Zona Maco Art Week returns to Mexico City from Wednesday 3 February to Sunday 7 February 2027, when the fair’s 23rd edition takes over Centro Banamex for five days. The dates come from Zona Maco’s own save the date announcement, which bills the fair as the leading art fair in Latin America and the center of an art week in the capital.
Art week rewards an easy arrival: land, ride in, drop your bags, and save your energy for the halls and the city around them. This post covers what is confirmed, the ride in from the airport, where the guide sends you to sleep, and the first hour.
What is happening
Zona Maco runs from Wednesday 3 February to Sunday 7 February 2027 at Centro Banamex in Mexico City. The 2027 fair is its 23rd edition, announced by the fair itself as a save the date for the global art community: galleries, artists, collectors and art professionals gather in the capital for the week.
The fair is the hub, and the art week framing is the point. Collectors and galleries plan their Mexico City trips around these five days, so flights and central hotels for that week are the ones to lock in first. Beyond the venue and the dates, this post sticks to what the announcement confirms.
February is a kind month to arrive: dry days, cold nights and warm middays, per the guide. Pack layers for the evenings between the fair and the city.
Getting there after you land
Fly into Benito Juarez International, MEX, about 13 km east of the Zocalo. The airport has two terminals, T1 and T2, linked by a free shuttle and the Aerotren, so check your ticket twice. Felipe Angeles, NLU, is a different airport 50 km north, and none of the times in this post apply to it.
Metro Line 5Cheapest
From Terminal Aerea station by T1, with a transfer into Centro. Tough with big luggage.
Metrobus Line 4
Direct from both terminals to the Centro Historico and Buenavista, with room for luggage.
Uber and DiDi
Usually the cheapest door to door option, price locked in the app, from the designated pickup zones.
Authorized airport taxi
Fixed by zone. Buy the ticket at the booth inside arrivals, never from a tout in the corridor.
The Metrobus runs about 04:30 to 00:00, so after midnight a pre-booked pickup is the easier plan, with the fare locked in before you land. See our MEX to Mexico City center transfer guide for every option priced and compared side by side.
The full first hour: Mexico City guide
The ride in, the first ticket and the first meal, plus where to stay for your first nights in Mexico City.
Where to stay, and getting back
For a Splurge, Gran Hotel Ciudad de Mexico stands right on the Zocalo at 16 de Septiembre 82, an Art Nouveau landmark with a Tiffany stained glass ceiling and a rooftop terrace looking across the square to the Cathedral. The Metrobus Line 4 ride from the airport ends in the Centro, its home ground.
For the Mid-range, Hotel Historico Central, at Simon Bolivar 28 a few blocks from the Zocalo, is a colonial era mansion known for its 24 hour cafe, with breakfast, coffee and snacks included around the clock, a genuinely useful perk for jet lagged arrivals. For Budget, Hostal Amigo, at Isabel la Catolica 61-A in the Centro, runs dorms and private rooms with a free breakfast buffet, the reliable budget anchor between the Zocalo and Bellas Artes. Getting back reverses the ride in: the Metrobus serves both terminals, and app cars run door to door.
The first hour, sorted
Sort data before you leave the terminal: rideshare pickups, maps and translation all depend on it. The guide names Airalo for an eSIM for Mexico, installed before you fly so you land already online, with Telcel at the airport OXXO stores if you prefer a local SIM.
Your first ticket is the Tarjeta de Movilidad Integrada, the one card that works on the Metro, the Metrobus and the Cablebus. Use an ATM inside the terminal for your first pesos, decline the ATM conversion offer, and keep small bills separate: cards work in most Centro and Roma restaurants and hotels, while markets, street stalls and many taquerias are cash only. Do not drink the tap water; hotels provide bottled or purified water.
The city sits at 2,240 meters, so let the first outing be a gentle one: walk the Zocalo and Calle Madero to the Palacio de Bellas Artes as the light fades. For a first meal, the guide sends you to breakfast at El Cardenal in the Centro: hot chocolate whisked at the table, warm conchas with nata, and chilaquiles done properly. Book the Casa Azul ahead, as the guide advises: its tickets are timed, sold online only, and the museum closes on Mondays.
Browse the events calendar for what else is on while you are in town, and use plan your trip to line up the days around it.
Tacos in the Centro, the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan and a trajinera at Xochimilco, for the days around the fair.
Get the Mexico City first hour checklist by email
The ride in, the first ticket and the first meal, in the Mexico City guide PDF you can read on the plane.
The checklist, free, from After You Land.
What else is on
The events calendar tracks every guided city, strikes and stoppages included.
Events calendarLine up the rest
Plan your trip pulls the guide, the stays and the bookings for this trip into one place.
Plan your trip