Museo Casa de la Bola

What it is. A 16th-century building with a brick facade, wrought-iron balconies and an imposing wooden door. Inside there is a fine colonial courtyard and garden, and rooms furnished with art of past centuries —tapestries, paintings and European furniture— assembled by the collector Antonio Haghenbeck.

Why it is worth the detour. It is one of the few house museums in Mexico City where you see a complete interior rather than a collection hung on walls: the house was left furnished, as a record of how the Tacubaya gentry actually lived. The garden, with its fountains and old trees, is part of the visit.

Before you go. Opening hours are limited —often only a few days a week— and visits may be guided, so check before travelling. Tacubaya station on metro Lines 1, 7 and 9 is the closest; the Luis Barragán House Museum, also in Tacubaya and visited by appointment, pairs well with it.