Chapultepec Castle (Castillo de Chapultepec), Mexico City: How to Visit and What to Do Nearby

Chapultepec Castle sits atop Chapultepec Hill in Mexico City at 2,325 meters elevation, the only royal castle in the Americas built on the North American continent. Constructed beginning in 1785 as a viceregal summer residence, the castle later served as a presidential palace under Emperor Maximilian I, who laid out a boulevard—now Paseo de la Reforma—connecting it to the city center. The Museo Nacional de Historia occupies the interior, displaying murals by Siqueiros and furnishings from the Maximilian era. The hilltop terrace overlooks the park canopy and the Reforma corridor. is just one of many options in Mexico City. Major attractions worth considering include Coyoacán, Diego Rivera Mural Museum (Museo Mural Diego Rivera), and Floating Gardens of Xochimilco.