DAY    1            DEPARTURE FROM NORTH AMERICA
Today we take our scheduled flight to Mexico City. Upon our arrival, our English-speaking guide will meet us at the airport and accompany us to our centrally located hotel in Mexico City.

DAY    2            MEXICO CITY (THE ZOCALO) AND NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Today we will explore the section of Mexico City known as the Zocalo, which is the historic center and is dominated by the Plaza de la Constitucion, the third largest square in the world. Our morning commences with a visit to the Templo Mayor, site of the great Aztec temple, which stood at the heart of Tenochtitlan. Our visit will include a tour of the Excavations and the Museum. We continue with a visit to the Cathedral Metropolitana, the biggest church in Latin America, and the heart of the world's largest Catholic diocese. Our afternoon commences with a brief visit to the Palacio Nacional, which is highlighted by the great mural by Diego Rivera painted above its main staircase and along two walls of the courtyard. This mural, painted between 1929 and 1935 in the aftermath of the Revolution, illustrates Rivera's view of the history of Mexico, we continue to the Museo Nacional de Antropologia, a vast and airy museum, which houses a spectacular collection of finds from Mexico's pre-Columbian cultures, including the Zapotec, the Toltec, the Olmec, the Maya and the Aztecs. We will also spend time at a local orphanage and enjoy a visit with these beautiful children.

DAY    3            MEXICO CITY (SAN ANGEL & COYOACAN)
After breakfast we celebrate Mass at the beautiful colonial church of Chimalistac in the old suburb of San Angel; then we will visit the section of the city known as San Angel and Coyoacan, as we begin with a guided Walking Tour from San Angel to Coyoacan, which boasts a magnificent display of well-preserved domestic architecture of the colonial and pre-revolutionary eras. Our walk through tree-lined, cobbled streets will connect the two squares at the heart of each of the districts. Our afternoon will include a visit to the former convent and church of El Carmen and the church of Santa Catarina in the suburban Coyoacan.

DAY    4            DAY TRIP TO TLAXCALA
This morning we begin a full day tour to Tlaxcala. Our first stop will be the Shrine of San Miguel del Milagro where we will celebrate mass at the site where St Michael the Archangel appeared to Diego Lazaro in 1631, directing him to the Grotto and to a well of miraculous curative waters. We then see the image of Our Lady burnt into a tree trunk after she appeared to Juan Diego Bernandino in 1541. Perfectly preserved, the image in the tree resides in the Basilica of Our Lady of Ocotlan. Later we return to Mexico City for the night.

DAY    5            OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE
Early in the morning we travel to Plaza of the Three Cultures to visit the place of Juan Diego's baptism. Our next destination is the Basilica de Guadalupe, the richest and most visited Catholic shrine in all the Americas. The complex of buildings was built on the spot where a brown-skinned Virgin Mary appeared to Indian Juan Diego in 1531. We will explore this complex of buildings, including the Antigua Basilica, the modern Basilica, the Capilla del Pocito and the Capilla de Indios, where Juan Diego lived after the Virgin's appearance. Then we will celebrate Mass in the brilliantly colored, modern Basilica dedicated in 1976. Our prayers will join with those of other pilgrims as we kneel before the altar displaying the astounding Tlma, the sackcloth bearing the image of the Holy Virgin. If time permits, in the afternoon, we will visit the Mercado de La Merced, one of the biggest markets in the Americas with 5,514 separate stalls, and located where an Aztec market stood prior to the conquest by the Spanish. We will have time to browse and shop in the market, before continuing to the Avenida Insurgentes Sur, the longest street in Latin America.

DAY    6            DEPARTURE FROM MEXICO CITY
Our enjoyable and rewarding tour comes to an end as your Casterbridge Tour Manager/Guide escorts you to the airport for your return flight home.