Mexico City and Oaxaca — two fascinating and very different takes on Mexico! Sitting high up at 7,000 feet and ringed by mountains the Ciudad de Mexico (CDMX) is a massive and buzzing metropolis of over 20 million people, alive with a vibrant food scene, tons of museums, flourishing art and design communities, and a whole lot of tumultuous history, from its pre-colonial days to the Spanish occupation to more recent times. Once the heart of the Aztec civilization long ago it’s now the undisputed cultural and business capital of Latin America.

Brightly painted facades, cobbled streets, an abundance of arts and crafts, some elegant architecture, a vibrant Indigenous culture, an innovative culinary scene (mole sauces, anyone?), mezcal makers, street art — This is just some of Oaxaca City’s appeal. It’s a lively yet easy-going kind of place to spend a few days.

Still an active archeological zone and once the largest city of pre-Columbian Mexico, Teotihuacán is certainly the most striking site from the ancient world around present-day Mexico City. On display for us are impressive remains of pyramids, temples, and palaces. Founded around 200 BCE it dominated life in the region for five centuries, yet its origins and demise remain a mystery today.

One of the most instantly recognizable artists in the world, Frida Kahlo’s paintings were inspired by folk art, politics, and the chronic pain she suffered. Her self-portraits have become pop icons globally, and her former home, Casa Azul in the Coyoacán district of Mexico City, is a great place for us to learn a little about her life and relationship with Diego Rivera.

The historical center of Mexico City is absolutely brimming with activity and sights. The main plaza, the Zócalo, is the third-largest square in the world (by most accounts anyway). On the square itself are the Metropolitan Cathedral — the largest church in Latin America — as well as the Aztec archeological site of Templo Mayor, which pre-dates the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadors who destroyed this Aztec city called Tenochtitlán. Also in the historical center we see famous murals by Diego Rivera and others as well as the beautiful Palácio de Bellas Artes, incorporating Neo-Classical, Art-Nouveau, and Art Deco styles (it took decades to complete).

The adjacent Roma and Condesa neighborhoods are another great walking area. This has become the city’s “hip & trendy” zone with clothing boutiques, cafes, restaurants, unique shops, bars, galleries, vinyl-record stores, tattoo parlors, and so on. Much of Roma and Condesa are leafy, and there are a good many architecturally interesting buildings and attractive plazas and parks in these neighborhoods as well.

It is said that Mexico City has more museums per capita than anywhere in the world. And perhaps the most famous of them all is the world-renowned National Anthropology Museum — a must-see — where all the fabrics of a complex 3,000-year Mexican history are woven together into a remarkable, informative, and pleasing whole presenting all of the country’s past civilizations.

While Oaxaca has a plethora of churches the splendid Baroque Santo Domingo Church stands out in the city center. Begun in 1572 it took over 200 years to complete. Its interior is stunning with gilded plaster, colored stucco, and many paintings. Oaxaca can boast a great many museums, and the Museum of Oaxacan Cultures in a former 16th-century Dominican monastery shines with extensive displays covering indigenous cultures of the Oaxaca region including the Mixtec and Zapotecs.

Around 1,300 feet above the Oaxaca Valley, Monte Alban was the greatest Zapotec city, occupied from around 500 BCE until 900 CE, and is now one of the most highly regarded architectural sites in Latin America. Wandering among the ruins it’s easy to imagine the temples, palaces, and terraced dwellings. The site offers excellent views of the valley and surrounding mountains.

The Oaxaca region can boast an extraordinary arts and crafts scene (weaving, black pottery, wooden sculptures, mezcal production), and while you can find all of it at various shops in the city it’s also an interesting experience to go to the source. Our program will include a visit to an alebrije workshop where we can observe the process of making these delightful carved and painted wooden animal sculptures.

Mexico City & Oaxaca Gay Group Tour Itinerary

Day 1 - January 9, 2025
Arrival in Mexico City
Please arrange your flight to arrive at the Mexico City airport, where you will be met upon exiting the immigration/baggage area and be transferred in a private vehicle to our group hotel in the upscale Polanco district teeming with restaurants, cafes, and boutiques.

We will come together in the early evening to enjoy a welcome drink in the hotel and meet our fellow travelers before walking to the welcome dinner.

Note: We’ll have three full days in Mexico City, but you could easily explore for a week here. If you’d like to add some pre-tour nights we can set you up at the group hotel.

Meals: Welcome Drink, Welcome Dinner
Hotel: Kimpton Virgilio Hotel, Mexico City, 5*

Day 2 - January 10, 2025
Mexico City Centro Histórico
Our first day of sightseeing will be concentrated entirely in the Centro Histórico. The Aztec empire is no more, but its capital — Tenochtitlán — was the heart of it, and when the Spanish conquered in the 16th century they destroyed it and built over its remains. Many important buildings stand here in the historic center, and it’s a fascinating jumble of grand palaces, churches, taco vendors, mariachi bands, shoe shiners, book sellers, as well as traditional and hip bars and cafes.

We’ll explore this day on foot. Just some of the many sights will include:
• The Zócalo — one of the world’s largest city squares with a huge Mexican -lag at its center.
• Metropolitan Cathedral — Built atop the ruins of an Aztec ceremonial center with a dazzling interior, it took over two centuries to complete and is one of the biggest churches in Latin America.
• Templo Mayor — the ruins of the temple that once stood at the heart of the Aztec city.
• Palácio de Bellas Artes — Possibly the most beautiful building in the historic center, it houses prestigious mural art as well as a theater hosting classical concerts and folk dance performances.
• Diego Rivera murals — We’ll pop in to one or two buildings that feature works by this famous artist.

We’ll return to our hotel in the Polanco district in time for you to enjoy a drink and/or a swim on the roof. Dinner is open for the remaining evenings in Mexico City. There is no lack of choice all around us with a great variety of cuisines to choose from.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Hotel: Kimpton Virgilio Hotel, Mexico City, 5*

Day 3 - January 11, 2025
Coyoacán, Frida Kahlo & Roma
Today we’ll get familiar with a couple of different neighborhoods. Coyoacán was a small town at the time of the Spanish conquest and remained a rural community until the 20th century came around. The growth of the city has swallowed it up, but it retains much Colonial architecture. Favored by artists and writers over the decades the area has been home to Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky among others.

We’ll visit the home of arguably Mexico’s most famous artist, Frida Kahlo. This museum, also known as Casa Azul (Blue House) provides an intimate insight into her complex life, with many of her personal belongings on display. The artist was born and died here and shared the house with husband Diego Rivera. It’s a treasure trove of paintings and personal possessions. Some the works she painted here were inspired by the pain she endured from multiple crippling injuries.

We’ll also have the opportunity to stroll around a bit of Coyoacán, taking in some of its plazas and witnessing its lively street life with assorted street musicians, mimes, and crafts markets.

Roma and neighboring Condesa have become CDMX’s hip and happening ‘hoods. Once an area for rather well-to-do residents it lost its luster and then became rather bohemian and popular with writers and artists, and that in turn has given way, especially in Roma, to international cuisine, boutiques, tattoo parlors, night clubs, digital nomads, record stores, galleries, cafes with serious coffee, and so on. But also the streets tend to be leafy and provide shade to some lovely old architecture — in various states of condition.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Hotel: Kimpton Virgilio Hotel, Mexico City, 5*

Day 4 - January 12, 2025
Teotihuacán
Get ready for a full day outside the city to visit the archeological site of Teotihuacán, one of the largest and most in-luential cities of ancient Mesoamerica. Flourishing between 100 BCE and 650 CE, it boasted impressive architecture, such as the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon. Teotihuacán served as a cultural, religious, and economic center, facilitating the exchange of goods and ideas all across Mesoamerica. Its signi-icance lies in its monumental structures, urban planning, and its enduring impact on subsequent Mesoamerican civilizations. It’s quite an extensive site so be prepared for walking!

Later we’ll come back into the city for an abbreviated visit of the National Anthropology Museum. This amazing museum, one of the best in all of Latin America, stands as a testament to the rich cultural heritage of Mexico's indigenous peoples. It’s vast and houses an extensive collection of artifacts spanning thousands of years, including Aztec, Maya, and other civilizations’ relics. You may want to spend more time here after we conclude our group visit.

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch
Hotel: Kimpton Virgilio Hotel, Mexico City, 5*

Day 5 - January 13, 2025
From Mexico City to Oaxaca
Now it’s on to the city of Oaxaca, the capital of Oaxaca state which fronts the Paci-ic side of the country. A short flight from Mexico City will get us to Oaxaca city, probably in the afternoon.

Depending on the flight time we’ll either head straight to our hotel in the city center, or we might have some time to take in one of the sights not far from the airport before going to the hotel. After settling in, and perhaps making use of the pool, we’ve got a lovely dinner ahead of us.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Hotel: Quinta Real Oaxaca Hotel, Oaxaca, 5*

Day 6 - January 14, 2025
Oaxaca
Oaxaca has a lively, bustling city center imbued with pretty and colorful colonial-era buildings. We’ve got this day to explore the city on foot and its myriad sights. There’s a great deal to see here, so we’ll need to be selective. At the time of publishing our intentions for this day include:

• Templo Santo Domingo — an impressively dazzling church standing right in the heart of the city. Begun in 1572 it took over 200 years to complete. Its interior, a jumble of architectural styles, is stunning with gilded plaster, colored stucco, and many paintings.
• Ethnobotanic Garden — Formerly a colonial-era orchard this is a wonderful spot to familiarize ourselves with the state’s vast and varied -lora. It was the creation of botanists and artists coming together.
• Museum of the Oaxacan Cultures — a former 16th-century Dominican monastery popping with extensive displays covering indigenous cultures of the Oaxaca region including the Mixtec and Zapotecs.
• Graphic arts — Oaxaca is known for its long-standing tradition of graphic arts, especially printmaking, as shown in its political and cultural posters. And local artists have transformed the streets into an outdoor gallery with brightly painted murals and satirical stencils.
• Chocolate — Mexico’s love affair with cacao goes back thousands of years, and ancestral traditions are alive and well in Oaxaca, and we’ll be able to visit a producer to learn about the production process and sample it, of course.
• Mezcal — This is arguably the newest hip drink in many parts of the world, and approximately 85% of Mexico's mezcal is produced right here in the state of Oaxaca. The region's diverse agave species, coupled with centuries-old artisanal techniques, contribute to its unique -lavors. The city has several places for learning about it and tasting it.

Dinner is open this evening, and there’s no shortage of very good options.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Hotel: Quinta Real Oaxaca Hotel, Oaxaca, 5*

Day 7 - January 15, 2024
Monte Alban
We’ll spend today mostly outside the city, beginning with an exploration of Monte Alban, an ancient Zapotec archaeological site. It was a thriving city from around 500 BCE to 750 CE. Perched atop a hilltop plateau with beautiful views of the surrounding mountains, it served as a political, economic, and religious center. Its monumental structures and intricate hieroglyphic inscriptions offer invaluable insights into Zapotec civilization and Mesoamerican history.

The arts and crafts scene is huge in Oaxaca, and one of those crafts is alebrijes, which are vibrant, whimsical wooden sculptures. Artisans meticulously carve and paint these fantastical creatures, often combining elements from various animals and mythical beings. Alebrijes have become emblematic of Mexican folk art, showcasing the region's creativity and cultural heritage.

After returning to the city you’ll have time for some last-minute shopping or to maybe have a lounge by the pool, and this evening we’ll enjoy our farewell dinner.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Hotel: Quinta Real Oaxaca Hotel, Oaxaca, 5*

Day 8 - January 16, 2024
Oaxaca Departure
This morning you’ll have a private transfer to the Oaxaca airport according to your outbound flight schedule.

Or perhaps you’ll want to extend your time to see more of Oaxaca. We can set up extra nights at the group hotel if you wish to extend your time in Oaxaca as there are many more sights and activities both in and outside the city.

Meals: Breakfast