DAY 1: WELCOME TO OAXACA

Our team will pick you up at Oaxaca International Airport (OAX). After some rest and relaxation, we will walk over to a vegan restaurant to have a welcome dinner, get to know the amazing people that will be on this journey with you and explore the neighborhood for those who aren't incredibly jet-lagged.

Flights can be booked to arrive anytime before 5:30 PM to make it in time for the Welcome Dinner.

Meals Included: Dinner

DAY 2: AN ART-WALK AND COBBLESTONES

After breakfast and orientation, we’ll go on a walking tour through Oaxaca City, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and be mesmerized by the baroque architecture, bustling markets overflowing with handcrafted treasures, and the art-filled streets from murals to counter-culture. We’ll take you through the charming cobblestone streets of Barrio Xochimilco (Oaxaca’s oldest neighborhood), hidden gems like the Museo Textil de Oaxaca, showcasing exquisite hand-woven textiles, and we’ll grab a vegan lunch and dinner full of burritos, tacos and Oaxacan chocolate desserts.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

DAY 3: DAY TRIP TO HIERVE EL AGUA

An early morning start at 6 AM will be worth it as we make our way up to the spectacular and natural beauty of Hierve El Agua (boiling water), where frozen cascades of mineral deposits, resembling petrified waterfalls, drape down cliffs. We’ll take you on an ecological walk showcasing medicinal plants important to indigenous communities, different phases of cactus life and the story of the people who used to live here. Feel free to bring your bathing suit and jump into the mineral pools at the end if you want. Lunch will consist of delicious bean tlacoyos at a local comedor. On our way back to the city, we’ll stop by the beautiful 2,000 year old El Tule tree. Dinner tonight will be ordered in.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

DAY 4: VEGAN OAXACAN COOKING & INDIGENOUS DANCES

After an optional yoga class and breakfast, go on a culinary journey through Oaxaca’s food heritage to understand ancestral cooking techniques, heirloom vegetables, the importance of corn and the secrets and sacredness of mole. We’ll be doing a vegan cooking class with a local chef and then trying out our creations together. Today is all about slow cooking and enjoying the rich flavors perfected over generations in Oaxaca. The evening is free until we meet back up at 8 PM for a dance performance put on by local students, going through the different indigenous tribes of the state. Be delighted by the different dance forms, costume changes and join in the dance yourself if you want.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

DAY 5: RUINS OF AN ANCIENT CITY, MONTE ALBAN, & A CULTURAL OASIS IN THE MOUNTAINS

After an optional morning yoga class, we head to Monte Alban-what some archeologists and anthropologists describe as the most important Mesoamerican archeological site in the Americas. With an expert guide, we’ll walk you through the this Zapotec city developed over several hundred years, with its impressive architectural remains, including pyramids, canals, and terraces, carved out of the mountainside. After lunch at an organic cafe, we’ll visit an off-the-beaten path cultural center created by Francisco Toledo, perched on the hills. Some of our past travelers remarked that they wanted to move here after visiting this beautiful mountain village. The evening is free to have dinner on your own once we return to the city.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

DAY 6: INDIGENOUS TRADITIONS + WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT

Today we venture out to the surrounding villages of Oaxaca, home to some of the richest Indigenous traditions in the world. From the Zapotecs to Mixtecs, we will visit the homes of 5 different female entrepreneurs who mix centuries old traditions like weaving, clay making, cacao production into modern-day feminine empowerment through their micro-financed startups. We will get a chance to see how Oaxacan women live, work, and empower their families while learning about their skills, crafts, and wisdom. Past travelers have mentioned that this is one of the most meaningful days on the tour.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

DAY 8: NEIGHBORHOOD WALKS AND GOODBYE DINNER

After a final yoga class, you’ll have the afternoon free to explore the lovely historic center on your own. Saturdays are great for parades and marches through the town center. Tonight we’ll meet for a celebratory rooftop drink and a final goodbye dinner full of native corn drinks, white and yellow mole, the most delicious heirloom tomato salad you will ever try, and cacao fudge. Tonight is about rejoicing our new friendships, the beauty of Oaxaca and making new travel plans to meet up with each other around the world.

Meals included: Breakfast and Dinner