VIVA LA MEXICO

You will be met at the airport and transferred to your elegant boutique hotel where you are for four nights. Meet your fellow travellers and city guide at this evening’s cocktail reception.

Today’s walking tour starts with the Diego Rivera murals at the National Palace that depict Mexico’s history from ancient times to conquest, revolution and the present time.
Postclassic Mesoamerican Templo Mayor was once the centre of the Aztec world, Tenochtitlan. The Bellas Artes’ Art Deco interior houses splendid murals by Rivera, Siqueiros and Orozco.
Also visit the renowned National Museum of Anthropology.
Dine on Mexican cuisine given a modern twist in a resplendent colonial building.

Explore the brilliance of one of the most important Mesoamerican sites in the Americas, the holy city of Teotihuacán.
After lunch take a tour of the last project designed by Pritzker Prize winner Luis Barragán, as well as visiting his private house and studio that synthesises a remarkable play on colour, light, shadow, form, volume and texture with his very particular belief systems. This evening is free.

Depart to the elegant tree-lined streets of Coyoacán, home to Casa Azul, the house where Frida Kahlo lived and died that is now a museum. A typical lunch will be enjoyed at the colourful Mercado.
 This afternoon enjoy the most extensive collection of Diego Rivera paintings in the museum created by socialite and patron, Dolores Olmedo from her 17th C hacienda. There is also an enchanting collection of pre Hispanic and folk art, and when they are “at home’, 25 Frida Kahlo works.

Dinner this evening at one of the city’s chicest restaurants.

Reach this famed town known for its arts festivals, colourful, colonial Baroque architecture, thriving arts scene, galleries as well as a sophisticated ex-pat community. Enjoy an afternoon’s walking tour of this UNESCO World Heritage site.
You are here three nights in a delightful boutique hotel.

Mayer Shacter, a ceramic artist and his wife, writer Susan Page, have established one of the finest galleries for Mexican folkloric art and crafts stocked with wares they hand pick from all over Mexico. Nearby is the church of Atotonilco, the site of the first gathering of insurgents, led by Father Hidalgo, in their historic march that set in motion Mexico’s revolution of 1810.
Enjoy a vineyard tour and tutored wine tasting served with a ploughman’s lunch.

A day’s excursion to this gorgeous, brightly painted UNESCO town that was founded in 1559 on the region's rich silver and gold deposits. Handsome buildings, cobblestone streets, a grand theatre, exuberant market, and important cathedral dot the narrow streets. This is also the birthplace of Diego Rivera and his family home has been converted to a museum that displays fascinating temporary exhibitions.

This morning fly to Oaxaca, the city and state with the biggest gastronomic and artistic reputation. Your hotel the next four nights is the beautifully restored 16th Century Santa Catalina nunnery in the heart of the city. This afternoon enjoy a guided orientation walking tour of the town, including the modest but brilliant textile museum that segues into a wonderful regional dinner at one of the most regarded restaurants.

Drive to Ocotlán de Morelos market to meet charismatic Beatriz Gómez, a brilliant chef of regional Oaxaca dishes to shop for ingredients before repairing to her home for a cooking class that culminates in lunch. Her moles are without parallel.
Later visit an authentic farm/distillery to understand the age-old artisanal process of making Mezcal, a hand crafted agave based spirit that at its finest is as good as Armagnac.

For dinner, Oaxaca meets modernity.

Today’s off the beaten path, countryside excursions into indigenous villages will be led by Ana Paula Fuentes, the founding director of the Textile Museum of Oaxaca who has worked for several artisan collectives and organizations, and is a passionate storyteller, keenly connected to the artisans she works with. The focus will be on visiting Zapotec households to understand their myriad weaving traditions.

Today’s half-day excursion will focus on the region’s ceramic traditions. The region is most famous for the barro verde style of pottery dates back 3,500 years.
The afternoon and evening are free to explore this gorgeous town’s galleries, boutiques, markets and excellent dining options.

Guests seeking a shorter program may wish to consider leaving this morning.
Continue to the very scenic state of Chiapas, the heartland of Maya culture. This morning fly to Tuxlta Gutierrez via Mexico City. On arrival enjoy a private boat cruise through the spectacular Sumidero canyon. Continue to the gorgeous highlands and well-preserved town of San Cristóbal de las Casas that boasts a wonderful textile museum, cultural institutes, fabulous markets, and your elegant, modern boutique hotel.

Today’s highlight is visiting the nearby autonomous, indigenous Mayan community of San Juan Chamula, where they wear exquisitely decorated traditional dress and practice a unique syncretic religion where behind the façade of Catholicism lie Shamanistic rituals. In neighbouring Zincantan, the women are renowned for their weaving and embroidery.

After a leisurely morning visit Toniná that despite its modest size is a significant Mayan ruin set amidst the rugged jungle of the Ocosingo Valley. Toniná became powerful during the Late Classic period between 600AD and 800AD. The glyphic texts that were carved upon each of its many monuments record the history through the accessions, births and deaths of its rulers and nobility.
Late afternoon reach Palenque to overnight near this magnificent ruin.

Arguably one of the finest remaining Mayan ruins, Palenque was at its height between AD 500 and 700, when its influence extended throughout the basin of the Usumacinta River. The elegance and craftsmanship of the buildings, as well as the lightness of the sculpted reliefs with their Mayan mythological themes, attest to the creative genius of this civilisation.
Late afternoon arrive in the delightful seaside town of Campeche to stay one night in its most stylish boutique hotel tucked just inside the old city walls.

After a leisurely morning, drive to the suave capital of Yucatan, enroute exploring the ancient Maya city of Uxmal, with its rounded architecture and intricate latticework. The ruins of the ceremonial structures at Uxmal represent the pinnacle of late Maya art and architecture in their design, layout and ornamentation.
Check into your chic hotel located on the Champs-Élysées of Merida.

Travel into town to explore the Zócalo, the cathedral, the Monument of the Homeland and El Paseo de Montejo, with its grand, colonial buildings and palatial homes. Merida’s significant history (a long co-existence of Mayan and Spanish culture) will be pulled together in your final stop at the interactive Museum of the Maya World.
Grand finale banquet dinner in one of the city’s finest restaurants.

You will be transferred to Merida International Airport for your departure flights.
Stay on a few extra days at Chablé – a world-class spa resort with treatments, wellness programs, yoga etc
- Cuba
- Baja Peninsula Food + Wine Festival – Gastrovino
- New Mexico USA