Tailor Made Mexico: Essence of Mesoamerica

Day 1: Mexico City, Mexico

Arrive in bustling Mexico City where you are met and privately transferred to your luxurious accommodation.

Day 2: Mexico City

Rise early this morning for a private hot air balloon ride over the Valley of Teotihuacán, watching as sunrise paints the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon passing beneath you. Once your flight over this vast pre-Hispanic religious and ceremonial center is complete, toast your experience with sparkling wine before heading to a nearby restaurant for breakfast. Afterward, continue to explore Teotihuacán by land with your expert, bilingual guide while learning about the rituals, cosmology, beliefs and everyday lives of the pre-Aztec inhabitants of Teotihuacán. Return to your hotel for lunch and time at leisure. Later this afternoon, join your guide for a private excursion to the city’s historic center. Enjoy your evening at leisure.

Meals Provided : Breakfast

Day 3: Mexico City

Explore the chinampas of Xochimilco, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, on a trajinera (colorfully decorated flat-bottomed boat), gliding through the Xochimilco canals to arrive at La Chinampa Del Sol. Also known as floating gardens, chinampas are small plots of land built on the canals, a Mesoamerican technique used to grow crops that dates back some 1,000 years. Learn the importance of this agricultural heritage system as you explore with Lucio Usobiaga, founder of the local chinampa project. Enjoy a delicious lunch prepared by a local producer of native blue and white corn. Savor fresh quesadillas with huitlacoche (corn mushroom), pumpkin flowers, and spinach, as well as pork shawl gorditas, tlacoyos and chinampa salad. Enjoy the option to stop at a second chinampa where a local family runs an axolotl farm. The refuge supports the reproduction of these enigmatic and rare amphibians, on the verge of extinction, which have the unique ability to regenerate parts of the body. Back on land, head to Frida Kahlo’s Blue House — where Mexican painter Frida Kahlo was born and later died — which is now a museum dedicated to her life. Learn how she became an iconic cultural figure in Mexico and beyond, before returning to your hotel. Enjoy the remainder of your day at leisure.

Meals Provided : Breakfast, Lunch

Day 4: Puebla

This morning, journey overland to the city of Cholula through the Paso de Cortes, a mountain pass almost 12,000 feet above sea level named for the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés, who crossed it in 1519. En route stop to enjoy a regional lunch of fresh blue-corn quesadillas stuffed with chicken tinga or squash blossoms, and a warm cup of atole or coffee. Continue to Cholula, to explore the Great Pyramid of Cholula, the largest pyramid in the world today. Return to your hotel with some time at leisure. This evening, enjoy a private culinary demonstration and meal at a private kitchen in the heart of the city. In a historic casona (traditional old house), join a private chef who guides you through the stories and ingredients behind a dish emblematic of the region, mole poblano. Relax as you first enjoy a demonstration of how this classic regional meal is prepared, before savoring the rich flavors accompanied by a specially selected wine pairing. After an evening of delicious flavors and good company, return to your hotel.

Meals Provided : Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 5: Puebla

Visit a leading manufacturer of authentic Talavera poblana to learn the secrets that go into producing this beloved style of traditional Mexican pottery and earthenware. When Puebla was founded in 1531, the Spanish commissioned artisans from Talavera de la Reina to produce tiles for their churches, thus bringing the tradition to the New World. Enjoy a private factory and showroom tour, and then join in a ceramic hand-painting workshop experience. Afterward, visit the historic center of Puebla, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. View the renowned Capilla del Rosario, boasting Mexican Baroque architecture and 23-carat gold leaf adornment throughout the church; beautiful City Hall; Zócalo (the main square) and the impressive Biblioteca Palafoxiana, founded in 1646 and the oldest library in the Americas. Return to your hotel with time for lunch at your leisure. Then, head out for Museo Amparo to view one of the finest collections of Mexican art in Latin America. Opened in 1991, the museum houses everything from pre-Hispanic art to modern-day pieces.

Meals Provided : Breakfast

Day 6: Oaxaca

Journey overland to Oaxaca City for a night tour in the city. Discover off-the-beaten-path places, where locals gather to enjoy outstanding mezcales and one of the most famous delicacies in Oaxaca, a grilled tlayuda, sometimes called a Mexican pizza. Begin at a great local “hole in the wall” mezcaleria for the opportunity to taste a variety of excellent mezcales, savoring the authentic flavor of endemic agaves. Then, proceed to a local favorite restaurant to indulge in a grilled Oaxacan tlayuda, complete with a choice of toppings and a cold drink.

Meals Provided : Breakfast, Dinner

Day 7: Oaxaca

Today, venture a short distance outside Oaxaca to Monte Alban, a mountaintop city that was highly important to the Zapotecs and later the Mixtecs. During the experience, also visit the archaeological zone of Yagul, which emerged as a governing center in Oaxaca after the decline of Monte Alban around AD 800. Next, travel the Camino Real, with lunch options provided en route, to Tlacochahuaya, an important stopping point for Spanish missionaries. View the 16th-century church of San Jeronimo, built by the native population in just 10 years. Look closely at the walls of the church and you will see stones from the Mesoamerican temple that stood in its place when the Spanish arrived. Marvel at its wall and ceiling murals painted in the 1620s by Juan de Arrué, many of which have survived unaltered to this day. Enjoy your evening at leisure.

Meals Provided : Breakfast, Lunch

Day 8: Oaxaca

Today, explore San Martin Tilcajete — a town that helped inspire the Pixar film Coco — to meet the famous wood-carving Alebrije community. Join a local artist and learn how they make their “lively,” eye-catching crafts. Then, take the hands-on opportunity to choose from a variety of different animal figurines and paint your own wooden figure, for an authentic experience of age-old traditions and artistry. Afterward, visit an exquisite roadside eatery for lunch, savoring fresh, handmade blue and white tortillas that are combined with native ingredients such as squash blossom, corn truffle, wild mushrooms, avocado and fresh herbs, for a memorable encounter with local cuisine.

Meals Provided : Breakfast, Lunch

Day 9: Oaxaca

After breakfast, privately transfer to Oaxaca International Airport to board your departing flight.

Meals Provided : Breakfast