18 travels · The alternative scene. Chic, bohemian and LGBT friendly. 

The alternative city: Roma, Condesa and everything around them

The bohemian and design-driven side of Mexico City is concentrated in a walkable triangle — Roma, Condesa and Juárez — with Coyoacán and the Zona Rosa as satellites. These eighteen ideas are built around that geography, which is the part visitors most often get wrong by scattering themselves across the map.

By day. The Condesa for art deco streets and the Parque México, the Roma for galleries, gourmet markets and bookshops, La Lagunilla on a Sunday for antiques and people-watching. Museum Night — the last Wednesday of most months — opens dozens of museums until late and is the single best evening to be in the city.

By night. Cantina hopping in Coyoacán, bars and small venues in the Condesa, and the Zona Rosa, whose Amberes and Niza streets hold the most concentrated LGBT nightlife in the country. All three are easy to do without a car.

Practical notes. The Roma-Condesa circuit is best walked; the Metro and Metrobús cover the edges but not the inside. Parking is scarce everywhere here. For the trip home after midnight, use an app taxi rather than hailing in the street.