Pabellón Altavista

What it is. A small shopping centre at the top of Altavista, in San Ángel, on the old road to the Desierto de los Leones. It is compact but well stocked: fashion shops, restaurants, cafés and a cinema that also programmes art-house titles —unusual for a mall, and the reason locals use it.

Why a visitor might stop. Because of where it sits. San Ángel is one of the handsomest parts of the city —cobbled streets, colonial houses, the Saturday Bazar Sábado on Plaza San Jacinto— and this is the practical corner of it: somewhere to eat properly, cool down, see a film or wait out the afternoon traffic before heading back north. The Casa Estudio Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo is a few minutes away on the same avenue.

Practical notes. Antiguo Camino al Desierto de los Leones #52, open daily 11:00–20:30, with parking. There is no metro in San Ángel: Barranca del Muerto (Line 7) or Metrobús on Insurgentes plus a short taxi ride is the usual approach, and Saturdays are the busiest day in the whole district.