Unusual Expedition

Mexico Festival Of The Dead 2026

Fourteen day photography journey through central Mexico and the Yucatán for Día de Muertos, from Teotihuacán and the colonial highlands to Mexico City for the f…

Country
Mexico
Departure Dates
26 Oct 2026 To 08 Nov 2026
Tour Code
MEX20261026G1
Tour Leader
Joseph Mak

Room Type And Pricing

  • Share Room: S$10,800
  • Single Room: S$13,000

Tour Itinerary

Day 1 | Tokyo | Mexico City

The Mexico photography tour begins with the long Pacific crossing from Tokyo. ANA NH180 leaves Narita at 16:50 and lands at Mexico City Terminal 1 at 14:05 the same calendar date, the international date line handing back the hours the flight takes. After immigration, baggage and customs we walk straight across the covered bridge to the Camino Real Aeropuerto, which removes any city transfer at the end of a very long day. The afternoon is deliberately empty for rest, currency and equipment preparation. A short evening briefing covers the road programme, altitude, weather, equipment security and how we will work the Día de Muertos days respectfully.

Day 2 | Teotihuacán | Tula De Allende

After breakfast we check out and drive northeast to Teotihuacán, one of the most monumental ancient cities in the Americas. The Pyramid of the Sun and Pyramid of the Moon anchor the Avenue of the Dead, and the Temple of the Feathered Serpent carries the carved heads that give it its name. Photography here is about symmetry, repeating stone, the sheer scale of the ceremonial axis and the way the pyramids sit against the surrounding mountains. Rather than doubling back to Mexico City we continue to Tula de Allende and check in at Terraza 10, close to the archaeological zone, with a short evening walk around town if the arrival time allows.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 3 | Tula | San Miguel De Allende

The day starts early at the Tula Archaeological Zone, where the Atlantean warriors stand four metres tall on top of Pyramid B, basalt figures in feathered headdresses that are among the most striking sculptures in ancient Mexico. Morning light cleans up the stone and the crowds have not arrived. We photograph the ceremonial plaza, the columns, the ball courts and what remains of the Toltec complex before returning for breakfast and checking out. The drive continues to San Miguel de Allende and Hotel La Morada, right beside the Jardín Principal, so the afternoon of painted facades, colonial doorways, cobbles and the pink Parroquia needs no transport at all. We stay in the centre through sunset and blue hour.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 4 | San Miguel Sunrise | Guanajuato

Before breakfast we walk San Miguel de Allende at sunrise, when the Jardín is empty and the light comes low along Calle Aldama, the street that gives the classic view of the Parroquia's pink spires. The elevated streets nearby are worth the climb. After breakfast and check-out we continue to Guanajuato and Antigua Trece in the historic centre, a few steps from the Callejón del Beso. Guanajuato is a city built into a ravine, with traffic running through tunnels beneath it and houses stacked in every colour up the hillsides. We work the lanes, plazas, markets and theatres, take an elevated viewpoint for sunset over the whole bowl, and return to the centre for evening street photography.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 5 | Guanajuato | Pátzcuaro | Janitzio | Morelia

An early departure for the long run to Lake Pátzcuaro, the heart of Purépecha Michoacán and the region most associated with Día de Muertos. At the lakeside we board a local boat for Janitzio, the island that rises steeply from the water with a village wrapped around it. From the boat there are the fishermen and the passenger launches; ashore there are steep pedestrian lanes, stalls, community spaces and lake views from above, with festival preparations building visibly as the days close in. This is the day that most requires restraint and courtesy behind the camera. We return by boat and continue to Morelia, checking in at Rayón 50 in the historic centre for an evening of illuminated stone facades.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 6 | Morelia | Mexico City | Día De Muertos Begins

An early photography walk through Morelia's historic centre opens the day, with the cathedral, the stone arcades, the markets and the ordinary morning activity that makes a colonial city photograph well before it fills up. After breakfast and check-out we drive to Mexico City and settle into Hotel Roble for three nights, about 250 metres from the Zócalo and within walking distance of the National Palace, the Metropolitan Cathedral and the public ofrendas. Participants joining the shorter programme meet us here. The evening belongs to the festival: decorated streets, marigold displays, public altars, Catrinas in full paint and the crowds that come out for them, all worked in available light.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 7 | Mexico City | Día De Muertos Celebrations

The full day goes to Mexico City's principal Día de Muertos celebrations. The programme is organised around the official 2026 calendar and may include the Grand Day of the Dead Parade, the monumental ofrendas, Paseo de la Reforma, the Zócalo, Catrina gatherings, cultural performances and public installations. In 2025 the parade ran on this date from the Puerta de los Leones along Reforma to the Zócalo, so we plan around that pattern and stay flexible. Position matters more than anything: we take our places well before the crowds close the route. The work continues into the evening for illuminated decorations, performances and documentary frames of a city that treats death as a celebration.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 8 | Basilica Of Guadalupe | Día De Muertos Continues

The morning goes to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the most visited Catholic shrine in the Americas, where the modern basilica sits beside the sinking old one and pilgrims arrive continuously. We photograph the complex, the architecture and the devotional activity, always within the site's restrictions and never intruding on private prayer. The rest of the day returns to the central Día de Muertos programme, which depending on the final calendar may mean the main parade, the public ofrendas, cultural performances or the neighbourhood celebrations that are often more affecting than the official events. Hotel Roble is walkable from the Zócalo, so the group can retreat and return through a long festival day.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 9 | Mexico City | Puebla

After breakfast we check out and drive east to Puebla, a city whose historic centre is built almost entirely out of decoration. Talavera tiles cover facades in blue and white and yellow, and the churches carry some of the most elaborate interiors in Mexico. Palacio Julio puts us on Calle 2 Oriente, close to the Zócalo, the cathedral, El Parián craft market and the antique district around the Callejón de los Sapos. The afternoon works the tiled facades, the arcades and the squares, with Santo Domingo and its Capilla del Rosario, a chapel finished floor to ceiling in gold, as the interior highlight. We continue through sunset and blue hour and walk back to the hotel.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 10 | Puebla | Taxco

An optional sunrise walk in Puebla precedes breakfast, then we check out for the long drive southwest to Taxco, going direct rather than routing back through Mexico City. Taxco is a silver town poured down a mountainside, all whitewashed walls and red tiled roofs stacked at angles that only make sense from above. The late afternoon explores the steep lanes, the silver workshops and the elevated viewpoints, and then the Parish of Santa Prisca takes over: a churrigueresque facade in pink stone rising above the little central plaza, best in golden hour and better still through blue hour when the town lights come on around it.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 11 | Taxco | Mexico City | Cancún | Valladolid

An early Taxco session before breakfast catches the town waking up, then we leave for Mexico City airport and the domestic flight to Cancún. The departure time from Taxco follows the confirmed flight, with generous margin for traffic and airport procedures. On arrival we meet the Yucatán transport team and drive inland to Valladolid, a colonial town that most visitors treat as a stop on the way to Chichén Itzá and that deserves better. Hotel Mesón del Marqués sits directly on the main plaza, so the evening walk around the cathedral, the square and the coloured streets starts at the front door. Ek Balam is left for tomorrow rather than risked today.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 12 | Valladolid | Chichén Itzá

We leave early for Chichén Itzá and aim to be at the gate near opening, before the coaches from the coast arrive. El Castillo dominates, its nine terraces and 365 steps built as a calendar in stone, but the Great Ball Court, the Temple of the Warriors with its forest of columns, the Platform of Venus and the round El Caracol observatory give the day its range. The photography is geometric: symmetry, repetition, scale and the way the limestone sits against the tropical green. Afterwards we visit a cenote in the Valladolid region, one of the collapsed limestone sinkholes that fed this civilisation, for hanging roots, still water and shafts of light.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 13 | Valladolid | Ek Balam | Tulum

We check out after an early breakfast and drive north to Ek Balam, a Maya site far quieter than Chichén Itzá and, for many photographers, more rewarding. The Acropolis is one of the largest structures in the Maya world and still climbable, with a monster mouth doorway of carved stucco figures preserved under a protective roof, and jungle pressing in on every side. Moving it to this day rather than the arrival day makes the route work properly. Afterwards we continue to the Caribbean coast and Villa Pescadores Tulum, a beachfront hotel a short walk from the archaeological zone, and spend the late afternoon on the beach, the fishing boats, the palms and the changing coastal light.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 14 | Tulum | Cancún | Mexico City

The last morning starts on the beach at first light, straight from the hotel, for the Caribbean shoreline, the fishing boats and the early activity. Then the Tulum Archaeological Zone near opening time, a five minute walk away, where Maya structures stand on a low cliff directly above the sea, the only major site with that setting. Back for breakfast, packing and check-out, leaving around 13:00 for Cancún airport. Aeroméxico AM0551 departs Terminal 4 at 18:32 and reaches Mexico City Terminal 2 at 20:10; we collect bags, move to Terminal 1 and complete ANA check-in before using the short-use airport room. NH179 lifts at 00:50 for Tokyo.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

More Photo Tours

Photography Travel Articles

Enquire Now