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Experience more with small group tours...
Connect with local culture in a more intimate style. Have more personal interactions with people and places. Enjoy more flexibility in scheduling to explore your own interests. Get the most out of your travel experience with Tours By Sharon.
Oaxaca
Mexico
MARCH 27 - APRIL 4, 2022
Oaxaca is known for its diverse array of crafts, such as woodcarving, weaving, pottery, embroidered textiles, metal working, and basket weaving, each centered in its own village. We'll travel to several villages for a close up look at how the artisans work. Oaxaca is also the ancient home of the Zapotec and Mixtec civilizations, builders of Monte Alban and Mitla. In Oaxaca City, we'll explore grand churches, museums and public buildings, and wander through the bustling zocalo and markets brimming with colorful flowers, fresh produce and regional crafts.
Mexico City
& Puebla
Mexico
OCTOBER - NOVEMBER 2022
In Mexico, Day of the Dead is a celebration of life and death, a reaffirmation of indigenous life. During the tour we will see private and community ofrendas (altars) that are meant to welcome spirits back to the world of the living. Highlights in Mexico City will be Frida’s “Blue House”, the Zocalo, Teotithuacan and the Floating Gardens. In Puebla, a walking tour of the town, craft workshops and visits to villages, where we learn how Day of the Dead started and the traditions that make it unique.
Michoacán
Mexico
JANUARY 2023
Witness one of the world's most spectacular natural phenomena - the North American monarch butterfly migration. If being surrounded by hundreds of millions of butterflies isn't enough, there is also a walking tour of Morelia, visits to artists workshops around Lake Patzcuaro featuring textiles, pottery and catrinas, a National Park, handicraft markets, museums, an archaeological site, and the village of Santa Clara Del Cobre and its copper workshops and museum.
San Miguel
de Allende
Mexico
SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2023
San Miguel is widely considered to be the most beautiful city in Mexico, with its well-preserved Colonial and Spanish architecture, charming cobblestone streets, dramatic sunsets and no traffic lights. We will experience the Patron Saint Festival, when the city comes alive with colorful parades, performers and lots of fireworks. We visit museums, churches, art galleries, artisan shops, an archaeological site and a winery with a tasting. In nearby Guanajuato, we explore the Diego Rivera Museum, churches and more.
Chiapas
Mexico
OCTOBER 2023
This small group tour during Day of the Dead is a wonderful combination of exploring the culture, history and textiles/crafts with local celebrations and archaeological sites. Highlights of the tour include: a boat ride through the Sumidero Canyon, time in San Cristobal to explore Chamula and a local cemetery during Day of the Dead, textile museum and weaver’s co-op, craft shops and galleries. Then on to the archaeological sites of Tonina, Palenque, Bonampak, Yaxchilan each in a unique setting. Time spent in Villahermosa.
Machu Picchu
Peru
JUNE 2024
This tour will explore the Peruvian culture, their customs, traditions and history with a focus on textiles, food and much more. In the Sacred Valley we visit Cusco, Pisac, the UNESCO site of Machu Picchu, a Llama Farm and textile co-ops/workshops. Moving on from the valley to Arequipa, Colca Canyon and then to Lake Titicaca and the floating island of Uros and then Taquile Island where we will meet with farmers and weavers to learn their way of life on the island. We also explore Puno and surrounding areas.
What People Say . . .
"My wife and I have traveled with Sharon three times – to Oaxaca, Chiapas and Guatemala. All three trips rank in or close to our top five, and we have traveled the world. It's hard to praise these trips highly enough. Great sights, fantastic food, hotels full of character, wonderful guides and drivers, comfortable transport. Plenty of fodder for photos often including ancient pyramids and ball courts. Our fellow travelers have always been great companions. And we always bring our luggage home full of crafts by local artisans, rugs, ceramics, wood carvings, embroidered clothing, mouth blown glass, etc.
Sharon probably wouldn't thank me for saying how long she has been organizing these trips, but, needless to say, she has it down. As a weaver herself, she has established contacts with the studios of many regional artisans and has arranged visits to the studios of a good number. Also, the overall logistics of travel have been flawless. We are looking forward to traveling with Sharon again."
— Steve and Mary