Free entry, no ticket needed.
Diego Rivera's history murals, free with a photo ID
Plan your visit →Opens the museum's own visitor page. There is nothing to book: the permanent collection is free.
Diego Rivera spent years on the main staircase of the Palacio Nacional, and the result is the closest thing Mexico has to a national story painted on a wall. The murals sweep from the founding of Tenochtitlan through the conquest, independence and revolution, crowded with the faces of the people who made it. Entry is free with a photo ID, and there is no ticket to buy, which makes this one of the great bargains on the Zócalo.
The reason to come is Diego Rivera's mural cycle. The vast staircase mural, painted between 1929 and 1935, lays out the history of Mexico from its indigenous roots to a vision of its future. Along the second-floor corridor, a run of later panels shows daily life before the conquest, from the great market of Tlatelolco to scenes of maize, cacao and craft.
Take the staircase slowly. Rivera built it to be read like a book, with the pre-Hispanic world on one wall, the long violence of colonial rule and independence on the central span, and figures such as Hidalgo, Juarez and Zapata worked into the crowd. The corridor panels upstairs are quieter and more intimate, painted in warm earth tones, and many visitors like them even more than the famous staircase.
The building itself is the seat of the federal government, built on the site of Moctezuma's palace and later the viceregal palace. Above the central doorway hangs the bell that Miguel Hidalgo is said to have rung to launch the fight for independence, brought here from the town of Dolores. On the night of 15 September the president rings it from the balcony to the crowd below.
Yes, entry is free, and there is no ticket to book. You show a valid photo ID at the entrance on the Calle Moneda side of the building, pass a security check, and go in at no charge. Bring your passport, since this is a working government building and the guards do ask for identification.
Because it is a seat of government rather than a museum, access can pause without much notice. The palace sometimes closes to visitors for official ceremonies and state events, and around the independence celebrations in mid-September it shuts for several days. There is no gift shop or audio guide operation of the usual kind, so it helps to read up on the murals before you arrive.
Since the visit costs nothing and takes under an hour, most people fold it into a wider walk around the historic centre. A guided walk of the area, or a ticket to the excavated Aztec temple across the plaza, turns the free murals into the anchor of a fuller morning. The box below is the natural pairing, a short walk from the palace doors.
The palace is on the east side of the Zócalo, filling the whole block. The nearest Metro is Zócalo on Line 2, which surfaces right on the square. The mural areas are generally open Tuesday to Sunday during the day, but hours shift and the building can close for government business, so it is worth checking on the day before you make a special trip.
Plan around forty-five minutes to an hour for the staircase and the corridor. Keep your ID handy for the security check, leave large bags at your hotel where you can, and be ready to be turned away or rerouted if an official event is on. On a normal weekday the visit is straightforward and the murals are gloriously uncrowded compared with the ticketed museums nearby.
The free murals sit at the centre of the historic core, so they slot easily into a paid morning around them. The excavated Aztec great temple is a two-minute walk, the marble mural palace on the Alameda is a short stroll west, and the human-rights museum near the same park makes a serious, affecting stop.
Yes. Entry to see the Diego Rivera murals is free, with no ticket to buy. You show a valid photo ID at the Calle Moneda entrance and pass a security check to go in.
No. There is no admission ticket and nothing to reserve. Just bring a passport or other photo ID for the security check at the door.
The mural areas are generally open Tuesday to Sunday during the day, but this is a working government building and hours can shift. It closes for official ceremonies and around the mid-September independence events, so check before a special trip.
Diego Rivera's grand staircase mural, painted from 1929 to 1935, tells the history of Mexico from its indigenous origins through the conquest, independence and revolution. Later panels along the second-floor corridor show daily life before the conquest.
It fills the east side of the Zócalo. The nearest Metro is Zócalo on Line 2, which comes up right on the square, a short walk from the entrance on Calle Moneda.
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