" I don't think there could have been a better team to lead our small group of 13 people than Jennifer Bjarnason and Mexican guide Jaime Hernandez. Jen absolutely loves what she does, researches like crazy to find interesting, less-traveled places, and impressively maintained her sense of humor and patience throughout the two-week adventure. Jaime, who I've known from day trips near his hometown of Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, has encylopedic knowledge of Mexican history and culture, as well as an uncanny ability to relate to everyone he meets." - Sydney (Copper Canyon 2025)"
DATES DURATION DIFFICULTY GROUP SIZE BEGINS & ENDS MEALS
Mar 3 - 15, 2027 12 Nights Moderate 12 Max San Miguel de Allende 12 (12 B)
TOUR OVERVIEW
La Puerta del Camino Real — "The Gateway of the Royal Road" — takes its name from one of the most consequential corridors in the history of the Americas: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the Royal Road of the Interior Land, which stretched roughly 2,600 kilometres from Mexico City north to Santa Fe, New Mexico, carrying silver, souls, and imperial ambition through the heart of the continent for nearly three centuries. This tour enters that story through a small but deeply charged region where the road's contradictions are most nakedly visible — where ancient Indigenous trade networks, worn into the landscape over millennia by Nahua, Chichimec, and Uto-Aztecan peoples following river valleys, obsidian routes, and sacred pilgrimage paths, were appropriated and overlaid by the Spanish colonial project in the mid-16th century. The discovery of silver at Zacatecas in 1546 transformed this corridor from a living Indigenous landscape into an engine of extraction, triggering the brutal Chichimec War (1550–1590), one of the longest and most costly conflicts of the entire colonial era, as the diverse and fiercely independent peoples of the Gran Chichimeca — the Zacateco, Guachichil, Pame, and others — resisted the advance of mines, missions, and military garrisons with extraordinary tenacity. What the Spanish built atop that resistance became, improbably, one of the first truly global trade routes in history, its silver flowing east through Veracruz to the markets of Europe and west through Acapulco aboard the Manila Galleon to China and the wider world. To travel this road today is to move through layered time — through Indigenous cosmology, colonial violence, extraordinary wealth, and the quiet persistence of cultures that survived it all.
INCLUSIONS & EXCLUSIONS
LOGISTICS
13 Days Duration
12 Nights Duration
Hotels (Double Occupancy)
12 Breakfasts
Lunches & Dinners are separate
Private Transportation
13 Days with Local Expert
ENTRANCE FEES & ACTIVITIES
Wine Tasting at Vinicola Santa Elena
Mina el Eden Museum
Cable Car ride to La Bufa
Entrance to Pedro Coronel Museum
Entrance to Rafael Coronel Museum
Entrance to Chicomoztoc Archaeological Site
Visit Jerez de Garcia Salinas
Visit the Guadalupe Convent & Museum
Horseback Ride to Puebla Fantastma
Horseback Ride across the Sierra de Catorce
Jeep Willy Ride to the Peyote Desert
Visit Guadalcazar Ghost Town
Visit Cerro de San Pedro Ghost Town
Entrance to Leonora Carrington Museum
Visit Santa Maria del Rio
Tour of Lagos de Moreno Historical Sites
Wine Tasting at Vinicola de Luz
IMPORTANT FLIGHT INFORMATION
CLOSEST AIRPORTS: If you are flying here to join our tour, please arrive on March 2, 2027 as we will depart at 8:00 AM on March 3, 2027. Leon, Guanajuato and Queretaro, Queretaro are the closest airports. If you would like us to arrange your pick-up from the airport, please contact us or you can visit Bajio-Go's website at https://www.bajiogo.com/en. They come highly recommended and have offered good services for our clients.
5 SPECIAL HIGHLIGHTS
1
EXPLORE ANCIENT SILVER MINING ROUTE
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro — "The Royal Road of the Interior Land" — was the principal colonial trade route connecting Mexico City to the northern frontier of New Spain, stretching roughly 2,600 kilometres to Santa Fe in present-day New Mexico. Established in the mid-16th century following the discovery of rich silver deposits at Zacatecas (1546), the road served as the economic and administrative lifeline of the northern territories for nearly three centuries. Silver extracted from mines at Zacatecas, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosí, Parral, and other camps flowed south along this corridor, while colonists, missionaries, soldiers, and supplies moved north. At its peak it was one of the longest and most heavily travelled roads in the Americas. Beyond commerce, the Camino Real was an instrument of colonial expansion and cultural transformation. Franciscan and Jesuit missionaries used it to push Christianity deep into Indigenous territories, establishing mission chains that anchored Spanish settlement. It also became a conduit for the violent displacement and forced labour of Indigenous peoples, and a flashpoint for resistance — most dramatically the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, which temporarily drove the Spanish entirely out of New Mexico. The road is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site (inscribed 2010), recognized for its outstanding role in the exchange of cultural influences between Europe, Mesoamerica, and the North American interior, and many of the mission towns and mining centres along its route remain vivid landmarks of that layered history.
2
RIDE A JEEP WILLY TO THE PEYOTE DESERT
Also Known as Wirikuta
Wirikuta is a high desert plateau in the Sierra Catorce range of San Luis Potosí, México, and one of the most sacred sites in the spiritual universe of the Wixáritari (Huichol) people. It is the destination of their annual peyote pilgrimage — a journey that retraces a mythic route from their homeland in the Sierra Madre Occidental across hundreds of kilometres to this sacred landscape, where the deer, the maize, and the peyote cactus converge in their cosmology as a unified sacred trinity. For the Wixáritari, Wirikuta is understood as the origin place of the world, where the Sun was born and the first dawn broke — making the pilgrimage not merely a religious act but a cosmic one, a re-enactment of creation itself. The site faces ongoing pressure from mining concessions and agricultural encroachment, and its protection has become a major cause for Indigenous rights advocates across Mexico and internationally. We will visit the Peyote Desert while in Real de Catorce.
3
HORSEBACK RIDE ACROSS THE SIERRA DE CATORCE
To a Sacred Temple & Ceremonial Spaces
One of the most atmospheric excursions from Real de Catorce is the horseback ride out across the high desert plateau toward the Wixáritari sacred sites and the weathered haciendas that once served the region's booming silver economy. Departing on horseback, riders emerge onto a sweeping landscape of scrub, candlestick cactus, and wind-carved stone, passing the ruins of great haciendas de beneficio — ore-processing estates like Hacienda Catorce and others — whose crumbling aqueducts, arched walls, and stone machinery speak to the enormous wealth and brutal labour that defined 18th and 19th century silver production here. The trail leads out toward the open desert plateau of Wirikuta, where small Wixáritari prayer sites and the so-called Shaman's Temple — a modest but deeply charged stone structure used during the peyote pilgrimage — sit quietly in the landscape, marked by votive offerings, yarn paintings, and ceremonial arrows left by pilgrims. The ride combines extraordinary silence, high-altitude desert beauty, colonial ruin, and living Indigenous sacred geography into one of the more genuinely moving half-day experiences in central Mexico
4
EXPLORE THE ANCIENT CITY OF CHICOMOZTOC
A Fortress-like City of Stone
Chicomoztoc — "the Place of the Seven Caves" in Nahuatl — is one of the most potent and resonant origin myths in Mesoamerican cosmology, the legendary ancestral homeland from which multiple Nahua-speaking peoples, including the Mexica (Aztec), the Chichimec groups, and other Uto-Aztecan peoples, believed they emerged and began their migrations southward into the heart of Mesoamerica. The site is depicted in extraordinary detail in the Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca, a 16th-century pictorial manuscript, as a flower-shaped cavern complex divided into seven distinct chambers, each one the womb-home of a different tribal group. Caves in Mesoamerican cosmology were understood as portals between the underworld and the living earth — places of creation, emergence, and sacred power — making Chicomoztoc not simply a geographic origin point but a cosmic one, the navel from which humanity itself flowered into the world. The precise physical location of Chicomoztoc has been debated by scholars for generations, but the most compelling and widely accepted candidate is La Quemada — also known as Tuitlán — a dramatic fortified hilltop site in Zacatecas that sits directly along the corridor that would become the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. Whether or not La Quemada is the literal Chicomoztoc, the site represents the deep northern reach of Mesoamerican civilization and was almost certainly a waypoint in the long-distance exchange and migration networks that linked the Gran Chichimeca to the central Mexican highlands. The myth of Chicomoztoc is thus not merely a creation story — it encodes a geographical and historical memory of northward origin, of peoples who came from the arid frontier lands and carried that identity southward with them, a narrative that the Spanish colonial road would later overwrite without ever fully erasing.
5
FEAST ON REGIONAL CUISINE
In Elegant Restaurants
Dining is an important part of this journey, and we have selected some of the region's most memorable culinary experiences. At Vinícola Santa Elena in Aguascalientes, guests enjoy refined regional cuisine paired with wines produced from one of Mexico's oldest family-owned vineyards. In Zacatecas, Patio Rosa offers an elegant dining experience in a beautifully restored historic setting, blending traditional flavors with contemporary presentation. Nearby, La Leyenda is celebrated for its creative interpretation of Zacatecan cuisine and its atmospheric location in the heart of the historic center. In the mystical mountain town of Real de Catorce, Mesón de la Abundancia combines exceptional regional cuisine with one of the most iconic historic settings in northern Mexico, overlooking the town's cobblestone streets and dramatic desert landscape. Finally, Hacienda Sepúlveda near Lagos de Moreno provides a true taste of old Mexico, where traditional Jalisco recipes are served within a magnificent 17th-century hacienda, offering both outstanding cuisine and a remarkable sense of place.
3 REASONS TO TRAVEL WITH US
1
SMALL GROUP TRAVEL
12 Maximum
This group is limited to 12 guests, which is an intimate group size that isn't too small or too large. It means we can diversify our eating experiences and stay in special hotels.
2
STAY IN BEAUTIFUL HOTELS WITH CHARACTER
We Have Exceptional Lodgings For You
ZACATECAS - 4 NIGHTS Quinta Real Zacatecas — Housed within the preserved walls of the 19th-century Plaza de Toros San Pedro, Quinta Real Zacatecas is an architectural treasure that captures the spirit of the city's past, with graceful stonework, sweeping archways, and open-air terraces thoughtfully integrated with modern comforts. The last bullfight took place in 1975, and the structure nearly faced demolition before Ricardo and Roberto Elias Pessah transformed it into a luxury boutique hotel, which opened in 1989 and shortly after received an International Architecture Prize for its outstanding restoration. Staying here is less like checking into a hotel and more like inhabiting a piece of colonial theatre — the intact arena serving as a central patio, the bar tucked into the old animal pens, and the rooms arranged around arched stone galleries that once held spectators. REAL DE CATORCE - 3 NIGHTS Hotel Amor y Paz, Real de Catorce — Amor y Paz occupies a handsome colonial building with a central patio, a bar, and a small shop selling local crafts, and there are traces suggesting the building once served as the telegraph office during Real de Catorce's silver boom years. Rooms feature private bathrooms, balconies with garden or mountain views, and some have fireplaces, while a highly rated daily breakfast includes local specialties, warm dishes, and fresh fruit. It is a relaxed, characterful, modestly priced place to base yourself — the rooftop terrace alone, with its views over the semi-ghost town and surrounding desert mountains, makes it a memorable choice. SAN LUIS POTOSI - 2 NIGHTS Hotel Museo Palacio de San Agustín, San Luis Potosí — The residence dates to 1650 and was once home to Augustinian monks; it has been rebuilt with historical accuracy, making a stay here a genuine transportation back to the 17th century, and the hotel features 700 pieces certified to be at least one hundred years old. Today it functions as a boutique hotel with neoclassical civil architecture — a living museum with four centuries of history, French furniture, and vintage-style decoration, offering 20 suites with hand-decorated furniture, arches, goose-down beds, and Italian silk linens, along with a spa, chapel, and library. It is one of the most singular small hotels in central Mexico, and an exceptional base for exploring San Luis Potosí's extraordinary historic centre. LAGOS DE MORENO - 3 NIGHTS Hacienda Sepúlveda, Lagos de Moreno — The hacienda takes its name from its first owner, the Spaniard Don Juan de Sepúlveda, who received a royal land grant of 171 hectares from the Royal Audience of New Galicia, with the main structures dating to 1684. It converted to a hotel in 1991 and third-generation owners still plant crops on part of the 122 hectares, with generally more than 40 horses on the property. Among its more colourful historical footnotes, Pancho Villa used it as a stopping point during the Revolution, as it sat on his obligatory route along the Camino Real between Lagos de Moreno and Zacatecas. Today it is a peaceful, atmospheric hacienda retreat — peacocks roaming the grounds, century-old trees shading the gardens, original stone arches and Catalan vaults intact — and one of the most authentic rural hotel experiences in the Bajío.
3
CHARITY WORK
We Give Back to Local Communities
We are pleased to now be supporting conservation biologist Bill Toone, founder of ECOLIFE Conservation, an organization developed with colleagues including Eric Hallstein and Tom Hanscom. Recognizing that successful conservation must benefit both people and wildlife, ECOLIFE introduced the Patsari stove program to communities surrounding the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve. These fuel-efficient cookstoves use significantly less firewood than traditional open-fire cooking methods, helping to reduce pressure on the oyamel fir forests that provide critical overwintering habitat for monarch butterflies. The benefits extend far beyond forest conservation. Traditional indoor cooking fires expose families to dangerous smoke and place women and children at risk of burns and respiratory illness. Patsari stoves are elevated above ground, enclosed for safety, and vent smoke outside through a chimney, dramatically improving indoor air quality. Since the program began, thousands of stoves have been installed in communities around the reserve, reducing household smoke, improving family health, and saving substantial amounts of firewood each year. The project has become an internationally recognized example of how community well-being and environmental conservation can work hand in hand.
TO CONFIRM YOUR TOUR
This tour is priced at $73,738 MXN per person We require a 50% non-refundable deposit to confirm your tour. We accept payments through Wise or traditional bank transfer. If you would like to use a credit card, we charge an extra 5% to cover their processing fees. You may choose to pay the deposit or full trip amount on your credit card by clicking on the appropriate button below. ALL TOURS ARE PRICED IN MEXICAN PESOS. YOUR BANK WILL CONVERT THE AMOUNT FOR YOU. If you would like to use a payment plan, we can invoice you monthly, The balance must be paid in full by the start of the trip. If you are paying the balance through a bank transfer or by credit card, it is due 2 weeks prior to our tour commencement. Otherwise, you may pay the balance with cash upon arrival. Please purchase Travel Insurance to cover any emergencies that could cause you to cancel your trip.
LET'S HIT THE ROAD!
DAY
1
VINICOLA SANTA ELENA
Zacatecas City, Zacatecas
MORNING: We will meet at 7:45 AM (Location TBA) to make introductions and load the van. We begin our journey northward through Aguascalientes to Zacatecas. AFTERNOON: This afternoon, we will arrive at Vinicola Santa Elena at around Noon for a wine tasting and lunch. Vinícola Santa Elena was born from a conversation among friends — Ricardo Álvarez, viticulturalist Trinidad Jiménez, and renowned enologist Hugo D'Acosta — who began field research and development in the ejido El Garabato in Pabellón de Arteaga from the mid-1990s, planting varieties including Viognier, Chenin Blanc, Nebbiolo, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, Tempranillo, Syrah, and Moscatel across 38 hectares before producing their first barrel in 2005. The winery describes itself as the first great bodega seeking the resurrection of viticulture in central Mexico, situated at 1,850 metres above sea level where the mineral richness of its sandy-clay soils and a climate that swings between 34 and 0 degrees combine to produce exceptional vines. The winery distinguishes itself through innovative production methods including Italian-imported clay amphoras, concrete tanks, and French oak barrels, and its flagship Sophie line — particularly the Sophie Cabernet Franc and Sophie Blanco — has won gold medals at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, establishing Santa Elena as one of the most awarded and internationally recognized wineries in Mexico's emerging central highlands wine scene. A visit combines vineyard walks, cave tastings, and a restaurant. Following lunch, we transfer to our hotel in Zacatecas — an opulent UNESCO World Heritage city whose Baroque cathedral, where Christian and Indigenous artistry merge on one of Mexico's most ornate facades, rises above a dramatic urban landscape carved into a narrow silver-rich valley. UNESCO regards Zacatecas so highly that it established one of only eight global Regional World Heritage Institutes here, making the city an active centre for heritage stewardship across Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Long before the Spanish arrived, this territory was home to the Chichimec peoples — the Zacateco, Guachichil, and Caxcán — whose presence stretches back well over a millennium, with fortified urban sites like Chicomoztoc (La Quemada) predating Spanish contact by centuries. When Juan de Tolosa was shown silver deposits by Chichemeca Warriors in 1546, everything changed: the city that took the Zacateco people's own name rapidly became the second most important city in New Spain, built on Indigenous land and fuelled by a brutal labour force of Indigenous workers, enslaved Caxcán, Africans, and migrants from across Mesoamerica — a forced multicultural encounter whose layered legacy you can still read in the stones of the city today. EVENING: The restaurant at Quinta Real Zacatecas is called Tierra Mía, a refined yet intimate dining space that celebrates traditional Mexican and international cuisine, served in a warm setting just steps from the historic bullring, with seating for up to 85 guests. The restaurant features high beamed ceilings, a spectacular chandelier, and original artwork, with large windows positioned along slopes so that all guests can enjoy the magnificent view of the old Plaza de Toros San Pedro, and it serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily from 7am to midnight. The setting is genuinely theatrical — dining beneath colonial stone arches with the intact arena spread out below you is unlike almost any restaurant experience in Mexico. For evenings, Bar Botarel adjoins the dining experience, offering handcrafted cocktails, tropical drinks, and live music on weekends, open from 6pm to 1am — and notably, the bar is tucked into the old animal pens of the bullring, which gives it a wonderfully dark, cave-like atmosphere that guests consistently single out as one of the most memorable drinking spots in the city. MEALS: Wine Tasting Included. All Meals are Separate.
DAY
2
FROM EARTH TO SKY
Zacatecas City, Zacatecas
MORNING After breakfast at 8:30 AM, we begin with a visit to the Templo de Santo Domingo, built by the Jesuits between 1746 and 1749, later taken over by the Dominican Order following the Jesuit expulsion of 1767, and today considered the second most important church in the city after the cathedral. Don't be fooled by its relatively sober pink stone façade — the interior contains eight extraordinary altarpieces of carved wood gilded in gold foil, the only colonial retablos of their kind remaining in Zacatecas Next door sits the Museo Pedro Coronel, housed in the former Jesuit college — a building with a hundred-year history as a prison — and considered one of the richest museums in Latin America. The collection resulted from a major donation by Zacatecas-born artist Pedro Coronel following his years working in Paris and includes not just his own works but those of Kandinsky, Picasso, Dalí, and Chagall, alongside Mesoamerican artefacts and art from Egypt, Greece, Japan, Africa, and beyond. AFTERNOON: We will head for Lunch at Patio Rosa — a beautiful restaurant set in the central courtyard of a former hacienda, with 77 years of tradition in Zacatecan cuisine. The building was once the only three-storey palace in 18th-century Zacatecas and its pink columns give the restaurant its name; the old stables now serve as the bar. Don't miss the asado de bodas — Zacatecas' beloved signature dish. After lunch, we are on one of the coolest journeys in Mexico – first diving underground into the dim-lit halls and hanging bridges of an old mine before boarding a cable car and riding across the sky to an iconic hilltop. Exploration of the silver mine, Mina el Eden, began in 1586, forty years after the founding of the city. The mine thrived through the 16th to the 18th centuries, when production consisted mainly of silver, gold, copper, zinc, iron, and lead. At its peak it was one of the most productive operations in New Spain, drawing thousands of workers deep into Cerro del Grillo. Mining eventually became impossible when flooding inundated the lower shafts. Extraction ceased in the 1960s. The mine opened to the public on January 1, 1975, and was fully renovated between 2004 and March 2005. It is now the most visited mine in Mexico. Today the interior tour moves through illuminated tunnels on a small train, passing reconstructed mining scenes, suspension bridges, and exhibits on the geology and lore that shaped a city built entirely on silver. From the haunting tunnels of Mina el Eden, we take an elevator up to a cable car to visit the spot where silver deposits were first discovered. Cerro de La Bufa rises to the east of Zacatecas's historic center at 2,610 metres above sea level. The hill's unusual name is thought to derive from an Aragonese word for pig bladder, used by early Spanish explorer Juan de Tolosa to describe its distinctive shape. La Bufa has been the strategic crown of the city for centuries. On June 23, 1914, the hill served as the key Federal Army stronghold during the Battle of Zacatecas, one of the pivotal engagements of the Mexican Revolution. It was ultimately taken by Pancho Villa's División del Norte, and the victory so demoralized the forces of President Victoriano Huerta that he resigned within weeks. Atop the summit today stand equestrian monuments to Villa, Felipe Ángeles, and Pánfilo Natera — the three commanders of that decisive assault. The Museo de la Toma de Zacatecas, beside the summit chapel of Nuestra Señora del Patrocinio, chronicles the battle in full. The Teleférico connecting Cerro del Grillo (at the mine exit) to La Bufa is also an attraction. Construction began in October 1977 at the initiative of Ana María Rojas de Pámanes, wife of the state governor at the time, and the cable car was inaugurated on October 3, 1979 — completed in just two years. It was the first tourist cable car in the country, connecting the two iconic peaks across approximately 650 metres. Swiss technology and safety standards were used throughout, and the crossing takes roughly seven minutes, offering some of the most spectacular panoramic views of the city available anywhere. A recent modernization added cable cars with transparent glass floors. EVENING: This evening we will go to the Milk Brew Pub for dinner on their lovely patio, surrounded by historical buildings and wonderful city ambience. MEALS: Breakfast is included. All other meals are separate.
DAY
3
A CONVENT OF MASKS
Zacatecas City, Zacatecas
MORNING After breakfast we depart at 10:00 AM for the Museo Rafael Coronel, housed in the former 16th-century Convent of San Francisco — a hauntingly beautiful complex of ruins, gardens, and cloisters — where Mexican surrealist artist Rafael Coronel, son-in-law of Diego Rivera, donated his extraordinary private collection. The collection spans over 16,000 pieces including pre-Hispanic art, colonial pottery, puppets, and drawings by Diego Rivera himself, but the undisputed centrepiece is the mask collection — the largest in Mexico, with over 5,000 ceremonial and ritual masks from Indigenous and mestizo communities across the country, grouped by the traditions and dances they represent. The partially restored ruins surrounding the museum are themselves worth the visit. AFTERNOON: Lunch at noon at La Leyenda, a one-of-a-kind gallery-restaurant in the historic centre where the walls, tables, and every available surface are covered in an extraordinary personal collection of folk art, crafts, historical figurines, and curiosities assembled over three decades by its owner — part meal, part museum, entirely Zacatecas. The menu features classic Zacatecan dishes including shrimp pozole, asado de bodas, and pachole Zacatecas-style. After lunch, La Leyenda sits just 600 metres from the Cathedral, making the afternoon a perfect opportunity for a leisurely walk through the historic core. The Catedral Basílica de Zacatecas is your first stop — the crown jewel of the city and one of the supreme achievements of Mexican Churrigueresque architecture. Built between 1730 and 1760, the facade depicting Christ and the twelve apostles is one of the finest examples of Churrigueresque in Mexico, with a rosette window at its centre showing especially masterful carving — inspired by the Holy Trinity, with three naves, three doorways, and three levels on the main facade. Every centimetre of the pink cantera stone is carved into cascading saints, foliage, and angels that reads less like architecture and more like scripture in stone. Directly beside it, the Plaza de Armas anchors the civic heart of the city, flanked by the 18th-century Palacio de Gobierno with its baroque ironwork balconies and a central courtyard staircase bearing a sweeping mural of Zacatecas history. From there, the Mercado González Ortega — an 1889 market now filled with regional sweets, Huichol needlework, silver, and crafts — the elegant neoclassical Teatro Calderón, and the graceful 18th-century Aqueduct are all within easy walking distance. End the afternoon with a mezcal at one of the callejón cafés as the late light turns the pink stone city golden. EVENING: We will return to the Cathedral area this evening for a 7:00 PM reservation at Mesón de Jobito MEALS: Breakfast is included. All other meals are separate.
DAY
4
THE BURNED ONE
Zacatecas City, Zacatecas
MORNING: We will meet for breakfast at 7 AM this morning for an early departure. This morning we will transfer to the ancient city of La Quemada — also known as Chicomoztoc, "the Place of the Seven Caves.” This site is one of the most dramatic and enigmatic archaeological sites in northern Mexico, a fortified hilltop complex rising from the high desert of Zacatecas whose stone temples, colonnaded halls, and ceremonial platforms speak to a civilization of considerable sophistication that flourished here between roughly 300 and 900 AD. Long debated by scholars, the site is widely considered the strongest physical candidate for the legendary Chicomoztoc of Nahua oral tradition — the mythic womb-cave from which multiple Mesoamerican peoples, including the ancestors of the Aztec, believed they emerged and began their southward migrations — making it not merely an archaeological ruin but a living origin story, a place where cosmology and landscape converge in ways that still resonate for Indigenous communities today. Standing on its terraced hillside, looking out over the vast semi-arid valley through which the Camino Real would later pass, it is impossible not to feel the weight of deep time. We will spend about 2.5 hours at the site, arriving early before the heat of the day. This site is exposed with little shade. Please wear sturdy shoes, as we will be climbing up the hill as we explore this incredible and powerful fortress. We will depart the site at 11:30 AM for the Pueblo Magico of Jerez de Garcia Salinas. AFTERNOON: We should arrive in Jerez de Garcia Salinas at around 12:15, so will head to La Compañia Cocina for lunch. Jerez was founded in the 16th century as an agricultural and cattle town and one of the earliest colonial settlements in the state — unfolds as a canvas of pink cantera stone and elegant portals, with a nostalgic, señorial atmosphere that feels genuinely untouched by mass tourism. The town is above all celebrated as the birthplace of Ramón López Velarde, considered one of the greatest writers in Mexican literature, whose 19th-century home is now a museum displaying his manuscripts, photographs, and personal belongings. A short stroll takes in the Jardín Rafael Páez — the graceful central plaza — the Teatro Hinojosa, a historic theatre that first opened in 1878, the striking Edificio de la Torre with its Moorish-influenced cedar doors, and the Parroquia de la Inmaculada Concepción, a well-preserved Baroque church that anchors the historic core. Jerez is also the birthplace of the tamborazo zacatecano — a musical style born from the fusion of pre-Hispanic rhythms with instruments and sounds from other traditions — and on any given afternoon you're likely to hear it drifting through the streets. We will spend the afternoon exploring the downtown historical centro, departing at around 5:00 PM for the hour-long return trip to Zacatecas. EVENING: This evening, we are leaving dinner plans optional, as some of you may want to return to the restaurant in our hotel or try somewhere new. MEALS: Breakfast is included. All other meals are separate.
DAY
5
JOURNEY TO SIERRA DE CATORCE
Real de Catorce, San Luis Potosí
MORNING: Please bring your luggage to the lobby by 7:45 AM so we can load the van before breakfast. We will depart by 9 AM for a UNESCO protected collection of important, religious art. Founded between 1703 and 1707, the Franciscan Colegio Apostólico de Propaganda Fide de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe was one of the most important missionary training colleges in colonial North America, sending priests deep into Indigenous territories as far north as Texas, New Mexico, and California. Its extraordinary cloisters are lined with paintings — including a complete series of 26 works depicting the life of Saint Francis, the only such collection preserved in its original location from New Spain, alongside monumental canvases by the great masters of viceregal painting. The Reform Laws of 1859 expelled the friars and the building passed through multiple lives — school, stables, candle factory — before being restored as a museum. Today it houses over 800 works of colonial art and in 2010 became part of the UNESCO World Heritage designation as a key stop on the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. We will depart Guadalupe at approximately 11:30 AM for Real de Catorce. AFTERNOON: Our commute to Real de Catorce takes approximately 5 hours with pit stops, so we will pack a boxed lunch today and recommend buying some snacks before we leave. Upon arriving at the entrance of Real de Catorce, we may need to wait to enter the Ogarrio Tunnel. This Tunnel takes its name from the Maza family, originally from Ogarrio in northern Spain. Inaugurated in 1901, the 2,300-metre tunnel was built to facilitate the transportation of minerals from the mines to the processing haciendas on the eastern plain and remains the sole entrance to Real de Catorce today. The single-file, narrow, dark, low ceilings and flickering lights making it one of the most cinematic arrivals of any town in Mexico. Please Note: If you suffer from claustrophobia, please contact us about the tunnel or watch the video on the website page, which we recorded in 2018 on our first trip here. This tunnel is a narrow, one-way drive with a low ceiling and dim lighting. It takes about 4 minutes to drive through. EVENING: This evening, we have a dinner reservation at Mesón de la Abundancia for 7 PM. Housed in a charming 19th-century hotel and restaurant with thick rock walls, heavy wood beams, and vault-like doors adorned with art and artifacts — the ambiance takes you back in time. MEALS: Breakfast is included. All other meals are separate.
DAY
6
PUEBLA FANTASMA
Real de Catorce, San Luis Potosí
MORNING: We will meet this morning at 8:00 AM for breakfast before mounting our horses and climbing up to Puebla Fantasma. If you have not ridden before, please let us know ahead of time. The hand-crafted, stone path is a series of switch-backs to gain altitude before the cobbled path transforms into dirt and turf. The crumbling ruins are picturesque and beautiful to photograph and the outstanding views of Real de Catorce far below will make you feel like you’re on the edge of the world. We will return to Real de Catorce at around Noon. AFTERNOON: We will have lunch at Pizzaria del Cactus before exploring the edge of town. The Capilla de Guadalupe, constructed by Franciscan monks in 1775, is one of the most unusual churches in Mexico — its interior contains the tombs of prominent townspeople from the silver boom era, and the floor itself is made of gravestones, making it impossible to enter without walking on the dead. Just up the street, the Palenque de Gallos — a cockfighting ring built like a Roman amphitheater, with origins dating to 1789 and rebuilt in 1863 — was the favourite entertainment of the silver miners alongside bullfighting, and today after its 1970s restoration occasionally hosts theatre and dance performances. Nearby stand the ruins of the Plaza de Toros, inaugurated in 1791 as a celebration of the ascension of King Carlos IV to the Spanish throne, its semicircular stone walls still standing. We finish the afternoon browsing the town's remarkable Wixárika (formerly known as Huichol) bead galleries, where the extraordinary artistic tradition comes alive in strikingly colourful beadwork and yarn paintings — designs infused with spiritual meaning, reflecting the Wixáritari's sacred relationship with this landscape as the birthplace of the sun and the heart of their peyote pilgrimage tradition. EVENING: This evening we will have dinner at 7 PM at Restaurante El Templo Real de Catorce. MEALS: Breakfast is included. All other meals are separate.
DAY
7
PLACE WHERE THE SUN WAS BORN
Real de Catorce, San Luis Potosí
MORNING: We will meet for breakfast at 8:00 AM before the horses return to carry us out across the Sierra de Catorce. Departing from Real de Catorce, we ride out across the high desert plateau past the haunting ruins of the Ex-Haciendas before entering the open sacred landscape that overlooks Wirikuta. This is the destination of the Wixáritari (Huichol) annual peyote pilgrimage, a journey retracing the mythic footsteps of their ancestors to the place they call the birthplace of the sun, marked across the desert floor by ancient ceremonial rock circles — sacred sites where offerings, prayer arrows, and yarn paintings left by pilgrims speak to a living spiritual tradition of extraordinary depth. The ride brings us to the Shaman's Temple, a modest stone structure whose simplicity belies its profound ceremonial importance as a waypoint on one of the most ancient pilgrimage routes in the Americas. The silence out here is deafening - nothing but rugged terrain, wind, cactus, and the vast blue sky of the Sierra de Catorce. AFTERNOON: When we return to Real de Catorce at around Noon, we will have lunch before jumping into one of the town's beloved Jeep Willys, which are vintage open-air vehicles that have been navigating these mountain tracks for decades. The route drops dramatically down the Hill of the Repentant — a steep, winding gravel and cobblestone descent that earns its evocative name — rattling past sheer drops before arriving onto the vast, sun-bleached plateau below, the sacred homeland of Wirikuta. As we descend the Hill of the Repentant, we will make a short stop at the Socavón de la Purísima Hacienda, which was once the second most productive silver mine in all of Mexico. The mine featured a 3,208-metre tunnel dug deep into the mountain during the colonial era. Between 1788 and 1806, the La Purísima mine alone yielded over 200,000 pesos of silver annually — at a time when a silver peso was equivalent to a dollar — and today its 30-metre smelting chimney, chapel, and ruined hacienda buildings still stand as a haunting testament to the wealth and hard labour that built Real de Catorce Between our morning visit to the Shaman’s sacred temple and an afternoon descending through colonial mining history to the sacred Wirikuta, today is a profound exploration of indigenous narratives and how colonialism rendered a different value system in these powerful landscapes. EVENING: This evening, we will have dinner at 7 PM at The Italian, which is run by a chef who once cooked for the Italian General Staff at NATO. MEALS: Breakfast is included. All other meals are separate.
DAY
8
THE WEARY TIME TRAVELLERS
San Luis Potosí City, San Luis Potosí
MORNING: We will bring our luggage to the lobby at 7:45 AM to load the van before breakfast. We will eat from 8:00-9:00 AM then depart for a lengthy commute to the town of Cerro de San Pedro. AFTERNOON: Cerro de San Pedro has an important history for the context of our tour. The story began when a Guachichil Indigenous man revealed to colonizers the secret the hills held — veins of gold and silver so abundant that chroniclers compared them to the legendary Potosí in Bolivia. Cerro de San Pedro was the very first settlement of what became San Luis Potosí — the founding place of the entire state — and its mining activity was so significant that by 1621 San Luis Potosí was considered the third most important and wealthy city in all of New Spain. Because the site lacked water, the Spanish founded the capital city in the valley below, naming it Potosí after the origin of its wealth. As there is only a population of about 70 people here, we will bring a box lunch today. From Cerro de San Pedro, we make our way into the under-rated, UNESCO protected historical centre of San Luis Potosi. San Luis Potosí takes its name from a double inheritance — its patron saint Louis IX of France, and Potosí, the legendary silver city of Bolivia. This name was chosen deliberately to signal the extraordinary mineral wealth discovered at nearby Cerro de San Pedro. Founded as a Franciscan mission in 1583 and formally made a city in 1658, it became the centre of colonial government and mining operations for the entire northern region, positioned at a critical junction where the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro passed through on its way between Mexico City and the silver frontier. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries the state remained Mexico's most prolific mining centre, and the wealth it generated funded the extraordinary Baroque and Neoclassical architecture that still define one of the most beautiful historic centres in Mexico today. Beyond the colonial era, the city played an important political role after Independence, serving briefly in 1863 as the seat of Benito Juárez's government, and it was here that Francisco Madero drafted his Plan de San Luis Potosí in 1910, the document that launched the Mexican Revolution against Porfirio Díaz — making this silver city not only the economic engine of colonial New Spain but one of the birthplaces of modern Mexico. EVENING: This evening, we have a 7 PM dinner reservation at Monesterio, located right inside our hotel. MEALS: Breakfast is included. All other meals are separate.
DAY
9
CITY OF GARDENS
San Luis Potosí City, San Luis Potosí
MORNING: This morning, we will meet at 8:00 AM for breakfast. Our tour this morning begins at the Leonora Carrington Museum. Leonora Carrington was born on April 6, 1917, in Lancashire, England, into a wealthy Catholic family, but from an early age rebelled against both her upbringing and the social expectations placed on her. Carrington was expelled from at least two convent schools before finding her way into the world of Surrealism. At 19 she attended the first International Surrealist Exhibition in London, fell into a romantic relationship with the German painter Max Ernst and moved to Paris, where her family promptly disowned her. After the upheaval of World War II she settled in Mexico City, where she flourished among a community of European exile artists, forging a particularly close friendship with fellow Surrealist Remedios Varo, and continued painting her dreamlike visions of sorcery, metamorphosis, and the occult until her death in 2011 — one of the last surviving members of the original Surrealist movement. Once we have finished our tour, we will head to the centro for a walking tour that includes the Templo del Carmen, Plaza de Armas, Garden Plaza and more. AFTERNOON: We will have lunch at La Posada del Virrey, which is right on the plaza. This afternoon, we can break for free time so guests can poke around the centro, rest or people watch on the plaza with a coffee. EVENING: Restaurant Rincón Huasteco has over 30 years of experience and has been recognized multiple times as one of the best restaurants in Mexico, with a focus on deeply rooted local traditions. Their speciality is Huasteca Potosina gastronomy, such as cecina (dried beef) cured in sour orange, queso de guaje (a filled pulled-cheese), queso de aro, and fresh black beans, finished with pan huasteco. Chef Taurino Galván runs the kitchen and the service is warm and engaging — regulars describe it as eating at a friend's house. It's been featured in the Guía México Gastronómico. Our dinner reservation is for 7 PM. MEALS: Breakfast is included. All other meals are separate.
DAY
10
CITY OF ATHENS
Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco
MORNING: Please bring your luggage to the lobby by 7:45 AM so we can load the van before breakfast. We will depart the city of San Luis Potosi at 8:30 AM for the rebozo capital of Mexico, called Santa Maria del Rio. The rebozo is a long rectangular shawl with pre-Hispanic roots that blended Indigenous weaving traditions with Spanish colonial influences to become one of Mexico's most distinctly mestizo garments, worn across all social classes from the 16th century onward. It has carried deep political symbolism — famously worn by Independence-era women who concealed weapons and messages beneath its folds and later adopted by figures like Frida Kahlo as an assertion of Mexican nationalist identity. Today it remains a living textile tradition, with regional styles like the silk rebozos of Santa María del Río in San Luis Potosí state considered among the finest in the country, representing an unbroken thread of artisan knowledge passed through generations of weavers. The commute to Santa Maria del Rio is about an hour. We will visit a collective where artisans offer demonstrations of their fine rebozos, famed for being fine enough to slip through a wedding band. AFTERNOON: This afternoon, we will head to Lagos de Moreno for lunch at La Rinconada. Lagos de Moreno is a stately colonial city in the highlands of Jalisco, founded in 1563 as a garrison on the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro — the old Silver Route that connected Mexico City to the northern mining frontier. Its grand historic centre, anchored by the towering neo-Gothic Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, earned it the nickname "Athens of Mexico" for the remarkable concentration of writers, poets, and intellectuals it produced in the 19th century. The surrounding region is the heartland of ranchero culture — cattle haciendas, charreada tradition, and the origins of both the mariachi aesthetic and some of Mexico's finest aged cheeses. It sits within easy reach of San Juan de los Lagos, one of the most important Marian pilgrimage sites in the Americas, drawing millions of faithful each year to its ornate baroque basilica. Largely bypassed by mass tourism, Lagos de Moreno offers the rare pleasure of a genuinely lived-in Mexican city where the plazas, markets, and colonial streets belong entirely to its own people. Following lunch, we will head to our hotel for check-in and an afternoon of relaxation. If you are interested in any spa treatments, please contact us so we can book them ahead of time. EVENING: Dinner this evening is set for 7 PM at the Hacienda. MEALS: Breakfast is included. All other meals are separate.
DAY
11
A MAJESTIC HISTORY
Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco
MORNING: We will have breakfast and a leisurely morning, departing the hotel by 10 AM to explore the beautiful historical centre of Lagos de Moreno. The highlights include the Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción. This magnificent Baroque church at the heart of Lagos de Moreno was built in the late 18th century, its façade carved from pink quarry stone with intricate detailing. The interior dazzles with a gilded wood high altar, towering columns, and stained-glass windows and the bell tower, standing over 150 feet tall, can be climbed for panoramic views of the city and surrounding altiplano. It's one of the tallest parish churches in Mexico and the visual anchor of the entire historic centre. Next, we will visit the Teatro José Rosas Moreno. A true marvel of the Porfiriato era, built in the French neoclassical style and named for the city's beloved playwright and poet. It sits right on the central jardín and represents the height of Lagos's 19th century cultural flowering — the period that earned it the Athens of Mexico nickname. Even if there's no performance on, the exterior and lobby are worth a visit. Our tour concludes with a visit the Puente de Lagos. A four-arch stone bridge whose construction began in 1741 and was completed in 1860 — a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. AFTERNOON: This afternoon, we will visit Vinicola Tierra de Luz for lunch and a wine tasting. Tierra de Luz is part of the Hacienda Jaramillo de Abajo, which dates to 1550 and is considered one of the oldest haciendas in Mexico, having belonged to Juan Jaramillo — the husband of La Malinche. EVENING: We will set our dinner reservation for 7 PM at the hacienda. MEALS: Breakfast is included. All other meals are separate.
DAY
12
A DAY OF REST
Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco
MORNING: This morning we are keeping unstructured. The Hacienda has a Spa and lovely grounds for relaxing, so guests may want a day of rest to process our trip and relax. AFTERNOON: For those who would like to go and further explore Lagos de Moreno, we can head out for the afternoon. EVENING: This evening, we will enjoy our final dinner at the Hacienda at 7 PM. MEALS: Breakfast is included. All other meals are separate.
DAY
13
HOME SWEET HOME
San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato
MORNING: This morning we are keeping unstructured. The Hacienda has a Spa and lovely grounds for relaxing, so guests may want a day of rest to process our trip and relax. AFTERNOON: For those who would like to go and further explore Lagos de Moreno, we can head out for the afternoon. EVENING: This evening, we will enjoy our final dinner at the Hacienda at 7 PM. MEALS: Breakfast is included. All other meals are separate.
"Travel not only across landscapes, but across centuries." - Anonymous
LOGISTICS & OTHER INFO
ACCOMMODATIONS
Our accommodations for this tour include historical properties and lodgings with elegant spaces and character. Our tour pace is relaxed so we can enjoy the properties as part of the experience.
BANKING
We recommend contacting your bank to inform them you will be travelling out of country. ATM machines are accessible in Zacatecas and San Luis Potosí, and we recommend carrying some cash in this region for places that do not take credit cards. You may use credit cards in select restaurants, but we recommend leaving the tip in cash. Not all international ATM's work in restaurants or stores, but you will be able to withdraw cash from the bank machines. IMPORTANT INFO FOR TAKING CASH OUT OF THE ATM: While you must always accept the "service fee" for using the ATM's, some Mexican banks will also offer you a conversion rate. ALWAYS HIT DECLINE. You will still receive your cash, but your own bank will give you a much better conversion rate.
CLIMATE & ALTITUDE
Zacatecas sits at an elevation of approximately 2,440 meters (8,005 feet), giving it a pleasantly mild spring climate. In March, visitors can expect sunny, dry days with temperatures typically reaching 22–27°C (72–81°F), while mornings and evenings are noticeably cooler, often dropping to 5–8°C (41–46°F). Real de Catorce, perched high in the mountains at about 2,740 meters (8,990 feet), enjoys comfortable daytime temperatures of 20–25°C (68–77°F) in March. Due to its elevation, nights can be chilly, with temperatures commonly falling to 3–7°C (37–45°F). San Luis Potosí, located at roughly 1,860 meters (6,100 feet) above sea level, experiences warm, dry spring weather. March temperatures typically range from 25–30°C (77–86°F) during the day, cooling to 9–12°C (48–54°F) overnight. Lagos de Moreno, at an elevation of about 1,880 meters (6,170 feet), enjoys sunny days and low humidity in March. Afternoon temperatures generally reach 27–31°C (81–88°F), while evenings and early mornings are cooler, averaging 8–11°C (46–52°F).
MEDICAL INSURANCE & EMERGENCY CONTACT
Please purchase medical insurance before you come and send us contact information for your insurance provider AND an emergency contact, in case you are unable to communicate with us. Please send our contact information to a family member or friend in case someone at home cannot get a hold of you.
MOBILITY REQUIREMENTS
This tour requires decent mobility, Chicomoztoc is built on an incline, so requires some climbing. Real de Catorce has uneven, cobblestone streets that are being replaced, but some are still in rough shape. We also have two horseback riding excursions, so please let us know if you have never ridden a horse before. The horseback riding is challenging because of the hills and hard ground, but the guides will lead us at a gentle walking pace. The Jeep Willy Ride is a bit bumpy, so could be a challenge for anyone with arthritis of body pain. If you are concerned, please let us know so we can extrapolate.
TRAVEL INSURANCE
Throughout the years, we have endured many cancellations for various emergencies, which has forced us to change our booking policy. Please purchase travel insurance to cover trip cancellation in the event that you suffer a medical emergency, bereavement, climate event etc.
WHAT TO BRING
These are some recommendations for items you may wish to bring for your trip. * Rain poncho or compact umbrella. It doesn't usually rain at this time of year. * Walking Stick * Layered clothing for warm and hot weather. A warm jacket is smart to bring for Real de Catorce, as it sits at such a high altitude and gets cold at night. * 2 Pairs of comfortable, sturdy shoes * Hand Sanitizer * Hat, Sunscreen and Sunglasses * Power Bank for your phone * An open mind!
FAQ'S
1
HOW MUCH CASH SHOULD I BRING?
We will see a lot of handicrafts and beadwork in Real de Catorce, so you will want cash there, Prices can range from $150 MXN for a pair of earrings to $5000 for more complex beaded art pieces. We also recommend bringing extra cash for wine, beer, snacks and spending in small, local shops as not all of them have POS terminals for cards.
2
WHAT IF I DON'T WANT TO PURCHASE ANYTHING?
When we visit the collectives, you are not obligated to purchase anything. Artisans are well aware that many guests will not buy, so please do not feel embarrassed or pressured to purchases pieces you don't truly desire.
3
ARE WE ALLOWED TO TAKE PHOTOS IN THE VILLAGES?
Always ask permission before taking photos of indigenous people, especially their children. When we visit the Shamans temple and the Peyote desert, we need to be respectful by asking permission before taking photos of any sacred circles or people. On our last tour, we were permitted photos of the prayer circles and peyote, but as these are part of their sacred ceremonies, we will always ask first.
4
IS THE WATER SAFE TO DRINK?
The water is safe for brushing your teeth, but please always drink bottled water. Ice cubes are made with purified water across most of Mexico now, so they will be safe.
5
WHAT IS THE STANDARD TIPPING AMOUNT?
We generally recommend tipping your driver around $40-$50 MXN per day, while doubling that for your team leaders, depending on their service. For your hotel or housekeeper, if you ask for cleaning services, we recommend $40-$50 MXN per service. If you are purchasing groceries and someone bags them for you, the average payment is 5 MXN per bag. Our drivers and guides establish their own rates, but tipping is still customary in Mexico, particularly in tourism-based professions. In restaurants, the standard tipping among foreigners is 15-20%. Please do not worry about tipping for meals that are included, as we will cover that! We also encourage our guests to pay all tips in cash whenever possible, as some restaurants do not allow tips to go through on credit or debit cards.
