Nestled in the mountains of southern Mexico, Oaxaca City (pronounced waa·haa·kuh) promises to delight every one of your senses, day after day of our visit. Oaxaca is unique in so many ways, offering a stronghold of indigenous cultures rich with folk craft: textiles, pottery, wood carvings and more.  Daily strolls take us to textile museums, mole tastings (the unique culinary sauce of Oaxaca), mezcal events, homes of Zapotec artists, and best of all the spontaneity of everyday street life in this amazing culture.  

We will travel to nearby villages and enjoy studio visits of uniquely specialized crafts such as rug weaving with natural dyes, rebozo and back-strap weaving, black pottery and more. This tour includes a visit to the preeminent pre-Columbian archeological site Monte Alban.

We stay all week at a cozy hotel just blocks away from the historic city center in the thick of markets, restaurants, mezcal tasting and all the other surprises this city offers. You’ll be provided tips all week long, for evening parades & street fun. We trade off days walking through Oaxaca City with days (transported by van) to nearby villages to visit folk artists.  And yes, you can join in the fun of a simple surprise KAL project while on the tour.

Our Cultural Ambassador is Janie Cravens, a resident of Santa Fe, NM USA; she has traveled and lived extensively in Mexico for over 40 years. 

Tour Cost, per person:

• Single ($4990, per person) - a private accommodation for one person

• Shared ($4100, per person) - one room for two people, two separate beds
  To Register
  A Registration Form and a non-refundable $1000 deposit are required to join the trip. Once you submit your online registration and deposit payment is received, your spot on the tour is secure. See our Terms & Conditions HERE.

Please Note: RTTF is no longer able to accept checks as a payment form.

IMPORTANT DETAILS TO KEEP IN MIND

Tour Activity Level:
We would describe this trip as a Retreat with significant walking on cobblestone paving. If you'd like to review our trip activity levels, take a look here. 

Mobility Comfort Level = 3+

Participants must be able to walk two miles plus per day of cobblestone streets in Oaxaca City and also manage walking uneven ground and climbing numerous rocky steps at archaeological sites. Our hotel does not have an elevator and we cannot guarantee ground floor rooms.

This tour has been announced a "Go!" 

Unless otherwise stated, our regular Terms and Conditions apply to this trip and for any cancellations (click here to see our Terms and Conditions).

Travel Insurance
Rowan Tree Travel highly recommends purchasing travel insurance. You may purchase through our preferred partner Arch RoamRight by clicking here or through your own provider.

Arranging Your Flights

We highly recommend American or United Airlines above all others for this specific tour.

Currently there are only two airlines that will get you to our destination without going through Mexico CIty, both of which hub out of Texas. The United flight does not arrive until evening; the American flight arrives in the afternoon. 

While you may find less expensive flights we do not advise going through Mexico City. 

In order to gather easily for the tour, we provide an arrival and departure "window" at a major transportation hub - typically an international airport at your destination country. Flights scheduled outside the provided windows may result in additional transportation costs and missed tour activities. For this reason, we greatly appreciate your cooperation in booking travel that accommodates our specifications. 

Pre-Tour Arrival Add-On Day
If you'd like the extra cushion of arriving on Thursday, January 8, 2026 we’re offering an Add-On Day, which includes your hotel for one night, breakfast and a guided tour exploring the outstanding graphic and mural arts of the nearby neighborhoods. Your guides will be available to help you settle in, provide guidance and good company. This option is limited to nine hotel rooms so please book early if this is something you want. 

Please Note the Following
Rowan Tree Travel reserves the right to alter any part of this itinerary in order to address weather conditions, unforeseen circumstances or to improve the participant experience.

• Tour activities begins the morning of January 10, 2026   

• Mobility Note: be able to walk up to 2 miles along cobblestone streets in Oaxaca City

Have questions? Please contact us at info@rowantreetravel.com

If you'd like the extra cushion of arriving on January 8, we’re offering an Add-On Day, which includes your hotel for one night, breakfast and a Guided Walk exploring the outstanding graphic and mural arts of the nearby neighborhoods. Your guides will be available to help you settle in upon arrival, provide guidance and good company. This option is limited to nine hotel rooms so please book early if this is something you want. 

Single Accommodation Early Arrival: $275 per person

Shared Accommodation Early Arrival: $200 per person

Bienvenido! Welcome to Oaxaca! 

Today you arrive on either an afternoon or evening flight to Oaxaca, Mexico.  We will arrange to pick you up at the airport and bring you to our lodgings. There will be no official tour events on this day, but be prepared for some spontaneous margarita drinking.

Oaxaca City

Let's venture into Oaxaca City and explore the Santo Domingo Museo & Church, including treasures from Monte Alban Tomb 7. There will be time to help you get familiar with the El Centro plazas and churches along the way. 

We will return to our hotel for a special Textile Talk & Exhibit of various Oaxacan textile artists, including a backstrap weaver, a clothes weaver with traditional embroidery skills and a rug weaver who also creates bespoke contemporary embroidery clothing designs. You’ll now have some familiarity with these cultural textiles which will help as you explore museums and markets during the week, offering plenty of opportunity to purchase textile items.

After a day filled with so many sights, let’s gather at our hotel Rooftop for Happy Hour & snacks included. It's time to hand out the Oaxaca Journey Bag KAL and cast on. 

A Day to Explore Mitla and Tlacolula

Tlacolua on Sundays is an immersion in Zapotec market life. One day a week locals and tourists flock to this World Heritage area for the tiangues: a once-a-week open air indigenous market offering the opportunity to socialize, sell and buy a wide variety of market goods, attend mass, acquire a new yoke for your oxen and so much more. Next stop is the Mitla archeological site - an important treasure to the Zapotec culture located in a town renowned for cotton weaving. To cap off the day, we’ll stop at the Tule tree, a Montezuma cypress that has the stoutest tree trunk in the world before returning to the city. 

Textile Museum of Oaxaca

We’ll start with an enjoyable, relaxed breakfast followed by a walk to the Textile Museum and along the same block, visit the San Pablo Convent; both museums offering exceptional exhibits. You’ll have the afternoon to continue exploring this culture-rich city. If you are a photography buff or into antique silver or more textiles and local jewelry, we'll provide ideas, routes and help to get you where you'd like to go! This is the day to indulge in our Seven Mole lunch extravaganza. Oaxaca IS mole central; let's taste, discern and taste some more! 

Teotitlan del Valle

It’s going to be another impressive, full day with a visit to Teotitlán del Valle, home to the renowned rug weavers of Oaxaca. Natural dyes predominate these stunning weavings so get ready to fall in love with the cochineal; match this little insect with wool and the results are a stunning red. Tip: you will want some room in your luggage to take home these beautiful pieces of art. 

 NUANCED OAXACA 

After enjoying another wonderfully prepared breakfast at a local eatery, we’ll stop at the Museo De La Filatelia Stamp Museum (it’s not what you think) and then you’ll have the option to visit the Rudolfo Tamayo museum, rich with pre-Columbian artifact or visit the expansive city markets. The group will enjoy another lunch together with free time to explore or take a siesta. This evening, dinner is on your own and we will have an optional mezcal tasting on the rooftop.  

OCOTLÁN DE MORELOS, COYOTEPEC, SAN MARTIN TILCAJETE

Today we visit a series of small villages and learn about the unique folk art specific to each village. Coyotepec is famous for black pottery and home to an exceptional Folk Art Museo. Onwards to Ocotlán, which was the home village of beloved painter Rudolfo Morales. Last but not least, we visit San Martín Tilcajete for the fanciful wood carvings known as alebrijes. A lovely outdoor lunch will be served while we are traveling between these villages.

Monte Albán

We set off this morning to have a guided tour of Monte Albán, the most significant pre-Columbian archeological site and once home to around 5,200 people, founded in approximately 500 BCE!  After returning for lunch back in the city there will be free time to pack...  or shop ...  or shop and pack!  We'll close our week together with a final group la cena (dinner) and a mezcal toast.

Homeward Bound

It’s time to say hasta luego, amigos and return home filled with the colors and memories of Oaxaca!

Colleen is knitting multiple projects right now, spinning hand-blended fibers on her Lendrum DT, and has found it difficult but not impossible to knit and watch a South Korean show on Netflix with subtitles at the same time. She is curious about makers' stories of the lineage and evolution of their craft and where to find truly awesome pie.  Her professional background in outdoor tour guiding and small business ownership makes a great match with RTT. Colleen loves to drive a convertible, swim in natural waters and hula hoops.

Janie has traveled in Mexico literally all her life, and feels inexplicably drawn to the place.  Mexico causes something tight in her shoulders to relax, her heart to open, and her mind to explore, question and delight.  She hopes the same happens for you!  By profession, she was a clinical social worker specializing in child welfare and no doubt you will see that ethos influencing her tour guiding.  When not working or traveling, she likes to read books, dance, volunteer in her community, hike, practice her foodie habits, and plan her next Mexico sojourn.