Mexico City is the capital city of Mexico. It is the most important economic, industrial and cultural centre in the country. Mexico City is located in the Valley of Mexico, also called the Valley of the Damned, a large valley in the high plateaus of central Mexico, at an altitude of 2,240 metres.

Tourist Offices
There are information offices at the airport, the bus stops and at numerous points throughout the city.

Dangers and Annoyances
As a general rule, if you are unaware of the route you are to take then you should only use official taxis from stands (sitios) as these are closely regulated. Inside other transportation, mostly microbuses, pickpocketing is still a common activity. Mexico City is considered one of the most polluted cities in the world. Pollution is at its worst in the hot, dry season of spring, from February to May.

Around and closeby
The Plaza of the Three Cultures in the Tlatelolco neighbourhood, and the shrine and Basilicas of Our Lady of Guadalupe are important sites to visit. There is a double decker bus known as the "Turibus" that circles most of these sites and has timed audio describing the sites in multiple languages along the way.

Sightseeing
The most recognizable icon of Mexico City is the golden Angel of Independence, found on the wide, elegant avenue Paseo de la Reforma. It was modelled by the order of the Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, after the Champs-Élysées in Paris. The Historic Centre and the Floating Gardens of Xochimilco, in the southern borough, have been declared World Heritage Sites and are well worth a visit. The Chapultepec Park houses the Castle of Chapultepec, now a museum, on a hill that overlooks the park and its numerous museums, monuments, the national zoo and the National Museum of Anthropology. Six Flags Mexico, south-west of Mexico City, is the largest amusement park in Latin America and the only Six Flags park outside the U.S. and Canada. The park is fitted with several million-dollar attractions, including Batman the Ride and, not for the faint-hearted, the Medusa Roller Coaster.

Getting there
Mexico City is served by Mexico City International Airport. Licenciado Adolfo López Mateos International Airport is located in the City of Toluca 50km north-west of Mexico City. This airport is the hub of several domestic low-cost carriers serving destinations such as Monterrey, Cancún, Guadalajara, Tijuana and other Mexican cities. The city has four major bus stations (North, South, Observatorio, TAPO), with bus services to cities across the country. The North terminal serves Ciudad Juárez, Acapulco, Guadalajara, Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, Puerto Vallarta, Monterrey, León, Querétaro, Aguascalientes, San Luis Potosi, Hermosillo, Tijuana. The Observatorio serves Collima, Manzanillo, Puerto Vallarta and Toluca. The South terminal serves Acapulco, Ixtapa, Oaxaca, Tepoztlán and Puebla and TAPO serves Campeche, Cancún, Merida, Villahermosa, Veracruz and Jalapa.

Getting around
Mexico City is served by the Sistema de Transporte Colectivo Metro, an extensive metro system. However, the Metro does not extend outside the limits of the Federal District and therefore an extensive network of bus routes has been implemented. The city government also operates a network of large buses, in contrast with the privately operated microbuses, and electric transport other than the metro also exists, in the form of trolleybuses. There are plenty of lime-green or red and white taxis, which, while occasionally unsafe if taken randomly from the street instead of designated locales, are economical.