La increible segunda sección del Bosque de Chapultepec

The part of Chapultepec most visitors never cross into. The second section opened in 1964, separated from the first by the Periférico, and covers around 160 hectares. It is almost as good as the first and a fraction as busy.

The Paseo de los Compositores. The main axis of the section, recently restored: ten of the great figures of Mexican music cast in bronze, among them Silvestre Revueltas, Agustín Lara, Juventino Rosas, María Grever and José Alfredo Jiménez. If you only know one Mexican song, one of these people wrote it.

The Fuente de Xochipilli. Built in 1964 by the architect Leonides Guadarrama and restored in the same project — a fountain dedicated to the Nahua god of flowers, music, dance and love, using forms and patterns drawn from pre-Hispanic architecture.

Sport and space. Parque Constituyentes holds the largest skatepark in the city, able to take up to 600 skaters across a day and around 200 at once. El Sope is a running circuit on a clay track with real climbs and descents.

And the museums. The Papalote Museo del Niño, the Museo de Historia Natural, the Museo Tecnológico and the Lago Mayor with its boats. Note that La Feria de Chapultepec closed permanently in 2019 after a serious accident; the amusement park that replaced it, Aztlán Parque Urbano, opened in 2022 in the first section.

Practical notes. Metro Constituyentes, line 7, is the closest station. Open early; free. Most museums here close on Mondays.