5-Day Day of the Dead Celebration in Chiapas

A full-day cultural experience beginning with a guided walk through San Cristóbal de las Casas' historic center, taking in its cobblestone streets, pastel buildings, and ornate churches. Visit a local market to gather traditional altar supplies like flowers and candles, followed by lunch and a break before the afternoon's centerpiece: building a personal Day of the Dead altar. Guests are encouraged to bring photos of departed loved ones along with a small offering, learning the significance of sugar skulls, papel picado, and other traditional elements before lighting incense and candles to honor the deceased. The evening is free to explore San Cristóbal's Day of the Dead exhibits, pageants, and performances.

Overnight: Hotel Bo

A full day observing two distinct Day of the Dead cemetery festivities. First, visit El Romerillo, a sacred burial hill where thousands of Tzotsil Chamula people gather among tall blue crosses adorned with pine boughs and marigolds, enjoying traditional music, food stalls, and offerings of flowers, incense, and pox (local corn liquor). After a lunch stop in the colonial town of Teopisca, continue to Amatenango del Valle for a more solemn graveyard experience, where musicians play the deceased's favorite songs at the request of surviving relatives, set against a hillside overlooking the village.

A full-day exploration of contrasting Day of the Dead traditions across three communities. Begin at Zinacantán's Mukenallakolteclum Cemetery, known for vibrant flower arrangements and locals dressed in colorful flower-embroidered outfits, followed by a home-cooked lunch with a local Zinacantecan family. Continue to San Juan Chamula to visit a graveyard set among the ruins of the colonial San Sebastián Church, along with a stop at San Juan Church itself. The day concludes back in San Cristóbal with a visit to the town's main cemetery, offering a striking contrast between Maya burial traditions and San Cristóbal's concrete tombs and mausoleums, before an evening at leisure.

Private transfer from San Cristóbal de las Casas to Tuxtla Gutiérrez International Airport for departure. End of services.