Nestled in the mountains of southern Mexico, Oaxaca City (pronounced waa·haa·kuh) promises to delight every one of your senses day after day during 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, and best of all the spontaneity of everyday street life in this amazing culture. This special event tour encompasses the Feast Day for the Virgin of Guadalupe. According to tradition, the Virgin Mary appeared in 1531 near Mexico City to Juan Diego, a man of Aztec descent, who had converted to Christianity. In Oaxaca the Dance of the Feather is associated with her feast day and we will spend the day in Teotitlan del Valle where this amazing dance-drama was developed. All the villages and the city center will also be celebrating Christmas during our tour, so plan to get all your holiday shopping finished!

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 alebrijes. This tour includes a visit to the preeminent pre-Columbian archeological site Monte Alban, as well as the Mitla site and the treasures of Tomb 7. 

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 and street fun. A wedding or two are inevitable and don’t be surprised if you get invited to the all-night fiesta!

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.

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

This trip trip has met the minimum participants and is declared a "GO", you may purchase flights for the tour. Unless otherwise stated, our regular Terms and Conditions apply to this trip and for any cancellations (click here to see our Terms and Conditions).

Tour Activity Level 

We would describe this trip as a Retreat.

Mobility Comfort Level = 3+

Walk 2+ miles along cobblestone streets in Oaxaca city; traversing uneven terrain and climbing multiple sets of steps/boulders at Monte Alban. 

Review our Tour Activity and Mobility Comfort Levels here.

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.  (*Arch RoamRight is an affiliate of RTTF and we will receive a small commission for policies bought through the provided link.)

Arranging Your Flights 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.

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.

EARLY ARRIVAL OPTION

If you'd like the extra cushion of arriving a day early on Tuesday, December 8, 2026 we’re offering an early arrival package, which includes your hotel for one night, breakfast and a guided tour on Wednesday, December 9 exploring the outstanding graphic and mural arts of the nearby neighborhoods. Your Cultural & Fiber Ambassador 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.

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 your Cultural and Fiber Ambassadors will be on hand to greet you, help you find delicious food, and join you should you invite us for some spontaneous margarita drinking!

OAXACA CITY EL CENTRO

Let's explore this extraordinary city! After a fabulous breakfast, we’ll visit the Santo Domingo Museo and Church, including treasures from Monte Alban Tomb 7. Then a walk down the bricked-in street of Alcala, catching the Mexican holiday spirit, and dashing in cathedrals, markets and cafes until we reach the center of city life - the main plaza (zocalo).

We will return to our hotel for a special Makers’ Market and luncheon where you’ll meet a backstrap weaver, a seamstress and embroidery wizard of traditional San Antonino clothes, and a loom weaver who also creates bespoke contemporary clothing designs. You’ll enjoy hearing about the lives of these artisans, and be much better informed afterwards to appreciate, explore and purchase unique crafts as we venture into our week.

After a day filled with so many sights, let’s gather at our hotel rooftop for Happy Hour, snacks and optional foot massages.

COYOTEPEC, SAN MARTIN TILCAJETE & WHO KNOWS WHERE ELSE

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. Next, a visit to San Martín Tilcajete for the fanciful wood carvings known as alebrijes, including a demo where we hear about copal wood and its role in Zapotec life. A lovely outdoor lunch in a beloved palapa location will follow (with a gift shop)!

TIS THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN’S DAY!  TEOTITLAN DEL VALLE

It’s going to be another impressive village day, and with the added bonus of the once-a-year celebration of the Feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe. The Danza de la Pluma (Dance of the Feather) will go on all afternoon in 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, which became as valuable as silver, sugar and gold after the Conquest. We'll have a demo, a meal of tlayudas, and time to dive into Zapotec life.

Pro tip: you will want some room in your luggage to take home some amazing textiles!

LET’S VISIT A TIANGUES;  TLACALULA, MITLA, TULE     

Tlacolua on Sundays is an immersion in indigenous market life. Locals and tourists flock to this World Heritage area for the Sunday tiangues: a once-a-week open air market. It's an 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.

TEXTILE MUSEUM, SAN PABLO CULTURAL CENTER & SO. MUCH. MORE.

We’ll start with an enjoyable, relaxed breakfast followed by a walk to the Textile Museum and the San Pablo Convent; both museums offer 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. But don’t miss lunch! This is the day we indulge in our Seven Mole Extravaganza for comida. Oaxaca IS mole central; let's taste, discern, and taste some more! Optional mezcal tasting will be offered in the early evening.  

MONTE ALBAN

We set off early for a guided tour of Monte Albán, a very significant pre-Columbian archeological site founded in approximately 500 BCE and once home to over 5,000 people. After returning for lunch (on your own) there will be free time to pack...  or shop ...  or shop and pack!  We'll close our week together with a final group 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! 

Janie has traveled in Mexico literally all her life. When you travel with Janie prepare for relaxing shoulders, opening hearts, and delights for the spirit. Though Janie resides most of the year in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a big chunk of her heart always remains in Oaxaca. By profession, she was clinical social worker specializing in child welfare. 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.

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. Does she talk to her plants? That’s what her friends want to know.