Spend a week discovering Mexico's rich heritage as you explore the museums of Mexico City, learn about Nahua history and traditions, experience Oaxaca's lively markets and culinary traditions, and welcome the New Year surrounded by Oaxacan culture.
A glimpse of the places, people, and moments along the way. Use the arrows or swipe; tap any image to enlarge.
Seven days from Mexico City to Oaxaca, ending the year somewhere worth remembering.
Land and settle in to our hotel in the upscale neighborhood of Polanco — home to the embassies, the Museo de Antropología, and Chapultepec park. Meet the other families over an easy first dinner; nothing to do tonight but rest.
A real Mexican breakfast of chilaquiles, then the Museo de Antropología — one of the world's great museums, and a surprise hit with children. The Zócalo and Templo Mayor in the late morning, with tacos and pozole for lunch on the square. Time to rest at the hotel, then an afternoon in leafy Coyoacán: the Frida Kahlo Museum, the Casa Azul where she lived with Diego Rivera, followed by dinner and traditional Mexican ice cream, and a stroll through the artisanal markets.
Lunch at the vast Mercado de la Merced, then time to rest at the hotel. In the afternoon, Xochimilco — the history of the floating chinampa gardens, told from a brightly painted trajinera as we drift the canals.
A morning flight to Oaxaca City and into our hotel near the historic center. Then into the city's flavor: the Mercado 20 de Noviembre, a chocolate-making demonstration, and hands in the work — grinding and whisking traditional Oaxacan hot chocolate and shaping pan de yema. The bold among us try chapulines (toasted grasshoppers seasoned with chili and lime). After lunch, time to rest at the hotel, then dinner in the center and esquites in the evening.
Breakfast in the market, then up to Monte Albán for an introduction to Zapotec culture among the ancient terraces. Tlayudas for lunch, then time to rest at the hotel. An afternoon mole-making class — the long, patient, many-ingredient kind that children love to stir — and afterward time to stroll and explore the streets of Oaxaca.
Another market breakfast, then a barro negro class shaping the region's famous black clay, followed by lunch at the market and time to rest at the hotel. In the afternoon, an alebrije-painting class and an Oaxacan textile class on the loom, then dinner with a mariachi band — and out into the Oaxaca City center to bring in the New Year among the crowds, music, and light.
A goodbye breakfast to begin the new year gently, then flights home.
Things to do, not just see — beside the people who do them every day.
Grind, whisk, and taste traditional hot chocolate, then shape pan de yema to go with it.
An afternoon building mole from many ingredients — slow, fragrant, and forgiving of small hands.
Pinch pots from famous barro negro and paint a small wooden creature to bring home.
A textile class where children try the weaving of the Oaxacan valleys.
New Year's night in the Oaxaca City center — music, crowds, and a memory that lasts.
A short form to hold your place and open a conversation. It isn't a final payment.