Sierra Madre Trio

The Real Deal: Seven nights' accommodations, two guided tours, and local transportation from $750 per person

When: Ongoing; add about $150 for Dec. 20, 2006-Jan. 7, 2007

Details: Breakfast daily, admission fees, and hotel taxes are included. Based on double occupancy

Book By: No deadline; based on availability

Contact: Siesta Tours, 800/679-2746, siestatours.com

The Colonial Treasures of Mexico package includes two nights in Guanajuato at the Hotel Luna on the main plaza, Jardín de la Unión; three nights in San Miguel de Allende at the central Hotel Mansión Virreyes, with an interior courtyard; and two nights in Querétaro at the 18th-century Casa de la Marquesa. Add extra nights for $55 in Guanajuato, $50 in San Miguel, and $75 in Querétaro (fees are per person, per night, and include breakfast).

A guided tour of San Miguel de Allende departs from the hotel and makes stops at La Parroquia, the parish chuch; San Francisco Plaza and Church; the churches of Our Lady of Health and San Philip Neri at Allende Plaza; the local library; Angela Peralta Opera House; and the Nigromante Cultural Center. Try to arrange your trip so that you'll be in town on a Sunday for the weekly tour of homes and gardens, including three stunningly restored colonial mansions ($15 per person, which is donated to local schools).

In Querétaro, the guided tour covers the central plaza, Jardín Zenéa; the onvent of Santa Cruz; a six-mile-long 18th-century aqueduct; the Government Palace; the House of the Five Patios; the convents of Santa Clara, San Agustin, and Santa Rosa de Vitervo; and Hill of the Bells, where Austrian Archduke Maximilian died while fighting Mexican resistance forces in the 1860s.

Apart from these two tours, you'll be free to explore as you please--equipped with maps, restaurant and attraction information, a glossary of phrases, and self-guided neighborhood walking tours prepared by the Siesta staff.

It's about an hour-and-a-half drive in a private car or van through the mountains from Guanajuato to San Miguel and then from San Miguel to Querétaro.

For more information, check Mexico's official tourism website, visitmexico.com.

Getting There: Airfare is not included, so you'll need to purchase a multicity ticket, arriving in Leon and flying out of Querétaro. The lowest round-trip fares we've found for mid-October, including taxes, are: $445 from Chicago, $452 from Houston, $543 from Los Angeles, and $610 from New York City, all on Continental. Note that fares tend to spike around the Christmas season and the Semana Santa, the week between Palm Sunday and Easter.

From the Leon airport, it's about a $30 cab ride to the hotel, and in Querétero, it's about $20 from the hotel to the airport. U.S. dollars are accepted in lieu of pesos, and drivers expect to be paid up front.

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