Summer Tour
¡Guelaguetza!
Guelaguetza tours are offered for your group as a customized trip. Minimum 8 people are required.
Escape the heat at 5,000 feet!
Oaxaca's high elevation means cool mornings and evenings all summer long. Daytime temperatures are moderate. Our Guelaguetza tour is a perfect opportunity to escape the heat, discover an extraordinary cultural event, and expand your culinary repertoire.
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The Guelaguetza is an annual nine day festival. Seven major indigenous communities, along with many smaller groups, gather in the city to present traditional dancing, costumes, parades, walking bands, native food, and artisanal crafts. It is the most famous indigenous gathering of its kind in Mexico.
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Our group will arrive in Oaxaca during the last days of the Guelaguetza festivities. At the close of the festival, we'll get down to the serious business of tasting all Oaxaca has to offer, enjoy a cooking class or two, and become mezcal aficionados. The group will also visit iconic sights and those hidden, less well known spots Open Heart Tours always uncovers for our travelers. Day and night, the streets, restaurants and other public venues will be filled with a feast for your eyes, your heart, and your dancing feet.
Tour Cost: $2800
Email us with questions about the winter tour.
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Register for the trip here.
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​​Tour price includes
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Private single rooms (discount applies for double occupancy, please inquire)
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Daily full breakfast & lunch
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Guided, bilingual tours
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Transportation within Mexico
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Entry fees into facilities
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Tour price does not include
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Flights to and from Oaxaca, Mexico
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Travel insurance
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Dinners
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Additional Information
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All tours are small, from 4-12 people
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$500 non-refundable deposit holds your spot
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Deposit & Letter of Agreement form must accompany deposit. Form will be sent to you via email after initial inquiry.
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Remaining balance due 60 days before departure date, along with proof of international health coverage.
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We accept personal checks as payment
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Sample Itinerary (sequence may change as needed)
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Day 1: Early evening arrival in Oaxaca, ; stroll the streets and marvel
Day 2: Tour of El Centro plazas, visit to Our Lady of the Assumption, Templo de San Felipe Neri, lunch in the Mexican style, a visit with Mujeres Artesesanas de las Regiones de Oaxaca Women's Cooperative
Day 3: A museum "crawl" to Santa Domingo Museo & Church (treasures from Monte Alban Tomb 7 - not to be missed!), San Pablo Convento, Oaxaca Textile Museum, Tomayo Museum of Pre-Hispanic Art, Museo de Filatelia (Stamps) and many more
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Day 4: Visit the weaving village of Teotitlan del Valle, lunch and first cooking class at the home & comedor of our teacher, cap the day with shopping
Day 5: Choose from any or all: Monte Alban, Yagul & Mitla archaeological sites. Save energy for the Tule Tree!
Day 6: Experience a tianguis (village market) in Ocotlan, tour Rudolfo Morales' legacies, visit San Matin Ticajete, the wood carvers of alebrijes (fanciful wooden animals & figures) and black pottery artisans in Coyotepec.
Day 7: Optional tour of the Botanical Garden, continued exploration of local museums, galleries, shopping and people watching, with a mid day pause to eat comida del dia at some fabulous spot.
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Day 8: A full day's visit to Monte Alban, the most famous archaeological site in Oaxaca.
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Day 9: Return home.