Mexico City works better with children than it looks: it is a capital with free zoos, enormous woods inside the city, museums designed to be touched and a cheap transport system where under-fives travel free. What has to be managed is not the choice, but the distance and the altitude.
The three rules that change the trip. First, one big activity a day and no more: journeys eat more time than you allow for. Second, group by area — Chapultepec one day, Coyoacán and the south another, Xochimilco another — and do not cross the city twice in a day. Third, the city sits above 2,200 metres: for the first two days go slower, with water to hand, a cap and sunscreen, because the sun is strong even when the temperature is mild.
Where to start. The Bosque de Chapultepec fills a whole day: a lake with pedal boats, a zoo with free entry, the castle on top of the hill and the Papalote children's museum a few steps away. Xochimilco and a trajinera ride is the other safe bet — it is hired by the hour and by the boat, not per person — and from the Cuemanco landing you reach the quiet part of the canals, with herons and chinampas instead of loudspeakers. For rainy days, the interactive museums and indoor play centres; for afternoons with energy to burn, the public sports centres, which charge token fees.
Logistics with a pushchair. The Metro is fast and cheap, but at peak hours (07:00–09:00 and 18:00–20:00) it is no place for a pushchair; in those windows take an app taxi. Many pavements in the centre are narrow and uneven: a baby carrier works better than a large pushchair in the old quarter. Almost every museum has reduced or free admission for children, and on Sundays several public museums are free for residents, which fills the galleries: with small children, a Tuesday morning is far more comfortable.
Food. You do not have to give up the markets: almost all of them have fondas serving comida corrida — soup, a main course and agua fresca — that children accept without fuss, and there are always quesadillas without chilli. Ask for the salsa on the side, carry fruit for the journey, and bear in mind that in many restaurants the kitchen opens late: the Mexican lunch hour is 14:00.
