AUTHENTIC CENTRAL MEXICO

Welcome to Mexico City! Upon arrival at Mexico City International Airport (MEX) you can make your way to our first hotel of the trip. Depending on when you get here, you should have plenty of time to relax and refresh before we gather in the lobby for a welcome meeting with the group and our Local Insider. You’ll then be whisked over to the iconic Cafe de Tacuba for dinner. This place is over a hundred years old, and its hearty cuisine and cosy atmosphere is the perfect introduction to Mexican dining. We recommend capping off the meal with an indulgent cup of Mexican hot chocolate.

Mexico City is one of the most vibrant, exciting cities on the planet, as well as one of the largest. Fill up on breakfast at the hotel ahead of a walking tour of the city’s most significant sites, including the epic Zócalo square and Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral. You’ll get fascinating cultural and historical insights along the way before heading to Chapultepec Park, home to well-pruned gardens, impressive monuments and a 150 year-old castle. Grab yourself lunch as we explore Mercado San Juan, teeming with fresh produce, classic Mexican street food and a few alternative delicacies… Our tour of CDMX ends with a trip to the top of Torre Latinoamericana, an icon of the city’s skyline, standing at around 166 m (545ft) tall. Suddenly the huge city sights you saw this morning will look tiny amid this sprawling metropolis, home to around 25m people, and surrounded by epic volcanoes.

Our deep dive into Mexico City continues this morning as we head to the charming cobblestone streets of Coyoacan. This historic neighbourhood is most famous for our first stop, the Bauhaus former-home of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. You’ll get to see incredible paintings, photographs and personal objects that illuminate the lives of Mexico’s most famous artists, before a further guided wander through the area’s atmospheric streets. Next up is a visit to the Unesco-listed Xochimilco, an ancient Aztec lake originally created to supply water. Today it’s a popular spot for locals and tourists to explore the floating gardens via colourful trajineras boats, which is exactly what we’ll do. After some free time this afternoon, we’ll reconvene for dinner at Azulisimo restaurant. It’s one of the finest in the entire city thanks to the mastery of Chef Ricardo Muñoz Zurita, who has crafted a menu imbued with Mexican tradition and local ingredients.

This morning we leave Mexico City behind for the gorgeous colonial city of Queretaro. Before that, however, we have quite the historical detour to embark on. We’ll start with a visit to the remarkable pyramid complex of Teotihuacán. This Unesco World Heritage site is an ancient Mesoamerican city, around 2,000 years-old, having once been home to around 250,000 people, making it the largest metropolis in the Americas at the time. Its scale, and age, is quite something to behold, especially when walking along the Avenue of the Dead. Our next stop is Tula, the ancient Toltec capital, which dates back to 856 AD. You’ll get to explore the Temple of Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli and the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl, which is topped by a series of striking Toltec warrior-shaped columns. We should finally arrive in Queretaro late in the afternoon. You’ve covered a lot of ground today, and digested a lot of history, so spend the evening as you wish – we do recommend a good stroll around the Unesco-listed city centre, though.

We’ll start today with a guided walking tour of Querétaro, a city characterised by its utterly gorgeous Spanish colonial architecture, but also by its crucial place in Mexican history, having been a starting point for the independence movement and the place where Mexico’s current constitution was passed. Then we’ll take a short transfer to the nearby city of San Miguel de Allende, another colonial gem with a Unesco-listed Baroque old town. Here you’ll start with a culinary masterclass at Sazón cooking school, gobbling down your delicious creations for lunch. After that we’ll visit Fabrica Aurora Art to learn about the thriving local art scene, followed by a stroll around Mercado de Artesanías, where you can buy some hand-embroidered shawls or a piece of decorative pottery. Finally, we’ll have a late afternoon walking tour of the city, before an evening spent at your own leisure in San Miguel de Allende.

The next destination on our city-hopping adventure is Guanajuato, but first a stop at Mexico’s answer to the Sistine Chapel, the Sanctuary of Atotonilco. After that we’ll drive to Dolores Hidalgo, the cradle of Mexican independence. You’ll learn all about the Cry of Dolores in 1810 at the Museo de la Independencia Nacional, before heading to Cuna de Tierra winery. You’ll stroll through picturesque vineyards and learn about the region’s winemaking prowess, before sitting down for a sumptuous tasting session. After that it’s time to finally head to Guanajuato, taking a brief moment to stop at a scenic viewpoint before reaching the city, checking-in to the hotel and heading out for dinner at an authentic local restaurant.

This morning you’ll be treated to a guided tour of Guanajuato, another gorgeous city in Central Mexico, marked by its Spanish colonial architecture and Unesco-listed old town. Bask in the beauty of Plaza Allende, the Basilica and the famous University of Guanajuato, as well as the pretty facades and old town houses of Plaza de la Paz. Having had a thorough exploration of the city, it’s time to head back to where we started, Mexico City. The drive isn’t short, but there is a wonderful farewell dinner awaiting us back in the capital. Don’t worry if you don’t doze off dreaming of delicious Mexican delights, the road home is very scenic. We should arrive late in the afternoon, so there’ll be some more time to enjoy the many wonders of CDMX before and after dinner – perhaps our last night should be marked with a few rounds of mezcal and tequila?

It’s time to say adiós and muchas gracias to Mexico! You’ll get to tuck into one last tasty breakfast before our trip officially ends and you make your way back to the airport, reflecting on a week of history, culture, art, architecture, revolution, great food, great wine and great company – this country really does have it all.