Oaxaca and the Zapotec Experience

Welcome! Please be prepared to meet in the lobby at 5:30pm to depart for your welcome dinner. The dinner reservation time will be finalized closer to your trip date. If you plan on arriving today, we recommend flying into OAX

This morning, fill up on breakfast then head out to Monte Alban! Explore this ancient archeological site and learn about the ancient civilization that once stood here. Then head back into town for lunch, after which you’ll transfer to a lookout point to get fantastic views of the city. Return back to the city center and start your walking tour. You’ll visit local landmarks and finish the tour at your hotel. Then you’ll have the rest of the evening at your leisure. Today you’ll want to wear comfortable walking shoes and bring sunscreen, sunglasses, a hat, a water bottle, and don’t forget your camera!

• Monte Alban tour

  Depart your hotel on a 25 minute private transfer to Monte Alban. Then led by a local guide, you will explore the archaeological site of Monte Alban, which is among the largest in Mexico. It is the capital of Zapotec culture and perhaps the most important archaeological site in Oaxaca. Head to Monte Albán’s flat mountain top for views of the city, then explore the vast site’s temples, tombs, underground tunnels, and ball court. After a guided visit, spend some free time walking around, taking pictures (as this is probably one of the most picture-perfect views in Mexico!). Depending on how much you explore the archeological grounds, expect to walk 2-3 miles on hard dirt paths and be ready to encounter large stone steps. After your tour you’ll take a 20 minute transfer to lunch.

  09:30· 180 min· Oaxaca
• Oaxaca City Tour

  After lunch, you’ll transfer 15 minutes to Mirador de la Ciudad where you’ll get expansive views of the city. Then you’ll transfer roughly 15 minutes back to the city center and set out on foot to explore Oaxaca City. Led by your guide, you’ll visit important landmarks such as the Temple of Santo Domingo, the Fountain of the Seven Regions, and the Mercado Benito Juárez. You’ll finish your tour at your hotel. Expect to walk around 1-2 miles on paved roads.

  16:00· 120 min· Oaxaca center

I hope you're hungry! After breakfast, you’ll take a short transfer to meet a local chef who will be your culinary guide today. Spend time scouring the local market for ingredients, then make your way back to the kitchen to learn how to prepare them. Finally, you’ll enjoy your authentic creations for a delicious lunch! Then return to your hotel with the rest of the afternoon free.

• Cooking Class

  One of Oaxaca’s MUSTS is local gastronomy. Only a 10 minute transfer away, today you will completely indulge in local flavors with a cooking class led by a local chef. Spend about an hour visiting a local market, in which you will see different types of regional ingredients. After finding fresh ingredients for local traditional dishes, get in the kitchen and start preparing some Oaxacan dishes. Over the course of roughly 2 hours, you will learn how to make tortillas, 3 different salsas, an appetizer, a soup, and a mole (subject to change based on seasonal menus). Wrap up your meal with a dessert and an agua fresca (fruit water). Enjoy a meal with your group and take some of the best kept secrets in Oaxaca cuisine back home. After your meal you will transfer back to your hotel.

  10:00· 240 min· Oaxaca center

Today after breakfast, you’re heading out of the city. On your way to Mitla, you’ll stop at the Tule Tree, the world’s largest tree! Then you’ll continue on to Mitla, the second most important archeological site in Oaxaca. Compared to Monte Alban, Mitla became and functioned as a religious center for the Zapotec and eventually Mixtec people. After exploring these ruins, cool off with a local ice cream snack then you’ll head to a local town to observe and take part in some of the traditional crafts like beeswax candle making and a textile demonstration. After which, you’ll transfer to the home of local Zapotec people where you’ll enjoy a traditional lunch. After lunch you’ll transfer back to Oaxaca with the evening free.

• Tule Tree

  30 minutes after departing Oaxaca City, you’ll stop to see the world’s widest tree, the Tule Tree. At over 36 feet (11 meters) in diameter, the tree is located on church grounds in the town of Santa Maria del Tule. The tree is thousands of years old, but the exact age is debated with an estimated range between 1,200 and 3,000 years old. You’ll stop to learn more about this magnificent tree and take some photos before continuing on to Mitla.

  09:00· 30 min· Oaxaca
• Mitla Archeological Site

  After another 45 minutes you’ll arrive at Mitla archeological site. Led by your guide admire and soak in the history at these ancient ruins. Mitla was once the religious center for the Zapotec people and later the Mixtec and considered the second most important archeological site in Oaxaca. Unlike Monte Alban, the construction of Mitla is lower to the ground, and characterized as being constructed for the comfort of the residents rather than for grandeur. Walk among these ruins as your guide explains to you the significance and history of this important site. Expect to walk 1 hour (2-3 miles) on stone, dirt, and gravel paths.

  09:30· 60 min· Oaxaca
• Beeswax Candle Making

  A 30 minute transfer away from Mitla will take you to a small town. Here you’ll partake in a beeswax candle-making workshop, led by a local family, and learn age-old processes passed down for generations. You’ll observe the intricate designs that are created, and you can take home your candle as a souvenir.

  12:00· 60 min· Oaxaca
• Zapotec Textile Demonstration

  In the same location, you’ll watch as local families meticulously craft folk clothing and rugs, some of which take months to complete. This Zapotec weaving demonstration uses only traditional techniques, tools, patterns and organic dyes.

  12:00· 60 min· Oaxaca
• Zapotec Lunch

  Transfer less than 10 minutes to the home of a local family that has been preserving traditional homemade foods and recipes for many generations. You’ll be welcomed with open arms into their home as you enjoy a delicious traditional and authentic Zapotec lunch of tortillas, mole, rice, beans, and more. Enjoy your lunch and then take a 45 minute transfer back to the hotel.

  · 60 min· Mitla

Your final day in Oaxaca will be free for your own exploration. After breakfast, take some time to relax or create your own adventure! Cultural activities are plentiful in Oaxaca with scores of free museums, galleries, and workshops which showcase world-class, locally produced arts and crafts, such as intricately designed black pottery, hand-woven Zapotec rugs and surreal mythical animal sculptures. You can spend all day wandering the different markets.

All good things must come to an end, but only until your next adventure! Enjoy a final breakfast and then make your own way onward. If departing directly from the hotel, we recommend flying out of OAX