North of Chapultepec Park is Polanco, the most upscale part of Mexico City. Yes, there are ritzy stores and fancy restaurants there, but there are also some beautiful parks and places to walk, and still the everyday trappings of Mexican life.
What to Do in Polanco
The hub of Polanco, or ‘Polanquito’, has a lot of great restaurants, with outdoor dining and bustling nightlife. Lincoln Park is there as well, which has beautifully manicured gardens, sculptures, and water features. It’s great for a morning or afternoon stroll. There’s a good market at the eastern end on the weekends, where I have had some memorable carnitas tacos.
Another great place to walk is the median of Avenida Horacio, which stretches from one end of Polanco to the other. There is a mall at either end, Palacio de Hierro to the west, and Liverpool to the east.
Polanco is also a good place from which to access the National Anthropological Museum, as well as the north side of Chapultepec Park and the portion of Reforma that runs along it.
Outdoor Gyms
There’s nothing approaching a good calisthenics park that I found near the center of Polanco. There is a very good one at Glorieta Presa Salinillas, but that is clear out on the northwest edge. There are also some exercise stations in Parque Gandhi, but unfortunately there’s not really a good place to do pull-ups there.
