For years, our January trip has introduced travelers to the best of Mexico City. This new spring journey goes further still: into the markets, barrios, and back rooms of the city that most visitors will never see. Led by Ro Vazquez, a pioneer of ethical tourism in Mexico, we rise before dawn for an insider tour of the world’s largest wholesale fish and produce market. We visit the barrio bravo of Tepito with the sonideros, eat at a pozole spot that never closes, forage and cook in the middle of a sprawling forest, drink what might be the world’s best pulque under a bridge in Tacuba, and bar hop through the city with one of its legendary bartenders.
For years, our January trip has introduced travelers to the best of Mexico City. This new spring journey goes further still: into the markets, barrios, and back rooms of the city that most visitors will never see. Led by Ro Vazquez, a pioneer of ethical food tourism in Mexico, and R&K executive editor and CDMX resident Charly Wilder, we rise before dawn for an insider tour of the world’s largest wholesale fish and produce market. We visit the barrio bravo of Tepito with the sonideros, eat at a pozole spot that never closes, forage and cook in the middle of a sprawling forest, drink what might be the world’s best pulque under a bridge in Tacuba, and bar hop through the city with one of its legendary bartenders. Vegetarian-friendly. Moderate activity level.
Colima 183, Roma Norte, Cuauhtémoc, 06700 Ciudad de México
+52 5548 733 306
Head to the pine forests of Santa Ana Jilotzingo for a full day of food and foraging with the brilliant local crew at Cubo: gathering wild ingredients for a long lunch cooked over wood fire outside a one-room cube of a house whose front wall swings open onto the trees. Also: wild-foraged cocktails!
Back to the hotel for siesta
Wine talks at the hotel with sommelier, winemaker, and writer Sophie Avernin: Mexico’s weirder wines, artisanal cheeses and hard-to-find Mexican snacks
Colima 183, Roma Norte, Cuauhtémoc, 06700 Ciudad de México
+52 5548 733 306
Private breakfast at a local spot in San Miguel Chapultepec
Art tour with noted streetwear personality and patron of the arts Ahmed Bautista, including private showings with emerging CDMX artists
Lunch with the artists at a low-key favorite in the gallery district
Free afternoon for last-minute shopping and exploration
Big-deal finale dinner with one of Mexico City’s most influential rising chefs
Day
6
A la próxima
May 12 · Wednesday
Farewell private chef’s breakfast on the terrace
Private transfer back to Mexico City airport for your flight home or to the city center if you’re staying longer
What’s Included
All breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, as well as snacks and beverages between meals
All accommodations and transportation during the trip (except when taking a taxi or ride app independently during unscheduled time)
Expertise and services of our experienced trip leaders: at least one guide and one host per trip
Additional guides and experts from the region
Transfers to and from the airport or wherever you are on the day the trip starts and ends
Daily Roads & Kingdoms gifts, notes, and playlists related to the themes, activities and narratives of each trip
All gratuities for accommodations, meals, guiding or transport
What’s Not Included
International airfare to and from the journey
Personal bar tabs (when not with the group)
Personal laundry or spa services
Personal travel insurance
Meet Our Hosts
Local Guide
Ro Vazquez
Founder of Eat Like a Local
One of Mexico City’s most innovative travel hosts and entrepreneurs, Rocio Vazquez is the founder of Eat Like a Local, a boutique, all-female tour group dedicated to responsible food tourism. One of the first food bloggers in Mexico, she got her start anonymously reviewing restaurants through her blog, Sin Mantel, eventually leading food tours through the city to make money on the side. In addition to Eat Like a Local, she founded 80IQ, a program dedicated to broadening the horizons of young girls from the areas around La Merced market.
R&K Host
Charly Wilder
Executive Editor, Travel Writer
Roads & Kingdoms executive editor Charly Wilder spent most of the past two decades in Europe writing on culture, travel, and current affairs, primarily for The New York Times. She followed the former Silk Road through Central Asia, traced her ancestry into the old Jewish shtetls of Eastern Europe, covered doping in Russia and jaguar conservation in the Yucatán. Then, in 2026, she fulfilled a long-held dream and moved her family to her favorite place in the world: Mexico City.
Where You’ll Stay
Casa Izeba
Roma Perfection
On leafy Colima, arguably the most beautiful street of prime Roma Norte, Casa Izeba is a 20s-era modernist residence turned contemporary-minded boutique hotel. The roof terrace offers views of the city’s skyline under the shade of a jacaranda tree: peak CDMX.
I could not imagine a more enjoyable way to see Mexico City in such a small window of time. Every detail was thought of.
Amanda C.
CDMX Under the Volcano 2024
Our trip to CDMX with Roads and Kingdoms will forever be in my heart. It’s inspiring and travel at its absolute best.
Leslee K.
CDMX Under the Volcano 2024
Traveling with Roads & Kingdoms, you gain access to people, places and experiences that you simply would not be able to do on your own.
The Oaxaca they want to sell you is just one of the many Oaxacas that are now thriving, jostling, and innovating in this future-facing region with roots deeper than time. Not just any tour for any travelers, our League of Travelers adventure in Oaxaca is an expression of the beautiful world of Ana Paulina Garcia. She’ll bring us into her life of creative chefs and distillers and artists—new visionaries in an ancient culture.
The only part of Spain never to fall to the Moors, Asturias remains defiant, delicious, distinctive. Our collaborator José Andrés comes from these mountains, and his ideas, passions and people are woven throughout this magical weeklong journey from the coast to the hills and back again.
