Magical Mexico City Culinary Vacation

Day One

• Arrival at Mexico City international airport and meet your English-speaking guide.
• Transfer to your hotel, check in and rest of evening on your own.
• Overnight.

Day Two

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Begin your Mexico City culinary vacation with a guided tour of the city, starting with the Historical Center. Gaze in wonder at the beautiful baroque buildings, including the Cathedral and the National Palace, that surround the famed Zócalo, or Constitution Square.
• The Cathedral is the largest in Mexico. It is a quintessential example of colonial architecture in Latin America, lying as it does on the remains of the largest Aztec temple. You can admire the murals painted by Diego Rivera at the National Palace (closed Mondays), which is the seat of the Mexican presidency. One of the most recently discovered sites is the Templo Mayor, the great temple of the Aztec capital (panoramic visit only.)
• At noon, continue on your tour of Mexico City while experience the city’s cuisine in several exotic and wonderful food stops. You will have a gastronomic adventure through the flavors of Mexico, from pre-Hispanic foods to contemporary dishes. Visit a typical Mexican market full of unique ingredients, have a drink at a typical cantina, and taste the popular street food.
• Return to the hotel in the evening, with dinner on your own (if you are still hungry).
• Overnight.

Day Three

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Depart for Teotihuacán, one of the most important archeological sites of the Valley of Mexico.
• You will see the site where the Teotihuacán civilization flourished between the first and sixth centuries. Their influence appears to have been so vast as to have reached Tikal in Guatamala, as one can find traces of their influence in the the famed Mayan ruin located there. Burned in the Eighth Century, Teotihuacán was already a ruin by the time the Aztecs settled there. Due to its immense size, they attributed its construction to gods or giants.
• Teotihuacán has three large buildings distributed around what is called the “Avenue of the Dead.” The Pyramid of the Sun is the primary among these, while the more modest Pyramid of the Moon lies to the north. The Citadel, like the others, reflects the art and astronomical knowledge of its builders.
• Head to a local restaurant for lunch, where you will learn to make an authentic guacamole sauce from chilies, green tomatoes, avocado, and other spices. Enjoy it as a snack or with assorted tacos or tortas, including hand-made tortillas that you will prepare yourself with corn masa. Tortillas are, of course, a primary ingredient in so many classic Mexican dishes: tacos, tostadas, enchiladas, totopos, entomatadas, chalupas, flautas, chilaquiles, quesadillas, and more.
• In the afternoon, stop at a cooperative food factory in the village of San Martín de la Pirámides. They produce honey, jam, sweets, and hots sauces from the nopal (cactus) fruits known as tuna and xoconoxtle.
• Next, head to an obsidian workshop. You can watch the artisans work the raw material to shape unique pieces of regional handicraft. Taste the local liquor called pulque, which is made from the Agave plant.
• Return to Mexico City.
• This evening, continue your Mexico City culinary vacation at a local restaurant for dinner. The eatery is found in the heart of the city’s trendiest quarter, Colonia Roma, and it combines the aesthetic of the Mexican architect Javier Sordo de Haro with the building’s original 20th-century architecture. The bistrot’s menu offers a variety of regional dishes from throughout Mexico.
• Return to your hotel and overnight.

Day Four

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• This morning, depart for the southern part of Mexico City to visit Coyoacán, the colonial quarter built in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. This is the residential neighborhood where the elite of Mexico City used to live in gorgeous haciendas in the countryside.
• Visit the Frida Kahlo Museum, also called “La Casa Azul” (the Blue House, closed on Mondays). This is where the famous Latin American artist was born, lived, and died.
• Lunch at a restaurant in the Coyoacán.
• In the afternoon, take an idyllic boat ride on a trajinera, the traditional colorfully painted, flat bottom wooden boats. Cruise along the pre-Hispanic canals of Xochimilco, Mexico City’s floating gardens, a place where the Toltecs took refuge during the fall of Tula. Its inhabitants have been dedicated to agriculture since ancient times.
• In the evening, transfer to a local restaurant for dinner, where you will taste ceviches, tostadas, stews, as well as an impressive array of colorful and contemporary Mexican dishes.
• Return to your hotel and overnight.

Day Five

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Check out and transfer to the Mexico City airport. (If you would like to continue your journey, you can continue on with our Taste of Puebla and Oaxaca culinary vacation in Mexico, the ultimate extension of your exploration of Mexican cuisine and culture. Inquire for details!)