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    Main façade of the Palacio de Bellas Artes with its marble arch and golden-tiled dome under a cloudy sky, Ciudad de México

    Photo by Jazminhdzp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Palacio de Bellas Artes

    Landmark Cuauhtémoc, Ciudad de México Municipality of Cuauhtémoc Valley of Mexico

    Marble opera house at the Alameda: Rivera, Orozco and Siqueiros murals, a Tiffany glass curtain and the Ballet Folklórico on stage.

    From Toluca: 1 h 5 min by car (63 km by road) How to get there ↓

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    Tours to Palacio de Bellas Artes

    Look for tours of the area around Tepotzotlán that stop at Palacio de Bellas Artes.

    Palacio de Bellas Artes: Mexico City Murals & Art Deco Tour ★ 4.9 (105) · From US$61
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    How to get to Palacio de Bellas Artes

    • From Toluca: about 1 h 5 min by road (~63 km)
    • Nearest airport: Mexico City (Felipe Ángeles) (NLU), 48 min by car to Tepotzotlán
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    Popular tours to Palacio de Bellas Artes

    Palacio de Bellas Artes: Mexico City Murals & Art Deco Tour ★ 4.9 (105) 2 h From US$61
    Mexico City Downtown Centro private tour+ Palacio de Bellas Artes ★ 5.0 (15) 4–5 h From US$105
    Historic Center Essentials: Mexico City Downtown Walking Tour ★ 4.9 (1,488) 3 h From US$25
    Centro histórico Mexico City and Bellas Artes ★ 5.0 (25) 4 h From US$72
    Private 2 Hour City Tour of Mexico City Historic Center ★ 4.9 (14) 2 h From US$34

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    About Palacio de Bellas Artes

    The Palacio de Bellas Artes is Mexico City's grand theatre and art museum, a white-marble palace with a golden-tiled dome at the eastern end of the Alameda Central, where Avenida Juárez meets Eje Central. It was begun in 1904, under Porfirio Díaz, to a design by the Italian architect Adamo Boari. The soft lakebed clay and then the Revolution stalled the work; Boari left around 1913 with little more than a shell standing. Federico Mariscal finished it in 1932–1934, which is why it is Art Nouveau and Neoclassical outside, in Carrara and Mexican marble, and Art Deco inside.

    The main hall seats 1,590 people under a glass ceiling by the Hungarian artist Géza Maróti that shows Apollo and the muses. Its stage curtain is the famous part: a fireproof screen made by Tiffany's of New York from close to a million pieces of opalescent glass, weighing some 24 tons, with the volcanoes Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl rising over the Valley of Mexico, after a design inspired by the painter Dr. Atl. The Ballet Folklórico de México, founded by Amalia Hernández in 1952, performs its regional dances here on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings and evenings, and the hall is also home to the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional and the national dance company. Frida Kahlo lay in state here in 1954.

    The upper floors hold the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, the country's first art museum, with 17 murals by seven painters made between 1928 and 1963. The best known is Diego Rivera's Man, Controller of the Universe, which he repainted here in 1934 after his first version was destroyed at Rockefeller Center in New York; nearby are José Clemente Orozco's Katharsis, David Alfaro Siqueiros's New Democracy and Rufino Tamayo's Birth of Nationality. The museum also mounts large temporary exhibitions, and the top floor houses the Museo Nacional de Arquitectura. Outside, Agustí Querol's bronze Pegasus statues guard the plaza. After a 2026 restoration of its stonework, protesters sprayed the façade with graffiti in June 2026, so expect some scaffolding outside.

    How to get to Palacio de Bellas Artes

    Drive from Toluca: 1 h 5 min, 63 km

    Bellas Artes Metro station (Lines 2 and 8) comes up right beside the palace's west wing, at the corner of Avenida Juárez and Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas. Metrobús Line 4 also has a Bellas Artes stop. From the Zócalo you can walk west along the pedestrian Calle Madero, which comes out by the Torre Latinoamericana across the street. Hidalgo Metro station (Lines 2 and 3), at the other end of the Alameda, is a pleasant walk through the park.

    Directions to Palacio de Bellas Artes on Google Maps

    Distances are in a straight line; the road is usually longer.

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    Drive times by road from OpenStreetMap, without traffic or stops. Times marked ~ are estimated from the straight-line distance.

    Before you go to Palacio de Bellas Artes: hours, prices and tips

    Hours
    Museum: Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 6 pm; closed Mondays. Excélsior · checked Oct 2026
    Entry
    Museum entry is 95 pesos and covers the murals and the temporary shows. Free for children under 13, students, teachers and seniors with ID. Sundays are free; INBAL's rule names Mexicans and foreign residents, though press reports say all visitors get in. Ballet Folklórico tickets are sold separately, roughly 350 to 1,600 pesos. Excélsior · checked Oct 2026
    Best season
    The Ballet Folklórico usually dances on Wednesday nights (about 8:30 pm) and on Sundays at 9:30 am and in the evening; check its calendar, as dates vary by month. Ballet Folklórico de México · checked Oct 2026
    Guide or tour
    Free guided tours of the Sala Principal and its glass curtain run Tuesday to Thursday (English at 1 pm, Spanish at 1:20 pm). On Fridays a longer tour adds the boxes, dressing rooms and terrace; sign up on site at noon, 60 places. Tours: Viator GetYourGuide Chilango · checked Oct 2026

    Hours and prices change, especially around holidays. Each fact links to where we checked it.

    Visiting Palacio de Bellas Artes: what to see and do

    See the murals by Rivera, Orozco, Siqueiros and Tamayo on the museum's upper floors.
    Catch the Ballet Folklórico de México on a Wednesday night or a Sunday morning or evening.
    Join a free guided tour of the Sala Principal to see the Tiffany glass curtain of the volcanoes.
    Look up at the Art Deco lobby and Géza Maróti's glass ceiling of Apollo and the muses.
    Visit whatever big temporary exhibition is on, and the Museo Nacional de Arquitectura on the top floor.
    Walk around the outside to see the Pegasus statues and the marble façade, then cross into the Alameda Central.

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    Tours & activities

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    Rental cars

    Pick up a car at NLU (Mexico City (Felipe Ángeles)): about 48 min by road to Tepotzotlán, then 32 km more to Palacio de Bellas Artes, on your own schedule.

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    Flights

    The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Mexico City (Felipe Ángeles) (NLU), about 48 min by road from Tepotzotlán, the base for Palacio de Bellas Artes.

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    When to go to Palacio de Bellas Artes cool

    Palacio de Bellas Artes shares the climate of Tepotzotlán, 32 km away. The best months to visit are January, February, March, and December.

    See the month-by-month climate of Tepotzotlán

    The closest Pueblo Mágico: Tepotzotlán

    Churrigueresque facade and tower of San Francisco Javier with its atrium cross, Tepotzotlán, Estado de México cool
    Estado de México Tepotzotlán

    Tepotzotlán is the Pueblo Mágico closest to Palacio de Bellas Artes, with places to stay, food, and more to see.

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    Drive times by road from OpenStreetMap, without traffic. Times marked ~ are estimated from the straight-line distance.

    Location from OpenStreetMap. Written by Puebloteca.