Sample itinerary — every place & person below is fictional Get yours →

Loka · Sample Guide · CDMX → Oaxaca → Pacific

Alex & Sam,
Mexico is going
to surprise you.

Twelve days, three Mexicos, two travellers chasing rooftops, mole, and the kind of mezcal that makes you call your dad. A megacity that wakes up slow, a mountain valley where the agave is the church, and a Pacific coast that doesn't perform — it just is. You picked May — jacarandas dropping in CDMX, dry skies in Oaxaca, warm Pacific evenings.

📷 Photo trip 🌮 Street food first 💰 Mid-range 🌵 Mezcal at the source 🛶 Floating gardens 🤿 Snorkel 🧘 Slow finish
12
Days
3
Regions
Mid
Budget
Oaxaca sample
CDMX sample
Your vibe
Slow mornings × loud markets × salty sunsets
Built around how you actually move
Your Loka soundtrack
Cumbia warmth × bossa beauty × highway rock
Built for rooftop afternoons, mountain mornings and Pacific drives. Sample tracks below — your real playlist would be in here.
🌺
Sample Artist A
Cumbia · oaxaqueña
🎺
Sample Artist B
Bossa · sunset
🎸
Sample Artist C
Latin alt · road

Your route

Twelve days, three Mexicos.

A megacity, a valley town, and a slow Pacific coast — paced so you arrive tired and leave changed.

🏙️
Days 1–4
Mexico City
Soft landing, rooftops, mole
🌵
Days 5–8
Oaxaca
Mezcal, ruins, markets
🌊
Days 9–11
Puerto Escondido
Carrizalillo & snorkel
🧘
Day 12
Mazunte
Slow ending
Mexico City sample
Stop 1 · 4 days · You arrive Monday

Mexico City

22 million people, 2,240 metres above the sea, and the densest stack of rooftops you'll see all year. Land slow.

4 days · neighbourhoods to base in: Condesa or Roma Norte
Altitude: 2,240m — drink water, slow the first night
Currency: MXN — Uber works in town, never at the airport
Why this neighbourhood
Condesa & Roma — built on the bones of a lake
CDMX sits on the drained bed of Lake Texcoco — which is why some buildings tilt and the city sinks about 50 cm a year in places. The flatness you'll walk under Avenida Ámsterdam's jacarandas? Old lakebed. The whole valley is a marvel and a slow-motion catastrophe at once, and the locals love it anyway.
1
Monday — Day 1
Land · Condesa walk · slow first night
Afternoon
Land at MEX · official airport taxi to Condesa ⚠️ Uber blocked at MEX
Use the white-counter Sitio 300 (sample) kiosk inside terminal — fixed-price card to your hotel. Skip the people offering "taxi amigo" outside.
5pm
Walk Condesa — Parque México & Avenida Ámsterdam 🌳 Walk
A loop park built on an old horse-racing track. Coffee at Café del Tlacuache (sample) on the south corner — they roast their own.
8pm
Dinner — Taquería El Aguacate Volador 🌮 Al pastor Sample pick
A counter on Calle Tampico (fictional) — twelve stools, a trompo as tall as you. Order four pastores and a Victoria. Avoid weekends after 10pm unless you queue.
11pm
Slow nightcap — Mezcalería del Búho 🌵 Mezcalita
Tiny room, single bar, no menu. Ask for the cuishe del abuelo (sample). Cash only in this version.
2
Tuesday — Day 2
Casa Azul · Coyoacán · the south
9am
Coffee & chilaquiles — Cocina de Luz ☕ Breakfast
A patio kitchen run by a sample chef. Verdes if you want sharp, rojos if you want comfort. Order the café de olla.
11am
Museo Frida Kahlo — La Casa Azul Must-do 🎨 Art
Book online for an 11:00 slot — the building itself is the artwork. The kitchen wall, the ashes urn, the wheelchair pulled to the easel. Allow 90 minutes.
2pm
Mercado de Coyoacán — quesadillas & agua de jamaica 🌮 Market
Stall #14 (in this sample) — flor de calabaza, huitlacoche, chicharrón. Don't fill up, dinner's the splurge.
8pm
Dinner — La Lengua Larga 🍽️ Cocina de autor Splurge
Reservation required. Ask for the tasting menu and let the chef pick the mezcal pairing. Around 1,400 MXN/person in this scenario.
Where to sleep
Hotel Pluma Roja or Casa Chinampa — both Loka picks
Pluma Roja is a boutique on Calle Cholula (sample), eight rooms above a courtyard, no pool but a rooftop you'll never leave. Casa Chinampa is the splurge — old talavera floors, secret garden, breakfast included.

Picks for CDMX

Sample bar
DRINK · COCKTAILS
Bar La Lechuza
A speakeasy behind a flower shop. Ask for the agave-honey old fashioned. Cash + reservation by WhatsApp only in this sample.
Sample
Sample cafe
EAT · BREAKFAST
Frutas y Días
Smoothie bowls, fresh pan dulce, vegan-friendly. The patio gets sun by 10:30 — beat that crowd.
Sample tacos
EAT · LATE NIGHT
Tacos El Trompo Loco
Open until 4am. Order the gringa if you've had three mezcals already — you'll thank us tomorrow.
Oaxaca sample
Stop 2 · 4 days · Fly south

Oaxaca

A mountain valley where the world's best mezcal is poured at the source, and the markets still smell like the 16th century.

4 days · base in Centro, walking distance to everything
Altitude: 1,550m — cooler than CDMX, still mountain
Vibe: Slow mornings, dusty afternoons, copita evenings
7
Sunday — Day 7 · Oaxaca Day 3
Hierve el Agua at dawn · mezcal palenques · Mitla
5:30am
Don Refugio picks you up — straight to Hierve el Agua ⚠️ Early start
Pre-arranged in this sample. Coffee in the car, sweater on. You'll be at the cliffs before the tour buses.
8am
Hierve el Agua — petrified mineral waterfalls Must-do
2,000-year-old mineral cascades that look like frozen water. Swim in the upper pools while you have them to yourself. By 10am the light goes flat and the crowd lands.
11am
Mezcal palenques — the route between San Dionisio and Matatlán Must-do 🌵 At the source
Three small palenques (sample): a family pit oven, a horse-drawn tahona, copper stills. The maestro pours straight from the cask — espadín, tobalá, then a tepeztate if the day is going well.
3pm
Mitla — Zapotec spiritual capital 🏛️ Archaeology
The geometric stonework you'll see nowhere else. Walk the underground tombs — duck and don't touch the friezes.
8pm
Dinner — Cocina de la Hormiga Roja 🫙 Mole
Seven moles in one tasting. The mole negro takes three days. Order it, then order the mezcal flight, then text us. Around 950 MXN/person.
Your driver
Don Refugio — your Mitla & Hierve el Agua day
Fictional name for this sample. The real version is someone you'll have on WhatsApp before you land, with a fixed price and a Spotify aux cable. He'll know to wait for you while you have the third copita.
See contacts ↓
Sample petrified falls
Sample palenque
Sample agave
Pacific sample
Stop 3 · 3 days · Bus from Oaxaca

Puerto Escondido

Three coves, one ocean, and a snorkel beach the buses miss. The water glows at night in May.

3 days · base in La Punta if you want quiet
Heat: 32°C, dry — reef-safe sunscreen, please
Bus: day-time only, ~7hr on the new highway
Pacific safety
Don't swim at Zicatela. Seriously.
Zicatela is a world-class surf beach because the wave is monstrous. People drown here every year — not "tourists who can't swim" people, strong swimmers. Watch the wave from the sand. Swim at Carrizalillo or Manzanillo. This is not a vibes-killer, this is a fact.
11
Thursday — Day 11
Playa Coral — the snorkel gem
8am
Taxi to Playa Coral — your driver waits Sample gem
A hidden cove the surf crowd skips. Beto (your sample Puerto contact) takes you there, parks under the palms, and reads while you snorkel.
10am
Snorkel — parrotfish, angelfish, the occasional ray 🤿 Snorkel
Calm water, reef close to shore. Bring your own gear if you have it; rental on-site is fine but mask seal is hit-or-miss.
2pm
Lunch — Petate Verde (beach shack, sample) 🐟 Pescado zarandeado
Whole fish, lime, beer, no menu. Pay what the lady says and tip well.
8pm
Dinner — Casa Sal del Mar (La Punta) 🐟 Splurge Must-do
Yellowtail crudo, octopus three ways, mezcal flight. Reserve by WhatsApp the day you land. Around 1,200 MXN/person here.

Your locals

Trusted contacts on the ground.

Real Loka guides come with WhatsApp numbers, fixed prices and a heads-up text from us before you land. The names below are placeholders.

🚐
Don Refugio (sample)
Oaxaca · Mitla & Hierve el Agua
Knows every back road and every maestro mezcalero. Speaks slow English, perfect Spanish, and patience. Fixed day rate.
+52 999 555 0000 · placeholder
🌊
Beto (sample)
Puerto Escondido · driver & surf intel
Drives the coast and knows which cove is calm on which swell. Will text you at 6am if the surf is glassy.
+52 999 555 0000 · placeholder
🧘
Chuy (sample)
Mazunte · yoga & sunset point
Local yoga teacher and the guy who'll walk you to Punta Cometa at the right hour. Donation-based, sliding scale.
+52 999 555 0000 · placeholder

Things you'll want to know

Useful tips.

The boring-but-essential stuff your guide arrives loaded with.

💸
Tipping
10–15% in restaurants, 20 MXN per bag for porters, round up for taxis. Cash > card for propinas.
🚕
Getting around
Uber in CDMX & Oaxaca centro. Pre-arranged drivers for day trips. Buses Oaxaca→coast: day-time only.
💧
Water
Bottled only. Ice in good restaurants is fine (made with purified). Brush teeth with bottled the first 3 days, you'll be OK after.
🌞
Reef-safe sunscreen
Mandatory at Playa Coral and most Pacific coves. Bring from home — local supply is patchy.
📱
SIM & WhatsApp
Telcel SIM at OXXO, ~250 MXN. WhatsApp is how everyone talks to you here — including your contacts above.
🌶️
Spice tolerance
When in doubt, ask "¿pica?" If they laugh, it picks. Salsa verde < roja < habanero. Eat the rice slow.