Benito Juárez

Named in honor of Mexico’s first indigenous president, Benito Juárez is one of Mexico City’s 16 alcaldías, or boroughs (which cover a larger space than its colonias, or neighborhoods). Covering more than 41 square km (16 square miles) of the central city, Benito Juárez is primarily residential with the exception of the bustling business district that lines Insurgentes Avenue, an area that includes the World Trade Center and a number of international financial and engineering institutions.

Blessed with ample green parks, wide sidewalks, and charming mom-and-pop tiendas de abarrotes (corner stores) and restaurants, its 43 colonias are about as relaxed as you can get this close to the action in Mexico City. Every corner of the borough is well connected to the city’s public transport system, including the subway, the metrobus, the trolleybus, and a deluge of other buses in varying degrees of decrepitation—the smaller ones are known as combis, or peseros. Each neighborhood has its age-old cantina (some classier than others) and its favorite coffee shops, many of which have been there for decades.

Certain neighborhoods, such as the Narvartes and Del Valles, are seeing a plethora of new restaurants and bars geared to the young and hip. Meanwhile, big-block movie theaters, malls filled with international brands, multifloor apartment buildings, microbreweries, organic coffee shops, and foreign cuisine restaurants are springing up next to the little cafés and houses that have been passed down through the generations. In general, walking or biking through Benito Juárez is the best way to get to know its neighborhood-on-the-verge charm.