Reconnect with your creative life on this seven-day exploration of self and the arts. In the artistic enclave of San Miguel de Allende and in the company of a New York Times expert, enjoy an immersive creative experience and learn from masters how to build a daily creative practice and supportive community at home.
Everyone has creativity within them, whether it be artistic or in the culinary arts. Here is your chance to reignite your creative flame and reap the rewards beyond simply producing something. In painting, photography and cooking workshops, study the creative process and learn how to apply the lessons to your own artistic interests and personal growth. Learn creative principles in artists’ studios, rural villages, architectural treasures and archaeological sites. Visit the famed potters’ workshops of Dolores Hidalgo and the childhood home of the muralist and painter Diego Rivera for more inspiration. Return refreshed and full of ideas.
Your journey includes:
On Tour Team: Professional tour leader and local experts
Transfers: Small group transfers based on flight arrival and departure times
Food & Drink: Most meals, plus welcome and farewell reception and non-alcoholic beverages with meals.
Accommodations: at 4- or 5- star hotels, including Wi-Fi where available
Logistics: All on-tour transportation as outlined in itinerary
Activities/Fees: Included for all per itinerary
Taxes and Fees: Port charges, non-refundable booking service fee, tour leader gratuities
Other: Complimentary Wi-Fi and daily copy of The New York Times Digest where available
Journey highlights include:
Have exclusive access to artists, factories and galleries, and hands-on workshops by local experts in painting, photography and cooking.
Participate in daily discussions with your Times Journeys expert, Laura M. Holson, about how to bring newfound creativity and energy to build a daily practice and supportive community at home.
Explore the brightly colored central squares and picturesque cobblestone streets of the UNESCO World Heritage cities of San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato.
Experience daily life with members of a rug hooking women’s cooperative in a rural subsistence village in the central Mexican highlands.
Cultivate your creativity with an expert photography workshop, and then practice your skills as you capture memories from your journey.
Take a three-hour workshop with a local artist where you will be guided in the creation of your own personal work and souvenir of your journey.
Day 1
Welcome to Mexico
Arrive at Mexico City International Airport and join your fellow Times Journeys travelers. Transfer as a group to the colonial World Heritage city of San Miguel de Allende. After settling into your hacienda, toast the start of your journey with a welcome reception. Then, enjoy live mariachi music and panoramic views of the city from the terrace of Antonia Bistro over a celebratory welcome dinner.
Activity: Light-to-moderate activity level, with daily walking distance of 1.5–3 miles. Streets are occasionally cobbled and uneven.
Day 2
Historical San Miguel and Cooking for Life
Take a walking tour of the colorful historic center of San Miguel de Allende with Alberto Aveleyra, a local historian and anthropologist specializing in sustainable tourism. The city, about 6,200 feet above sea level, was established by the Spanish in the 16th century on the site of an indigenous settlement. Learn how San Miguel has long inspired artists as you explore its cobbled streets, museums, churches and galleries. Marvel at the striking turreted pink facade of the pink church, the Parish of San Miguel Arcángel, and observe lessons at the art school, which was constructed in 1755 and is itself a work of art. After a group lunch at a local Mexican restaurant, join the curator of the Mask Museum, to tour an extraordinary collection of over 500 Mexican ceremonial masks, which have been used in indigenous ceremonies across the country. Tonight, explore creative and healthful cuisine in a cooking class, learning skills that you can take from San Miguel to spice up dinners in your own kitchen.
Activity: Light-to-moderate activity level, with daily walking distance of 3 miles or so. Streets are occasionally cobbled and uneven.
Day 3
Rural Highlands and Capturing Memories
Experience life in a rural subsistence village in the central Mexican highlands with members of a rug-hooking women’s cooperative. Together, you will help prepare a traditional lunch, learn about traditional herbal remedies, and view demonstrations of local rug-hooking and stone-carving techniques. After returning to San Miguel, take a three-hour photography journey with a professional photographer, who will share techniques to enhance your photos, even without specialized equipment. Join your photographer to capture memories of your experience in the late afternoon light in the colorful streets of San Miguel. Dinner is on your own this evening.
Activity: Light-to-moderate activity level, with daily walking distance of 1.5–3 miles. Streets are occasionally cobbled and uneven.
Day 4
Pottery and Tiles
Take a short drive to the town of Dolores Hidalgo, known as the birthplace of Mexican independence, for a guided half-day tour of the area’s churches and workshops with Alberto Aveleyra, resident anthropologist and historian. Visit a workshop to observe the local techniques for making pottery and ceramic tiles in the Talavera tradition. Take time to enjoy the town square on your own, stopping at street vendors for the city’s famous ice cream, with unusual flavors like avocado, tequila and shrimp. On the return drive to San Miguel, stop by the Atotonilco, a UNESCO World Heritage site that has been called the Sistine Chapel of Mexico because of the striking Mexican Baroque mural work that adorns its walls and ceiling. This evening, wander the charming and colorful streets of San Miguel on your own for dinner.
Activity: Light-to-moderate activity level, with daily walking distance of 1.5–3 miles. Streets are occasionally cobbled and uneven.
Day 5
Silver and Diego Rivera
Today, take a full-day tour of the UNESCO World Heritage City of Guanajuato, the epicenter of Mexican silver mining. Its location in a narrow valley accounts for its winding streets. Guanajuato is home of a major arts festival that draws people from around the world. Your local anthropologist guide will bring you through the childhood home of the muralist and painter Diego Rivera, now a museum. Visit a pottery factory and explore a market designed by Gustave Eiffel, whose global contributions include the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty. Explore the town’s winding streets and subterranean passageways on your own before returning to San Miguel in the afternoon.
Activity: Light-to-moderate activity level, with daily walking distance of 3 miles or so. Streets are occasionally cobbled and uneven.
Day 6
From Observer to Artist: An Explosion of Creativity and Color
Walk through the art district of Guadalupe, with its festive murals and colorful wall art. Move from observer to student and artist at the Fábrica La Aurora, a textile factory that has been converted into an art gallery and studio for more than 50 artists. A local artist, Gerardo Ruiz, will lead you in a three-hour intensive workshop, where you can produce your own works of art. Your Times Journey expert, Laura Holson, will also help you talk afterwards with the local gallerists about their portfolios. Following lunch at a local restaurant, take a short drive to the Chapel of Jimmy Ray, where the artist and owner, Anado McLauchlin, will lead you through the volcanic eruption of mosaics that adorn the furniture, jewelry and walls of the house itself. Tonight, enjoy a final festive dinner with live music from an estudiantina at Áperi featuring food for the five senses using local ingredients.
Activity: Light-to-moderate activity level, with daily walking distance of 3 miles or so. Streets are occasionally cobbled and uneven.
Day 7
Homeward Bound
Say farewell to the charming and colorful cobblestoned streets of San Miguel de Allende before a group transfer to the Mexico City International Airport and your homeward flights.