Oaxaca City:
ANCIENT TRADITIONS ALIVE
HIGHLIGHTS
-
- Cooking session with James Beard Award winner Chef Iliana de la Vega
- Historical walking tour
- Mezcal tasting and class of rare, small batch mezcales
- Exploring Monte Albán archeological site
- Visiting the homes & studios of textile, pottery, and alebrije artisans
- Homecooked meals prepared by traditional cooks
- Diverse dining, from upscale restaurants to street stands
- Experience an open-air, traditional pre-Hispanic market
Trip itinerary
¡Bienvenidos a Oaxaca! Greet our driver at the airport and settle in at our beautiful, art-filled boutique hotel. As the sun sets, we’ll meet in the courtyard for introductions and our first sips of mezcal before walking to dinner. Our destination tonight is one of our favorite restaurants in the city, from an acclaimed Oaxacan chef, where we’ll try a family style tasting menu using local and traditional ingredients in innovative ways. Here, we’ll toast to our first of many unforgettable meals together.
Stay: Pug Seal Boutique Hotel
Meals: Dinner
Drinks: Welcome mezcal & cocktail with dinner
Today begins with a panoramic breakfast at the terrace of a Bib Gourmand restaurant that’s opening exclusively for us, where we’ll enjoy a spread of local fruits, breads, hot chocolate, and more. We’ll then spend the morning with an expert guide, getting acquainted with the city during a historical walking tour around the colorful cobblestone streets of Oaxaca’s centro, visiting important landmarks such as Santo Domingo church and convent. Lunch will be at one of Oaxaca’s most important food markets, Mercado 20 de noviembre, for local grilled meats from the pasillo de humo, or smoke hall. For dessert, we’ll walk over to a chocolate shop to see how Oaxacan chocolate is made and get a taste of this delicious treat. We’ll return to the hotel to rest, or take the afternoon to explore the city at your own pace. We’ll regroup in the evening at our hotel’s courtyard for a mezcal tasting and class with two experts and pioneers of artisanal mezcal, where you will get to try rare, small batch examples of the agave spirit. This will open our appetite for a feast of five different kinds of Oaxacan tamales, including a sweet tamal, brought in from our favorite street cart that we’ve been frequenting for decades.
Stay: Pug Seal Boutique Hotel
Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner
Drinks: Mezcal tasting & beers at lunch
The next two days will focus on ways of living in some smaller towns outside of the city. We’ll start with breakfast at a roadside comedor, or eatery, where everything is cooked using woodfire for comfort foods like memelas and empanadas de flor hot out of the comal. Our first art stop is the home and workshop of an alebrije (wooden sculptures) artist family in San Martín Tilcajete. Then it’s off to Santo Tomás Jalieza to meet a family of women weavers who have been weaving with backstrap looms for generations. Lastly, San Bartolo Coyotepec to understand the process of making the unique black pottery that characterizes the region. We’ll return to the city for lunch at a Michelin starred restaurant headed by a woman chef who cooks dishes from the Sierra Sur region of Oaxaca as well as more modern creations. The afternoon is yours to rest, shop, or explore. We’ll end our day with the quintessential Oaxacan street food: tlayudas, straight from a nameless street cart in a residential neighborhood.
Stay: Pug Seal Boutique Hotel
Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner
Drinks: None
We’ll hit the road early for breakfast at a longstanding family restaurant in the town of Santa María del Tule, home to the widest tree on earth. Try some enfrijoladas, entomatadas, chilaquiles, or salsa de huevo alongside a bowl of hot chocolate before we stand in awe of the natural wonder that is this two-thousand-year-old tree. Then we’re off to the town of Tlacolula, famous for its Sunday market, where all kinds of vendors come to sell everything from livestock and fresh produce to bootlegged DVDs. Our last stop of the day is Teotitlán del Valle, a town renowned for its woven rugs and amazing cooks, where a local weaver will teach us about natural dyes and what it takes to make their rugs. Lunch will be at the home of a traditional cook who will prepare a spectacular Zapotec lunch which will include a perfectly balanced and complex mole negro. The evening is yours to explore the city’s rich culinary landscape, or perhaps take a little break from eating and enjoy a mezcalita instead.
Stay: Pug Seal Boutique Hotel
Meals: Breakfast & lunch
Drinks: Beers & mezcal with lunch
One of our trip’s most anticipated days, today will be all about Oaxacan ingredients, getting to know local produce, herbs, spices, chiles, and how to work with them in your own kitchen. We’ll begin with a breakfast of all things corn, one of the pillars of Mexican food and culture. Then we’ll get our ingredients from the market, which will be an opportunity to do some shopping. Our cooking session will take place at the gorgeous home of renowned photographer Marcela Taboada and led by our James Beard Award winning chef and trip leader Iliana de la Vega. While our lunch is cooking, Rosa María, who comes from a long line of cheesemakers, will show us how two Oaxacan cheeses, queso fresco and quesillo, are made. After our incredible lunch, enjoy some time to rest before we meet again to close our day with lots of appetizers, featuring a suckling pig taco, at the terrace of an upscale restaurant with striking views of the city and Santo Domingo church.
Stay: Pug Seal Boutique Hotel
Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner
Drinks: Beers & mezcal with lunch
We’ll kick off our final day with breakfast at the serene courtyard of a hidden colonial hotel before visiting Monte Albán, the largest Zapotec archeological site in Oaxaca and home to one of the oldest and most important cities of Mesoamerica, dating back to 500 BC. A historian will guide us through the site, tracing its history and detailing the importance of Zapotec culture to the region. Our lunch will be at the private home and garden of a traditional cook from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, one of the eight regions of Oaxaca. The afternoon is yours to rest, pack, or explore. Our final dinner will be at a gorgeous space headed by two world-renowned chefs who are combining their talents to create new flavors using traditional Oaxacan ingredients in a tasting menu that changes every two days.
Stay: Pug Seal Boutique Hotel
Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner
Drinks: Beers or mezcal with lunch
After a week of exploring and eating your way through Oaxaca, it’s time to head back home with new memories and perhaps a couple of mezcal bottles. There are no scheduled activities today, so you may depart early in the morning or enjoy breakfast at the hotel before our driver takes you to the airport.
Meals: Breakfast
* Please keep in mind that this is a sample itinerary and it is subject to change. We expect to do everything listed, but the order may change depending on local conditions and availability.
Upcoming departures
SEPTEMBER
24 - 30, 2025
(OPEN)
DECEMBER
01 - 7, 2025
(OPEN)
$5,400
per person
No single supplement fee (ask about our inclusivity policy)
Sitting in a valley, mountains frame the Oaxaca City horizon alongside colorful colonial buildings, baroque churches, bustling markets, traditional arts and textiles, and an exquisitely complex cuisine with roots as ancient as its archeological sites. Home to 16 different indigenous groups, Oaxaca is the most ethnically diverse state of Mexico, asking for slow and attentive travel to understand its many layers, deep as the flavors of a mole negro. During our one-week immersion trip, we’ll venture into the heart of Oaxacan gastronomy and culture from an insider’s perspective, eating at upscale restaurants, street stands, markets, and even private homes for a deep taste of Oaxaca and its ancient culinary traditions. All guided and accompanied throughout by our celebrated Chef Ambassador of Mexico Iliana de la Vega and cultural journalist and anthropologist Isabel Torrealba (our founding mother-daughter duo).
Included
- All meals described in the itinerary
- Accommodation for 6 nights at Pug Seal Boutique Hotel, a one Michelin key, 5-star hotel
- Private transportation throughout
- Airport to hotel pick-up and drop-off transfers (with a window of two days before and after the trip dates)
- Mezcal class & tasting
- Private, hands on cooking session with James Beard Award winning chef Iliana de la Vega
- Private tours with cultural and historical experts
- Exclusive access to private homes for meals, tastings, and demonstrations
- Admission to all proposed activities & museums
- All non-alcoholic beverages during group meals and some alcoholic beverages as described in the itinerary
- Gratuities for all meals described in the itinerary
- A handmade welcome gift
- The guidance and hosting of your two local experts throughout the trip: celebrated Chef Iliana de la Vega and cultural journalist and anthropologist Isabel Torrealba
Excluded
- Food & beverages not described in the itinerary
- Airfare or transportation to and from Oaxaca City
- Travel insurance (recommended)
- Hotel incidentals, including room service
- Laundry service, spa services, or hotel bar tabs
- Tips for excluded alcoholic drinks
- Gratuities for drivers, guides, and trip leaders
Group size
Limited to 14 guests as we believe a smaller group allows for a more personalized experience
Testimonials
Chef Gabriel Ibarra, San Antonio TX
I was privileged enough to go to Oaxaca with Iliana in January. One of the best trips and culinary experiences ever.
Barbara Grajski, Texas, USA
I had the pleasure of traveling to Oaxaca with Iliana and Mexican Culinary Traditions this year. It was one of the most enjoyable trips I’ve ever taken. Chef Iliana lived in Oaxaca and has an insider’s knowledge of Oaxaca, its cuisine, and its culture. She exposed us to a wide range of culinary experiences, from high-end modern Oaxacan cuisine, to market vendors, to cooking together in a private home, and many others. She knows the best artisans in Oaxaca and took us to craft demonstrations and shopping that we might not have found on our own. We also visited ruins and learned about the history of the Oaxacan people. The group size was small, and the accommodations were comfortable. Chef Iliana and the people who helped her were a pleasure to travel with, and we felt like family by the end of the trip. I highly recommend Mexican Culinary Traditions to anyone looking for an in-depth experience of Oaxaca.
Susan and Robert Mueller – Austin, TX
We cannot say enough great things about our Mexican Culinary Traditions and culture tour in Oaxaca this year! Under the direction of celebrated Chef Iliana de la Vega, our experience was highly educational, a whole lot of fun and provided us with a great memory. We are now avid lovers of the cuisine and people of this region of Mexico, and we learned to cook some of the region’s favorite dishes as well. Our tour group was from all over the world and we made friendships we’ll value for a long time to come. Iliana’s staff was simply amazing and we cannot thank them enough for everything they did to make the tour a big success. The warm and charming hospitality of the Oaxaca people is etched on our minds and we look forward to going back to Oaxaca many times in the future. This tour was a truly an amazing experience that I would recommend to anyone interested in the Mexican cuisine and culture. Thank you Iliana de la Vega!