Contrasts of Mexico + Yucatan Peninsula

Our tour starts today in Mexico City, the capital of Mexico and the bustling heart and soul of the country. CDMX, as the city is also known, gives 'metropolis' a whole new meaning with a new landmark, museum or gallery at every turn, not to mention the countless colourful markets, cosmopolitan eateries and leafy parks.

Due to the number of evening flights into the international airport, our tour leader will meet you on the morning of day two for a welcome meeting. Look out for a message in the hotel reception with timings and other details for the day.

There are no activities planned today, so you're free to arrive at any time. If you'd like to receive an airport transfer today, you'll need to arrive into Mexico City International Airport (MEX) which is around a 30-minute to one-hour drive from the hotel.

If your flight arrives earlier in the day, you might like to have a stroll around Alameda Central, Mexico City's oldest municipal park, or visit the Templo Mayor Museum, which is known for its exhibits relating to the Aztec civilization.

We'll head out to explore the city like a local this morning, on foot and by public transport. The Zocalo is the vibrant heart of the city; the main square that has been a cornerstone in public gatherings since ancient times. The National Palace is located on the east side of the square - the President lives here as his permanent residence and we'll take a look at it from the outside, along with the grand metropolitan cathedral. The Zocalo also gives us our first taste of Mexico's ancient history - the well-preserved remains of the ancient Aztec Templo Mayor can be found here, right in the bustle of the downtown district.

After exploring around the Zocalo, we'll hop on public transport to the sprawling Chapultepec Park, where we'll wander through to the National Anthropology Museum. One of the finest museums in the world, its exhibits give us a flavour of the country's history, which we'll delve further into during our stay.

Today's city tour ends at the museum, and you can opt to spend more time exploring or head back to the centre with our tour leader.

Please note, our walk will cover around 10 kilometres/6 miles, including time at the museum, so comfortable shoes are recommended.

Our destination today is Teotihuacan, a mysterious complex of pyramid ruins, abandoned 13 centuries ago. En route, we'll make a stop at the Basilica de Guadalupe, an important pilgrimage site for Mexicans which has a miraculous story to tell (our tour leader will fill us in). Moving on to the Teotihuacan Pyramids, we'll take some time to explore. Once the largest city in the Americas, with 100,000 inhabitants, its influence swept through Middle America and Maya craftsmen borrowed its decorative motifs and building designs. Centuries later, the Aztecs came to call Teotihuacan 'the Place of the Gods', giving you a hint at its importance.

After our visit, we'll have lunch nearby (not included) and we might have time to discover the ancient uses of agave and obsidian in a workshop and craft shop nearby. In the afternoon, we'll head back to Mexico City and, if you'd like to, there'll be the chance to climb the Torre Latinoamericana this evening - one of the tallest buildings in the city, with a panoramic viewing platform that gives views across the downtown and beyond.

Leaving the capital behind, today we'll drive south through cactus country to Oaxaca, one of the most charming colonial cities in Mexico. The drive will take around eight hours, but we'll make several stops along the way. During the latter half of our journey, we'll be treated to beautiful views out to the Sierra Madre Mountains and the cactus-covered landscape.

Arriving in Oaxaca in the later afternoon, we'll get our bearings with an orientation tour. It's a captivating city with vibrant colours and charming architecture at every turn. The pedestrian street that leads up to the ornate Santo Domingo church is lined with shops, cafes, restaurants, and small artisanal markets, while the Zocalo is a social hub for local families, street vendors and entertainers come evening. Why not get a taste of local life and take a seat in one of the terrace restaurants overlooking the hubbub?

As with many of Mexico's colonial cities, Oaxaca was built in the 16th century using stones from ancient civilisations in the surrounding areas. Today, we'll visit Monte Alban which was built by the Zapotec people who flourished here over 1,500 years ago. This complex of temples, pyramids and enigmatic rock carvings was built on top of a hill (so expect some steep inclines and stairs on our walk). The expansive views over the Sierra Madre and the fertile valley are well worth the effort. Unlike sites like Teotihuacan, Monte Alban was lived in until the arrival of the conquistadors, as the Mixtec civilisation took over from the Zapotecs and continued its use.

This afternoon, we'll have free time to explore Oaxaca. Take a walk through the historic centre and soak in the colourful buildings, dip into one of the markets to pick up souvenirs or delve further into the history of the city at one of the museums. The Museum of Cultures of Oaxaca, next to the Santo Domingo Church, is one of the best in town, housing treasures from Monte Alban within the building of an ex-convent (opening hours vary over public holidays).

We have a long journey ahead of us today as we begin to head towards San Cristobal. The drive will lead us up through the winding roads of the Sierra Madre Mountain range and we'll make several stops along the way. Our first port of call is a 2,000-year-old swamp cypress tree in Santa Maria del Tule, close to Oaxaca. The tree has a circumference of 54 metres and has the shortest trunk of any in the world. Next, we'll head to the small town of Teotitlan del Valle, a region where it's more common to hear the Zapotec language than Spanish. Here, weaving has been a local technique since ancient times, and we'll see how the craftsmen make fine works of art. We'll continue to the ancient Mixtec site of Mitla, where we'll have an explanation of the ruins. Finally, we'll journey on to Tehuantepec, a convenient stopping point on our journey to San Cristobal.

Note, our drive time today is ten hours, including stops.

Leaving early this morning, we'll have a five-hour drive to Cahuare, the starting point for our visit to the spectacular Sumidero Canyon. The canyon is a unique rift measuring 41 kilometres long and up to 1000 metres deep, cut by the Rio Grijalva. This is the spot where, in the 16th century, 1000 Chiapa indigenous people committed suicide rather than submit to Spanish rule. We'll take a trip on a speed boat to fully appreciate the towering gorge, before driving for two hours up a scenic mountain road to San Cristóbal de las Casas. At 2,210 metres above sea level, it can get cold at night, a sharp contrast to the heat of Tehuantepec.

San Cristobal has a unique atmosphere, located high in the scenic Chiapas Mountain range. The indigenous groups from the surrounding hills fill the town and marketplace with their colourful dress including the distinctive Tzotzil community who still retain much of their Mayan customs and language.

Today, we'll be visiting San Juan Chamula and Zinacantan, indigenous villages close to San Cristobal that practise an interesting blend of Catholicism and traditional Maya beliefs. This area is famous for its bright textiles and weavings in intricate designs. You might like to pick up souvenirs here during our free time this afternoon.

Much like Oaxaca, San Cristobal is a charming town to explore on foot and also has its fair share of museums. The Na Bolom, House of the Jaguar, is dedicated to the preservation of the Lacandón tribe and displays many of their artefacts, while the Textiles Centre is a superb showcase of the weaving traditions found both in Chiapas as well as the rest of Mexico and Central America. There are also museums dedicated to amber and jade, that not only display historical pieces but also give an understanding of the importance of these materials to the ancient civilisations.

Leaving the highlands behind us, today we have a long driving day ahead of us (approximately eight hours, plus stops). The road is slow and winding, but there are scenic views as we descend to the jungles of Palenque. We'll be driving via the town of Villahermosa, where we'll stop for lunch. Along the way there may be the option to stop in the small town of Chontalpa to try the famous piña miel before we continue to our hotel.

Today's guided visit to the ruins of Palenque is one of the highlights of our tour of Mexico. Palenque is both a fascinating and important site and we'll explore it in depth with a guide. Once the choking forest was cleared, the ruins revealed the tomb of the high priest Pakal, his body adorned with a marvellous jade death mask - one of the most prized relics of the Maya culture, discovered only in 1952. The entire site, shrouded by the steamy rainforest, has an aura of deep mystery.

We'll leave Palenque early in the morning and travel for around 3 hours to the El Ceibo Border. After crossing into Guatemala, we'll continue for another 3 hours to the picturesque town of Flores. Located on the shores of Lake Peten Itza, Flores is a very laid-back city with a rich history. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the Americas and was the last Maya city to fall to the Spanish. Today will be a long travel day, and we expect to arrive in Flores in the mid-afternoon.

After breakfast, we'll leave Flores and drive for two hours to Yaxha, where we'll enjoy a guided tour of the magnificent ruins. This ancient city is located on the shores of two lakes, Yaxha and Sacnab, within the UNESCO-listed Yaxha-Nakum-Naranjo biosphere reserve. This area is rich in rainforests and wetlands, teeming with wildlife.

The ruins span several square kilometers and include 500 structures uncovered so far. The city's name, meaning 'green-blue water,' was given thanks to its picturesque lakeside location. We'll spend around two hours exploring the site before stopping for lunch (not included) and returning to Flores. Back in Flores, there will be an opportunity for an optional boat trip on Lake Peten Itza.

Today we'll visit Tikal, the great Maya metropolis set amid the rainforest, which can justly be compared with the celebrated ancient cities of Egypt and Greece. Initially settled in about 600 BC, Tikal was abandoned by its rulers around 890 AD and totally deserted a hundred years later. The city covered an area of 16 square kilometres. Re-discovered in 1848, only a few of its great temples and pyramids have been excavated. The site is extensive, so we include a guided tour in the morning followed by free time to let you explore. We can appreciate the prolific birdlife in the surrounding rainforest and take in amazing views of the forest canopy from the tops of the pyramids. At 3.30pm, we'll drive back to Flores.

Today we'll say goodbye to Guatemala and drive over the border to San Ignacio in Belize. En route, we'll visit the little-known site of Xunantunich, with its fantastic array of pyramids and temples. Then, we'll make our way to our hotel, where the rest of the afternoon is free. If you still have room for one more Mayan sites, the ruins of Cahal Pech are well worth a visit, high up on a hill near the centre of San Ignacio town. Alternatively, you could walk into the town and check out the lively local market (note, the market doesn't run on Sundays).

Today, we'll drive to Belize City and catch our first glimpse of the Caribbean. In the city, we'll board our water taxi for the one-hour journey to the tropical island of Caye Caulker. Once a pirate lair, this tiny but beautiful island lies 34 kilometres/21 miles northeast of Belize City and about 1.6 kilometres/1 mile inside the greatest barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere.

Please note that the seven days in Caye Caulker and the Yucatan are designed as an extension to our Contrasts of Mexico tour. Some of your fellow group members may leave the tour today in Belize City. Whilst the extension has been designed to complement the trip, it's worth noting that it might not be a group experience and you may not be travelling with other customers. Our tour leader from the Contrasts of Mexico tour will accompany you throughout the extension.

The island of Caye Caulker remains uncrowded and authentic - the local fishermen catch lobster, conch, fish and crab to supply domestic and foreign markets. It's a popular place with backpackers, so there's a good number of reasonably priced restaurants.

Today, there'll be time to relax or enjoy a number of optional trips. You might like to take a snorkelling trip out to the nearby Hol Chan Marine Reserve and Shark and Ray Alley, or take a full-day trip out to Goff's Caye to observe manatee in their natural mangrove habitat. Scuba diving is also available.

We leave Caye Caulker by boat this morning, sailing back to the mainland and driving north to the Belizean border, crossing into Mexico via Chetumal. We then continue by vehicle to the small town of Bacalar, situated on the banks of the beautiful Lake Bacalar in the Riviera Maya. The lake is frequently named 'the Seven Coloured Lagoon' for its many different shades of blue, and has strikingly clear waters due to the white limestone bottom.

We'll head northeast from Bacalar this morning, towards the ruins of Tulum - situated on a clifftop perch overlooking the turquoise water and golden sands below. The ruins date back to the late period of Mayan civilisation. During this time, there was a developing enmity between Mayan provinces, so the city was guarded by thick ramparts and a watch tower.

After visiting the site, we'll continue on to the colonial city of Valladolid, arriving in the late afternoon. We'll have free time to enjoy the picturesque and colourful town centre. Valladolid even has its own cenote just a few blocks away from the main Zocalo, which is a great option for a late afternoon swim.

This morning, we'll visit the ruins of Chichen Itza. Founded in AD432, re-founded in 987 and conquered by the Toltecs in the 10th century, the culture of the Maya and the Toltec gradually fused. The pyramids, palaces, temples and ballcourt (where death was the penalty for defeat) are adorned with astonishing sculptures. Under the pressure of the civil war, the great monuments deteriorated, and the Maya civilisation collapsed, but undeniably Chichen Itza remains one of the most outstanding sites in the Americas - its main pyramid was denoted as the Seventh New Wonder of the World in 2007.

After our visit to this extensive site, we'll continue to the beautiful city of Merida. En route we will make a well needed stop at Cenote Yokdzonot for a refreshing dip!

We'll have our final site visit this morning; to those in the know, Uxmal is one of the Yucatan's most underrated ancient cities. Encircled by hills, Uxmal is expansive in its design with majestic palaces and pyramids, and long geometrical friezes that rank among the most splendid examples of ancient American Art. The incredible Pyramid of the Magician and the beautiful Governor's Palace are two of the finest examples of Mayan art found in Meso America. Later in the day, we'll return to Merida, where we'll have time to wander the narrow streets, watching the horse-drawn carriages rattle past.

Our trip ends this morning at our hotel in Merida.

There are no activities planned today, so you're free to depart from Merida at any time. If your flight is departing later in the day, luggage storage facilities are available at our hotel. If you'd like an airport transfer today, you'll need to depart from Manuel Crescencio Rejon International Airport (MID) which is approximately a 20-minute drive from the hotel.