Mexico is the most misunderstood luxury destination in the Americas. Behind the all-inclusive stereotypes is a country with more than 35 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, two of the most celebrated restaurants in the world, and a culinary tradition UNESCO recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2010.
Where should you go for a luxury trip to Mexico beyond the all-inclusives? Start with four nights in Mexico City for Pujol, Quintonil and the Four Seasons, add three in Oaxaca for mezcal and mole, then finish with four on the Riviera Maya at Chablé Maroma for cenotes and beach. San Miguel de Allende and Los Cabos are lovely swaps.
Key facts
- Where to go: Mexico City for food and culture, San Miguel de Allende for art and architecture, Oaxaca for mezcal and textiles, the Riviera Maya for beaches and cenotes, Los Cabos for desert coastline and golf.
- Where to stay: Four Seasons Mexico City, then Chablé Maroma on the Riviera Maya.
- Where to eat: Pujol and Quintonil in Mexico City, the only two-star restaurants in the Michelin Guide Mexico 2026 selection.
- Caviar trip:The Mexico Wine Country Experience is in Valle de Guadalupe, Baja California. That's a separate region in Mexico's far northwest, not on the circuit below, and we run it as a private six-day trip.
Why Mexico
Photo: Miranda Garside / Unsplash
Mexico welcomed more than 42 million international tourists in 2023, and the range is the point: Mexico City for culture and food, San Miguel de Allende for art and architecture, Oaxaca for mezcal and textiles, the Riviera Maya for beaches and cenotes, and Los Cabos for desert coastline and golf.
Mexico City is the food capital. Pujol (Enrique Olvera) and Quintonil (Jorge Vallejo) are the only two-star restaurants in the Michelin Guide Mexico 2026 selection, and both appear regularly on the World's 50 Best Restaurants list. I map out four days of eating there, from tasting menus to a taquería in an auto repair shop, in my Mexico City food guide.
Claire's Mexico Circuit
My ideal Mexico itinerary: Mexico City (4 nights at Four Seasons Mexico City), then Oaxaca (3 nights for mezcal and mole), then the Riviera Maya (4 nights at Chablé Maroma for cenotes and beach).
Pujol's mole madre, an aged mole served alongside a fresh one, is one of the most extraordinary dishes you'll ever taste.
Photo: analuisa gamboa / Unsplash
In Oaxaca, a private cooking class with a local cook, learning mole while sipping artisanal mezcal in her courtyard, is pure joy. If mezcal is part of the reason you're going, read my Oaxaca mezcal guide before you book your palenque visit.
Photo: Laura LaBrie / Unsplash
Then fly east to the Riviera Maya and let Chablé Maroma slow you all the way down. Swim in a cenote in the morning, lie on the beach all afternoon, and call that the plan.
Wine country is a different trip in a different part of Mexico. Valle de Guadalupe sits in Baja California, in the far northwest near the US border, a long flight from Mexico City, Oaxaca and the Riviera Maya, so don't try to fold it into this circuit. If it's calling you, our private Mexico Wine Country Experience gives it six days of its own.
Discover Mexico with Caviar in the Air: more than 35 UNESCO sites, zero resort bracelets.
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