How to Visit the Frida Kahlo Museum [Casa Azul] in 2024

Frida Kahlo was a Mexican artist, known to the world for her bold and beautiful work of art exhibiting self-portraits, indigenous culture and femininity. The house where Frida Kahlo was born, lived most of her life and died, was converted into a museum in 1958, four years after her death, for commoners to get a glimpse of her house, her personal belongings and her art work.

This house, now known as the Frida Kahlo Museum, in the beautiful neighborhood of Coyoacan in the Mexico City, is also referred to as Casa Azul (Spanish for Blue House) because of its bright blue exterior wall paint.

I (Pubali) first visited Casa Azul on a solo trip in the year 2018 and was deeply impacted by it. This article was originally penned as a personal account of this visit. Since then, we (Indranil and Pubali) have had the chance to visit Frida Kahlo museum again, during Dia de Muertos in 2022. Now, the article has been updated in March 2024, incorporating all the latest information about opening hours, booking process and ticket prices.

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For an organized guided activity, book this Coyoacan Walking Tour including visit to Frida Kahlo Museum.

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Frida Kahlo Museum: Entry Process

• Hours: The museum is open on all days (except Mondays) from 10:00 to 18:00. On Wednesdays, it opens an hour later though.
• How to Book: Reserve your museum entrance ticket online here.
• Ticket Prices(as of 2024): 320 MXN for foreigners, 160 MXN for nationals, 60 MXN for students and teachers, 30 MXN for children and senior citizens.

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2024 Update: Frida Kahlo museum no longer has ticket purchase at the counter on venue. You have to have a previously reserved online ticket. You can also book a tour in advance.

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For online booking, you need to schedule the entry hour beforehand. But I highly recommend buying your tickets online, particularly if you are pressed for time during your stay in Mexico City, because the museum allows only a limited number of visitors at a time and hence you need to stand in a queue to get in, irrespective of your booking method – online/offline.

To give you an idea, I did not book my tickets online and had to wait for only (wait for it…) 1 hour 20 minutes in the queue on a sunny December morning/afternoon before I could get to the ticketing window. From eye estimate, the length of the queue for online booking appeared to me at least 1/5th of that for the offline booking.

Since I was not really running against time and also wanted the flexibility about my hour of visit, I was fine with the time I spent waiting [and around noon, the museum authorities provided umbrellas to almost everyone in the queue!]. But, was the museum visit worth the long waiting period? Read on to find out.

Tour Recommendations for Visiting Frida Kahlo Museum

For a guided tour of the Frida Kahlo museum, as well as an introduction to other important places of Coyoacan, consider booking one of these highly rated tours:

• Xochimilco, Coyoacán & Frida Kahlo Museum
• Coyoacan Walking Tour with Frida Kahlo Museum

Where to Stay in Coyoacan, Mexico City

Mexico City is a large capital city sprawling over 1485 sq.km. (573 sq. miles). There are several neighborhoods to choose from for booking a hotel in this metropolis. If you wish to stay closer to the Frida Kahlo museum and in the bohemian neighborhood of Coyoacan, here are some hotel options to check out:

• Mansión Papilio
• Casa Moctezuma
• Agata Hotel Boutique & Spa

The Tour of the Museum: What’s Inside?

Entrance & Outdoor

Once you are checked in through the main entrance, you enter a pretty house with lot of outdoor space dedicated to a garden, which is also decorated with some art work. After spending some time in the shades of the garden, I entered the section of the house with exhibitions of her dresses – supposedly a temporary exhibition.

Exhibition of Frida’s Dresses

Frida Kahlo was known for her unique style statements which still hold relevance in terms of fashion trends. But what inspired her style? From her hairdos to dresses, from her boots to corsets, every little item in her wardrobe had a reason for selection. The exhibition was presented well with the exhibits being accompanied by write-ups in both English and Spanish. The write-ups emphasized on the what, why and how of Frida’s choices of dressing style. If you have ever read about Frida’s life, you already know about the two traumatic experiences that impacted her physical being for life. She used to style herself to complement her physical disabilities yet made a powerful bold feminine style statement through her indigenous choices.

I tend to get emotionally involved with the content of any kind of story, be it movies or books. The write-ups accompanying Frida’s dress exhibition were beautiful and graphic, bringing out the pain of her life so vividly. While reading those, in my head I started visualizing her ways of dealing with her life traumas. I felt a sense of despair. I started feeling dizzy. After I came out of the dress exhibition section, I chose to take a breath to calm myself and to clear my head – I bought water and some trail mix from the small cafeteria at one corner of the garden and sat myself down to at least 15 minutes of quiet time with myself. I was then ready for the rest of the visit through this woman’s life’s belongings.

Frida and Diego’s House

The main house has a marked path through all the rooms of the two-level building. But before you enter the house, you can get a cool photo of yourself against the blue wall that says “Frida and Diego lived in this house. 1929-1954” (in Spanish). The marked path through the house starts from a large room in the ground floor – filled with art work – then passes through all the other rooms including the bedroom and the kitchen, and ends at two small single bedrooms on the first floor before walking down a staircase that opens to the garden view.

Same location. 4 years apart. “Frida and Diego lived here” – that’s what the writing on the wall says.

While walking through all the rooms and observing the furniture and the artifacts, I kept telling myself: ‘this is the same bed where Frida Kahlo used to sleep’, ‘this is the same chair where Frida Kahlo used to sit’, ‘this is the same table where Frida Kahlo used to work’, ‘this is the same kitchen where Frida Kahlo used to have her meals’. After the house tour, I came down the staircase, roamed around the garden for a while, trying to process the life of a girl who became larger than life through the way she chose to live, despite all obstacles. I smiled. I entered the house again and took another tour of the exact same things I had just seen.

Dias de Muertos/ Day of the Dead

Dias de Muertos (Spanish for Day of the Dead) is a significant cultural festival in Mexico where the people celebrate by praying for their family members and friends who had died. My visit to Mexico happened to be just a few weeks after the Dias de Muertos celebration. So when I visited Frida Kahlo Museum, I got the chance to see the Dias de Muertos decor for Frida and Diego that was still retained next to their house. I had heard and read a lot about this unique Mexican festival and this Dias de Muertos decor at Casa Azul is the closest I saw of the actual week long festival, and it was mesmerizing.

2024 Edit: We actually got to experience Mexico City at its festive best when we visited during Dia de Muertos in 2022. That is why, on my second visit to Frida Kahlo Museum, I got to see the Dia de Muertos ofrendas again.

Souvenir Shopping

There’s a counter in the garden selling books, magnets and souvenirs related to Frida Kahlo. You can purchase any souvenir from the counter, although I found Frida Kahlo souvenirs available almost all over Mexico City. I did not buy anything from that counter. However, I bought something from a street vendor while I was waiting outside in the queue. I bought 2 diaries containing pages made with handmade paper, tied with (probably) coir strings and tucked between hardbound covers with Frida’s paintings and quotes.

This was a personal gift for the husband but the reason I mentioned this here is because: while I was walking around inside the museum, carrying the 2 diaries in my arms, I was stopped by multiple people asking (in Spanish and in English) where from I bought the ‘exquisito‘ diaries and was also appreciated for ‘good shopping’. So, when you visit the Casa Azul, you may want to check out the diaries that a street vendor sells to the people waiting in the queue outside the museum.

Coyoacan Neighborhood

Coyoacan, where the museum is located, is a lovely neighborhood. You may want to take a walk around while you are there. If you happen to visit the museum on a Saturday, you can go check out the local market just couple of blocks away. You will find everything there, from trinkets to leather bags, from fridge magnets to raw meat, at bargain prices. When you are tired from all the walking by the several stalls, you can satiate your hunger and thirst at one of the many food stalls with typical Mexican food, again at steal prices (just remember to carry Mexican Pesos in cash). San Angel is another nearby neighborhood that you may check out for lot of street activities and art galleries.

Is the Frida Kahlo Museum Worth a Visit?

Now, coming to the most important question: if you should spend your valuable time (and money) visiting this museum. Well, if you live in a different part of the world, you probably don’t need to fly in to Mexico City just for this museum, although Mexico City does have a whole lot to offer.

But, if you are in Mexico City, you must visit the Casa Azul if you are a fan of Frida Kahlo. Even if you are not a fan, you can still visit if any/some/all of the following descriptions fit you:

• if you like art
• if you like museums
• if you like pretty quaint places
• if you like following the life of artists
• if you are moved by people who overcome challenges thrown by life and shine bright
• if you want to test for yourself if you actually like Casa Azul/ Frida Kahlo Museum

For me, I like museums. I like art. I like almost all the things listed above. I have also had the fortune of visiting quite a few big and small, known and lesser known museums in different countries. But I have never quite been impacted so deeply by a museum visit (until we visited the Museo de la Revolución in Cuba). I felt the way the objects are displayed, the way the stories are written and the sheer presence of the things used by the legend herself made the story of Frida Kahlo really come alive in the museum.

Going through everything that the museum has on display may not take one more than 45 minutes. But I spent around 2 hours there – I probably immersed myself in trying to feel the life of Frida Kahlo – painful, courageous, bold, beautiful, artistic and inspiring. I came out of the Casa Azul with a smile on my face and a lump in my throat.

Plan Your Mexico City Trip

• Mexico City 4-Day Itinerary
• 33 Things to Do in Mexico City + City Guide [2024]
• Visiting Teotihuacan on a Day Trip from Mexico City [2024 Guide]

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