Mexico
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Day One: Bienvenido a Mexico
On arrival at Mexico City International, you’ll be whisked away to your hotel, ready to start your Day of the Dead adventure.
Overnight at Villa Teotihuacan
Meals included: None
Day Two: City Celebrations
Spend the morning getting acquainted with Mexico City, as your private guide shows you its most famous monuments including the largest cathedral in the Americas, the Catedral Metropolitana, and the Palacio Nacional with its murals by the artist Diego Rivera. Then try Mexico’s most celebrated crop – cocoa – on a chocolate tasting with the country’s master chocolatier, the internationally-renowned José Ramón Castillo. Castillo takes inspiration from the Mayans, who discovered cocoa back in 900AD, as well as the Aztecs, who used it for drinks, tax – and even suncream. Your next stop is the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), to witness the impressive results of its Megaofrendas Festival, when faculties are given a theme and asked to create their own Día de los Muertos ofrendas (altars) as part of a university-wide competition. Top off your first full day with dinner at Terrazza, a rooftop restaurant with the city’s best views over the historic centre.
Overnight at NH Puebla Hotel
Meals included: Breakfast; dinner
Day Three: Balloons and blooms
It’s an early start today, as you make for the vast ancient city of Teotihuacán. We’ve decided that the best way to garner the sheer awesomeness of this site (whose name means ‘place where men become gods’) is on an early morning flight in a hot air balloon. You’ll hop aboard at 7am, for unbeatable views of its empty temples and pyramids, washed down with an optional glass of sparkling wine. Upon landing, you’ll enjoy breakfast overlooking the site before exploring by foot. Next, you’ll make for Puebla, a UNESCO World Heritage city filled with parks, fountains and fantastic buildings, as well as restaurants vending local classics, such as mole poblano (an ancient sauce made with chilli and chocolate). After hotel check-in, you’ll be able to taste regional delights during a restaurant lunch (included). Then it’s a short drive to Atlixco, a town where a famed flower industry has a profound influence on the Day of the Dead celebrations: during the festivities, the paths of its central square are carpeted with murals made entirely of flowers. You’ll see them from a special walkway above the blooms, and pass numerous flower-festooned altars around the city. You’ll also get to watch traditional dances from the Puebla region, complete with the quetzal bird and bird men who were once sacred to the Mayans and Aztecs, before returning to Puebla for the night.
Overnight at Zocalo Central
Meals included: Breakfast; lunch
Day Four: Eerie sights and exciting evenings
Start the day exploring the cobbled squares and bright facades of beautiful Puebla with your private guide. Then make the short journey to Cholula, the oldest continually-occupied city in America. Its Great Pyramid (four times larger than the Great Pyramid of Giza and started around 300BC) is now blanketed by foliage and topped with a colonial cathedral, but you’ll have the chance to explore it through more than five miles of criss-crossing tunnels. There’s time for lunch in one of the town’s excellent restaurants (your guide will help with recommendations) before heading back to Mexico City to check in to your hotel as the pre-Day of the Dead atmosphere ramps up. Soak up the ambience, and perhaps take in a performance by the Ballet Folklorico de Mexico, a famous troupe who bring dances from all over the country together in one incredible show. (This show is optional. For related costs, please see the Extras tab).
Overnight at Zocalo Central
Meals included: Breakfast
Day Five: Markets and Moonlit Spectacular
After a free morning to relax or explore, it’s time to make for the neighbourhood of Coyoacan, beloved of artists, poets and musicians. Always worth visiting, this neighbourhood is extra-special during Dias de los Muertos, when skeleton statues and ofrendas decorate the streets. Your guide will help you pick a restaurant for lunch (not included) before accompanying you on a walk around the area, visiting bustling street markets packed with Day of the Dead crafts. Then, as evening falls, it’s time to drive onwards to the mystical canals of the Floating Gardens of Xochimilco (just outside the city), ready to board a boat for a very special theatrical performance. The story of La Llorona references Mexico’s legends and history and has been performed annually on this night for more than 20 years. An electrifying spectacle of music, light and dance on the canal’s eerie moonlit waters, it’s an experience that’s unrivalled for atmosphere.
Overnight at Zocalo Central
Meals included: Breakfast
Day Six: Dias de los Muertos Finale
After a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, your final full day in Mexico starts with a food-focused stroll through upscale Polanco. Let you private guide take you on a three-hour trip off the tourist trail, to sample trad tacos and dishes from Mexico’s gourmet capital, Oaxaca, as well as visit an authentic Mexican cantina. Afterwards, you’ll be driven back to your hotel for a couple of hours before making the short journey to the village of San Andres Mixquic, said to be the best place in Mexico to celebrate Day of the Dead. Here, the authentic, welcoming festivities centre on the graveyard, as families decorate the graves of their ancestors before spending the day easting, drinking, singing and talking beside them. See the town’s ofrenda competition, wander the lively market, watch live music and shows, and visit the graveyard when it’s lit by thousands of candles, blanketed in flowers and fragranced with heady incense. Return to Mexico City late in the evening.
Overnight at Virrey de Mendoza
Meals included: Breakfast; pack dinner
Day Seven: Saying Goodbye
After check-out, you’ll have a private transfer to Mexico City Airport for your return flight home.
Meals included: Breakfast
Overall meals included: 6 Breakfasts; 1 lunch; 1 dinners
What's included:
- Private English-speaking guides unless stated otherwise
- Private transfers unless stated otherwise
- Meals as listed
- Mandatory taxes and service fees
- Entrance tickets and permits unless stated otherwise
- Hot air balloon flight over Teotihuacán pyramids with glass of sparkling wine
- Tickets to La Llorona theatre performance
What's not included:
- International flights to/from experience: call 0208 432 0885 for AX specially negotiated flight rates
- Optional extras listed, including the Ballet Folklorico performance
- Tips for guides, drivers, hotel and restaurant staff
- Any visa, customs, airport taxes or similar charges before or after the tour
- We cannot guarantee the included hotel breakfast for early departures
- Drinks during meals unless stated otherwise
- Personal expenses, such as laundry
GETTING THERE
Typical return Economy flights from London cost around £450 per person and take approximately 12 hours outbound, 10 hours inbound depending on exact flight configurations and layover times.
Experience start point: Mexico City (MEX). Arrive by 8pm on 27th October 2019.
End point: Mexico City (MEX). Depart any time.
Prices for departures to 30th October include a 20% Pioneers Club discount and are subject to Pioneers Club terms & conditions. Click here for more information about the Pioneers Club.
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