain period, are also tremendously impressive. The museum sits right on Centro Tepotzotlán's main Plaza de la Cruz, which can sometimes be packed with crowds. For some quiet and a breath of fresh air, head out to explore the tree-shaded lawns and gardens in the back, which you can access from the lower floor in the rear of the museum.