What this section covers. The unhurried end of the city: spas, bathhouses, bookshops, cafes and the places designed for an afternoon with nothing scheduled.
Spas and recovery. Worth knowing on day one rather than day five: at 2,240 metres, arriving off a long flight hits harder than at sea level, and a massage on the first afternoon genuinely helps with the adjustment. The city has everything from hotel spas on Reforma with a view over Chapultepec to temazcal — the pre-Hispanic steam ceremony, which is a ritual rather than a sauna and should be booked with someone who treats it as one.
Bookshops and cafes. El Péndulo, a bookshop that feeds you, with live music and readings. The second-hand bookshops of Donceles in the centre, stacked floor to ceiling. The Roma and Condesa cafes, where Mexican specialty coffee from Chiapas and Veracruz is the point.
Parks for doing nothing. Parque México, the Viveros de Coyoacán, the Alameda Central — the oldest public park in the Americas, laid out in 1592.
Practical notes. Spa treatments are booked ahead, especially at weekends; ask whether steam and sauna access is included or charged separately. Bookshop cafes fill on weekend mornings. And the altitude means alcohol works faster than you expect — something to know before an unhurried lunch.
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