Everything you've heard about Mexico City's crowds and crime may have convinced you that it is not the best place for a family visit.

But the vivid history, anarchic street life, eccentric museums and walkable neighborhoods make the Mexican capital an unexpectedly welcoming place for children.

Gregory Bull/Associated Press (ENLARGE)
Mexico City is as vivid and colorful as these traditional costumes from the state of Durango.
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The bloody story of the Spanish conquest, along with the Aztecs' predilection for violent spectacle (you will run across many accounts of both in museums and guidebooks) will satisfy any child's desire for gore. And Mexican kitsch, like papier-mache skeletons and bags decorated with sequined figures of the Virgin of Guadalupe, will please the most discerning 11-year-old shopper.

Use a hotel taxi

Yes, you'll want to take precautions, especially when it comes to getting around. Avoid hailing taxis on the street; drivers of pirate taxis have been known to force passengers to use their ATM cards to withdraw cash. Instead, arrange a hotel taxi for the day; their drivers usually speak some English.

They may cite prices as high as 250 pesos (about $24 at 10.1 pesos to $1) an hour but you should haggle. The cheaper alternative is to ask for the nearest taxi stand, called sitio (pronounced SEE-tee-o). You can hire a taxi there for the day for about 100 pesos an hour.

An excellent way to get around is on the Turibus, a red double-decker bus that makes a circuit from the historic center, down the Paseo de la Reforma to Chapultepec Park and into neighborhoods like trendy Condesa and reviving Roma, in two and a half hours. A ticket for a weekend day costs 115 pesos for adults and 55 pesos for children aged 4 to 12.The bus passes every half hour and you can get on and off at any stop.

If you decide to walk to get around, keep in mind that while air pollution has been reduced in recent years, the thin air at Mexico City's high altitude can be exhausting. (Local people say that drinking lots of water helps altitude-related headaches.)

And don't buy food from street vendors.

Bloody history

In 1521, the Spanish Conquistador Hernando Cortes took the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, and built a new capital on its ruins. Ground zero for this story is Mexico City's vast central square, officially Plaza de la Constitucion, but called the Zocalo by all.

At the northeast corner is the Templo Mayor, the ruins of the Aztecs' ceremonial center. For children who love gory details, the adjoining museum is a manageable introduction to Mexico's archaeological treasures. The temple was dedicated to the Aztec god Huitzilopchtli, who decapitated his jealous sister Coyolxauhqui. The museum's centerpiece is a circular monolith showing the beheaded goddess.

Templo Mayor Museum (Seminario 8, 52-55-5542-4943, www.conaculta.gob.mx/templomayor) is open Tuesday to Sunday, 9 to 5, admission 45 pesos, free for children under 13 and free for everyone on Sundays.

Rivera murals

Next door, the Diego Rivera murals in the National Palace take visitors through Mexico's history, starting with an idealized view of the pre-Columbian past, through the Conquest, the Inquisition, the Mexican Revolution, and into a heroic modern age peopled by evil capitalists and valiant workers. Older children may enjoy picking out historical figures (Karl Marx looms large), while younger children will be captivated by the whirl of figures, from Aztec warriors clothed in jaguar skins to campesinos bearing machetes and draped in bandoliers. Open every day from 9 to 4:30, free, but identification is required at the door. No telephone.

It is hard to imagine a visit to Mexico City without a stop at the National Museum of Anthropology. Its highlights include the reproduction from the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent in the Teotihuacan room; the monumental Toltec warrior column from Tula; and the jaguar sculpture that held the blood and hearts of captive warriors in the Aztec room.

Upstairs are lively displays devoted to Mexico's Indian cultures, with traditional dress, musical instruments and three enormous papier-m?ch? dolls like those still used in Oaxaca festivals. The museum (52-55-5553-6386 or 52-55-5553-6381; www.mna.inah.gob.mx) is at Paseo de la Reforma and Calzada Gandhi and is open Tuesday to Sunday 9 to 7. Admission is 45 pesos until 5 p.m., 150 pesos after 5, Tuesday to Saturday; free on Sundays and free at all times for adults over 60, children under 13 and students with identification.

Aztec canals

In the far south of the city lie the canals of Xochimilco, the last remnants of the city as it was when the Spanish arrived. The Aztecs perfected a system of farming on raised fields, called chinampas, by piling mud, silt and plants on reeds, giving rise to a network of canals. You can take a ride here on a boat called a trajinera. Ask a hotel taxi driver to take you to the Fernando Celada embarcadero, or dock, on Avenida Guadalupe I. Ramirez at Margarita Maza de Juarez. The ride, which takes an hour to 90 minutes, costs 300 pesos. Come early to avoid traffic.

The house of Frida Kahlo, the painter known for her striking self-portraits, contains her singular dresses and a vivid collection of small folk paintings. The Frida Kahlo Museum (Londres 247, Coyoacan, 52-55-5554-5999) is open 10 to 6 Tuesday to Sunday, 35 pesos for adults, 20 pesos for children 6 to 12, free for those under 6.

What to do in your downtime

Chapultepec Park is Mexico City's Central Park, home to a world-class zoo and the famous blue-tiled Papalote children's museum (Bosque de Chapultepec, second section, 55-52-5237-1773; www.papalote.org.mx/papalotemuseo), which is open Monday to Friday 9 to 6; until 11 on Thursdays, weekends 10 to 7. Admission is 65 pesos for children 2 to 11, 70 pesos for those over 12. It has more than 250 interactive exhibits for children of all ages. For those to whom "down time" means raucous fun, the main fairgrounds, complete with a huge roller coaster, is always an option.

Local people go to Parque Mexico in Condesa for a stroll. The Art Deco-ish area, home to the city's coolest restaurant scene, is packed with outdoor cafes. On the northwest corner at Avenida Mexico, you can rent a bike for 28 pesos for an hour. On Sundays, the park is full of arts and crafts activities for children, plus a trampoline and a tiny bus for toddlers.

Where to eat

Casual Mexican food (the real thing, not Tex-Mex) is great finger food. El Tizoncito, at Campeche 362 in Condesa, serves fine tacos — small soft corn flour tortillas holding grilled meat and cheese. Las Chalupitas, at Alfonso Reyes 275, is also recommended.

Flor de Lis in Condesa is a family diner known for tamales, corn meal wrapped in banana leaves enclosing chicken in different sauces. Huichapan 21A, 52-55-5286-0811. An order of two tamales is 27 pesos.

The San Angel Inn is a traditional restaurant in an old hacienda with a large garden and fountains. It's a place to peek at Mexican extended families — often three generations, sometimes four. Diego Rivera 50, corner of Altavista, 52-55-5616-2222; main courses, like stuffed chilies and robalo papillote (sea bass stuffed with mushrooms, oysters and shrimp) cost from 96 pesos to 174 pesos.

Where to stay

Condesa D.F. is a new boutique hotel in Condesa, where children are welcome despite the jet-set veneer. Children's movies are shown in the downstairs disco at 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays (although sometimes dubbed into Spanish) while adults can enjoy the brunch buffet in the upstairs courtyard for 280 pesos. Veracruz 102, 52-55-5241-2600, www.condesadf.com; rooms $165 to $395.

The Maria Cristina (Rio Lerma 31, 52-55-5703-1212 or 52-55-5566-9688; on the Web at www.caminoreal.com/mexico) has a pleasant garden just one block off Paseo de la Reforma. Small rooms but great location and value. Rooms 734 pesos to 1,377 pesos.

The Camino Real Mexico (Mariano Escobedo 700, 52-55-5263-8888, or in the United States, 800-7226466; www.caminoreal.com/mexico) has an excellent pool area and is a quick walk to Chapultepec. Rooms are $190 to $280, plus 17 percent tax.