Cheese-making at Rancho Xotolar
A morning with the family at their ranch outside San Miguel, making cheese, arranged by Rosewood San Miguel de Allende.
Mexico, Highlands to Caribbean
Colonial towns, great kitchens and Maya ruins, ending on the Caribbean.
- 15 nights
- Six stays
- Mexico
- Culture, food, private guided, beach
15 nights from the colonial highlands to the Caribbean, with a private guide at every stop. Cheese-making on a family ranch above San Miguel, the house and studio of Luis Barragán, a cooking class that starts in an Oaxaca market, native Melipona bees on a Yucatán hacienda, and a backstage evening at a theatre on the coast.
- Length
- 15 nights
- Pace
- Six stays
- Style
- Culture, food, private guided, beach
- Route
- San Miguel de Allende to Mexico City to Puebla to Oaxaca to Mérida to Riviera Maya
- San Miguel de AllendeThree nights
- Mexico CityThree nights
- PueblaOne night
- OaxacaThree nights
- MéridaTwo nights
- Riviera MayaThree nights
01
Days 1 to 4 · three nights
San Miguel de Allende
Met on arrival and driven into town. Two private half-days take in the colonial centre, its markets and galleries, and the painted chapel at Atotonilco. One morning at Rancho Xotolar, a family ranch where the cheese is made by hand, and on a Friday a tequila tasting by Casa Dragones at Pirules.
Where you stay
Rosewood San Miguel de Allende
Rosewood San Miguel de Allende looks across the town's skyline to its landmark church, with suites finished in local wood, stone hearths and outdoor terraces. 1826 Restaurant serves regional Mexican cooking in the courtyard and garden, Pirules Garden Kitchen cooks over wood fire, and Luna Rooftop holds the view.
02
Days 4 to 7 · three nights
Mexico City
Teotihuacan on the way south. A full day with a guide in the city, with a visit to Casa Luis Barragán, the architect's own house, by ticket booked ahead and for those aged 12 and over. After hours, a private visit of about an hour and a half can be arranged at the National Anthropology Museum with an expert guide, for the Aztec Sunstone, the tomb of King Pakal and the ancient ball game. An evening at the Ballet Folklórico, and a canal boat at Xochimilco followed by San Ángel and Coyoacán.
Where you stay
Casa Polanco
Casa Polanco occupies a restored 1940s Neocolonial mansion facing Lincoln Park, with a contemporary extension and 19 individually designed rooms and suites. Rooms have walnut floors, custom furniture, handmade textiles and Mexican art, and the house keeps a library, terraces, a gym and a wellness area.
03
Days 7 to 8 · one night
Puebla
An afternoon with a guide in the old city, for its food and its Talavera pottery, which the hotel uses throughout.
Where you stay
Banyan Tree Puebla
Banyan Tree Puebla fills a 19th-century building in the heart of the city, with 78 rooms and suites, a rooftop pool and Talavera pottery throughout. The hotel runs entirely on renewable energy from solar panels, and its spa treatments draw on native ingredients and the traditions of Asia.
04
Days 8 to 11 · three nights
Oaxaca
Driven overland to Oaxaca. Plazas, food markets and folk art on the first afternoon, a Guelaguetza performance, a full day of ruins, craft villages and markets, and a cooking class that begins at the market.
Where you stay
Pug Seal Oaxaca
Pug Seal Oaxaca occupies an early 19th-century house in the historic centre, opened as a hotel of 20 rooms in 2020. Zapotec legends and symbols shape the interiors, with brass inlaid walls and a staircase installation by the artist Sabino Guisú, and breakfast is cooked to order.
05
Days 11 to 13 · two nights
Mérida
A flight to Mérida and an afternoon in the city with a guide, then a full day among Maya ruins and villages, which can include Tixkokob, where more than 700 families weave hammocks and an artisan opens his family workshop, and Izamal's Franciscan monastery, built on a Maya pyramid. At the hacienda, built around a sacred cenote, a morning with melipona honey and a workshop in honey and beeswax, a ritual led by a Mayan elder, and dinner at Ixi'im, where the chef Jorge Vallejo leads the kitchen.
Where you stay
Chablé Yucatán
Chablé Yucatán is a restored 18th-century hacienda in the jungle at Chocholá, about 40 kilometres from Mérida, with 40 casitas and villas, each with a private pool. The spa is built around a natural cenote, and the kitchens cook with produce from the hacienda's Maya garden.
06
Days 13 to 16 · three nights
Riviera Maya
Chichén Itzá on the drive to the coast, at sunrise before the site opens if a permit is granted. A private snorkelling morning and, for guests of the house only, a backstage tour of Teatro Gran Tlachco at Xcaret before dinner during the show, or dinner beside a cenote with live jazz on set evenings. The flight home from Cancún.
Where you stay
La Casa de la Playa
La Casa de la Playa is a boutique hotel of 63 suites on the Riviera Maya coast, each with a private pool, a steam room and butler service. Martha Ortiz and Andoni Luis Aduriz are among the chefs behind its restaurants, and guests may also dine at the restaurants of its sister hotels.
Arranged on request
Casa Luis Barragán
The architect's own house in Mexico City, visited only by ticket bought ahead and strictly subject to availability; the minimum age is 12.
Melipona bees and Maya ritual at Chablé
On a hacienda built around a sacred cenote, melipona honey from the native bees, a workshop in honey and beeswax, and ceremonial rituals led by a Mayan elder.
Backstage at Teatro Gran Tlachco
For guests of La Casa de la Playa only, a tour behind the scenes with the artists of the Xcaret show, then a tasting menu with wine pairing during the performance.
Dinner beside a cenote
On Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday evenings, a lit path to a dining stage over a natural cenote at Xcaret, with live jazz; limited seats, for the hotel's guests only.
The Anthropology Museum after hours
An evening visit of about an hour and a half after the National Anthropology Museum has closed, with an expert guide, for the Aztec Sunstone, the tomb of King Pakal and the ancient ball game.
Subject to availability.
Ways to make it yours
- A day in Guanajuato from San Miguel, or an evening of organic wine at Dos Búhos vineyard.
- A hands-on Yucatán cooking workshop in the hacienda's kitchens.
- Tulum, its Maya city above the sea, and a day in the cenotes.
This is a sample. The hotels, the pace and the order are where we start, not where we finish: every journey is designed around the people taking it.
Made around you
Most travel is bought. This is designed.
Before anything is booked, we talk: who is travelling, how you like to spend a morning, and the hotel preferences below the obvious, from the kind of bath you like to the time you wake and how much daylight you need in a room. You see options where options matter and clean recommendations where they don't.
The same person remains your point of contact from the first reply to the trip after next. No handovers. No team.
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