Wonderful cultural vacation in Oaxaca
Mexico
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Dec 27 - Jan 4, 2024
We had a wonderful vacation in Oaxaca experiencing the culture, art, and food. Rene did an excellent job planning the trip to balance cooking days with more active tours and free time to explore the city. We loved visiting families in their homes to cook with them, and learn about their way of life. The pottery and art experiences were very special and perfect for us and our 12 and 14 year old boys. The simple and wholesome way of life made an impression on us all. My 14 year old already made tortillas from scratch since we returned home a few days ago.
Hotel and restaurants were all fantastic, too. Rene had stayed in the hotel, and eaten at the restaurants he recommended. We are very grateful to have been matched with him.
Hotel Review
This hotel is in a great location, walkable to all parts of Oaxaca City but also on a quieter street. The employees who work here are wonderful and keep the hotel running well and looking beautiful. There was always pure water available in glass, reusable bottles for us, and a place to refill our water bottles for the day. The rooms were clean and the linens soft. Thank you for a wonderful stay.
Activity Reviews
We loved going to this market and the cook's home to make lunch together. She was generous, talented and very sweet and we learned a lot and had a great day. My son was so inspired that he's made tortillas from scratch since we arrived back home to California. There was no problem accommodating our vegetarian diet.
This was a great dinner for our first night in Oaxaca. We experienced so many different types of food, and it was helpful to have it all prepaid since we hadn't exchanged money yet.
Diego took us through 3 neighborhoods on bikes and taught us so much about the city through murals and art. It was a very memorable experience, and we only wished we had even more tours with him.
Ana took us through markets and all around the city to try different local foods. It was a great choice to have this tour on our first full day in Oaxaca. Everything was delicious. Ana made sure we could eat vegetarian - this was not difficult since the traditional Oaxacan foods are plant-based anyway. We are an active family and our only change would have been to make this a walking tour rather than going to each place by van.
Loved the cooking experience, especially making fresh tortillas in the outdoor kitchen of one of our hosts.
One of our most favorite days in Oaxaca - we especially loved the pottery and the experience meeting the artist who perfected this craft to sell to her community and eventually worldwide. The weavers were also fantastic and involved my son in finishing a rug that this particular man had been working on for months. A very memorable day.
5+ stars for the alebrijes workshop and 3 stars for Monte Alban. Alebrijes- It was wonderful meeting the Jimenez family and learning about the carving and painting of the spirit animals. The 4 of us, including our sons ages 12 and 14, spent hours painting our own alebrijes after we had lunch and a tour of the beautiful little museum which was part of their home. Monte Alban- We appreciated getting there early before the bigger crowds, but this visit felt very touristy and it was hard to follow the stories of our English speaking guide.