Cultural Odyssey Through Mexico's Heart

Welcome to Mexico City. We transfer you to your hotel, and you have free time to settle in and start exploring at your own pace. Our guide will get in touch in the late afternoon.
Please note: This tour may have travellers joining or departing at various points along the route, meaning group composition can change during the tour. Please also be aware that depending on group composition, guiding may be in additional languages as well as English.

Today we uncover Mexico City. This morning we travel to Xochimilco, famed for its canals and semi–floating gardens, and drift along on a trajinera – colourful, flower–decked boats. We then set off on a panoramic tour, taking in the Plaza of the Three Cultures, the Zócalo and Metropolitan Cathedral, the Aztec Templo Mayor, Chapultepec Park, Paseo de la Reforma and the principal avenues. You have free time for lunch around the Zócalo. Later we visit the Basilica of Guadalupe – the most visited Catholic shrine in the Americas – including the 18th–century old basilica and the modern temple. As evening falls we make for Plaza Garibaldi, buzzing with cantinas, restaurants and bars where mariachi music pairs perfectly with tacos and tequila. Dinner is included at a traditional Mexican restaurant.

We depart Mexico City for the state of Puebla, pausing at the Ex Hacienda de Chautla (entrance included), an 18th–century estate with an English–style castle set in the middle of an artificial lake surrounded by forest. We continue to Cholula to admire its handsome main square and the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Remedies, which rewards us with superb panoramic views. Our journey ends in Puebla, a Baroque city where the Cathedral and the Chapel of the Rosary are highlights. We stay overnight in Puebla.

We travel into the state of Oaxaca through beautiful mountain scenery and arrive in Oaxaca. We then ascend to Monte Albán – tickets and guided tour included – magnificently perched some 400 metres above the Oaxaca Valley and the most splendid of the Zapotec cities. After the visit we return to Oaxaca for a panoramic tour of its historic centre, recognised as a World Heritage Site. You then have free time to continue exploring at your own pace.

We set off early, making a brief stop in San Pablo Villa de Mitla, a charming Pueblo Mágico, where you can stroll by the 16th–century Church of San Pablo and along its picturesque rustic streets. We continue through the Oaxacan mountains towards the Isthmus, with lunch included en route. By late afternoon we arrive in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, capital of Chiapas.

We explore the Cañón del Sumidero, cruising by boat through this dramatic gorge, almost 1 km deep and 14 km long. We then take a stroll in Chiapa de Corzo, a colonial town rich in tradition and culture, before delving further into Mayan heritage in Tzotzil communities. In Zinacantán we admire the women’s dress and the weaving workshops and shops; in San Juan Chamula we are struck by a church where Christian rites blend with pre–Columbian traditions. We continue to San Cristóbal de las Casas, and you have the afternoon free in this beautiful colonial city founded in 1528.

We transfer from San Cristóbal to Tuxtla Gutiérrez airport and take our included flight to Mexico City. On arrival we transfer to the hotel and settle in.

Breakfast. Our services end. Transfer from the hotel to the airport is not included.