Centro Santa Fe

What it is. One of the largest shopping centres in Latin America, on Avenida Vasco de Quiroga in the Santa Fe business district. Several hundred units across multiple levels: international fashion, department stores, boutiques, furniture and interior design, watches and jewellery, a gourmet hall, cinemas and a food court big enough to get lost in.

Who it is for. Shoppers, and travellers with a free afternoon in Santa Fe —the glass-tower office district west of the city, where many business hotels are. It is not a cultural visit: this is the place to buy things, eat and escape the altitude and the traffic for a few hours. Expect prices at or above European levels in the international stores, and better value in Mexican brands.

Practical notes. Open 11:00–20:00, with the restaurant floors running later. Parking is enormous and paid. Santa Fe has no metro: the easiest approaches are the Metrobús and the dedicated bus routes from Tacubaya and Observatorio, or a taxi app —allow extra time, as access roads into Santa Fe jam badly at peak hours. Garden Santa Fe, the sunken, garden-roofed mall, is a few minutes away.