Highlights of Mexico: Mexico City, Merida & Tulum

Day 1 : Mexico City

Today you begin your journey by boarding your international outbound flight to Mexico City. Arriving in Mexico City, you're met by your chauffeur-guide and taken to your hotel by private transfer. It can take up to two hours to reach your hotel due to traffic. Depending on when your flight arrives, you may wish to relax in your hotel or retire for the night. If not, you could take a stroll around the area near your hotel - you're only a couple of blocks away from the Zócalo, the city's main square.

Day 2 : Mexico City

Your chauffeur-guide meets you at your hotel to take you on a tour of Mexico City's historic hub. Starting with the Zócalo, your guide will identify the grand colonial buildings that surround the square, and help you unpeel the layers of history as you explore together the Templo Mayor, the Aztec ruin still standing in the plaza. You'll then visit Diego Rivera's murals in the Palacio Nacional and see the highlights of the Anthropological Museum.

Day 3 : Mexico City

Your chauffeur-guide picks you up to drive you to Teotihuacan, an hour out of the city. Wander around this vast complex of pre-Aztec stone edifices; your guide will explain the theories behind this mysterious site and the pre-Hispanic civilization who may have built it. If you wish, climb the Giza-like Sun and Moon Temples for views over the plains and distant cityscape. Visit the Shrine of Guadalupe on the return drive to Mexico City, arriving back in the late afternoon.

Day 4 : Merida

Today take a private transfer to the airport with your chauffeur-guide for your internal flight to the colonial city of Mérida. The flight lasts roughly two hours. On arrival you're collected by a chauffeur-guide and taken to your accommodation by private transfer. You have the rest of the day to relax and stroll around this charming colonial city. In the evening, head to the main squares where locals often perform traditional Yucatecan dances.

Day 5 : Merida

Today take a shared (small group) guided tour of two ancient Maya sites buried deep in the jungle. At Uxmal, an hour's drive from Mérida, your guide points out the architecture unique to this site, such as the carved cisterns paying homage to the rain god Chaac. Ascend the Magician's Pyramid for views over the whole site. In the afternoon, journey to Kabah, a settlement once connected to Uxmal by a white stone causeway. You're dropped back in Mérida at the end of the trip.

Day 6 : Tulum

An early start to take a shared coach transfer to Tulum. The journey lasts several hours with a stop en route at Chichén Itzá, the best restored Maya site in the region. While it's still relatively early and free from the crowds, enjoy an in-depth guided tour of the site. Your guide shows you the main structures, including the sacred cenote (sinkhole) that gives the site its name, and explains about Maya beliefs. You'll then eat lunch in a local restaurant before arriving in Tulum in the late afternoon.

Day 7 : Tulum

A day at leisure in Tulum. You can simply spend it relaxing by your hotel pool or on Tulum's lovely strip of jungle-fringed beach. Towards the end of the day or very early (when the site is likely to be quieter), you could take a self-guided tour of the local cliff top Maya ruins. The Tulum ruins include well-preserved towers, temples and pyramids. It's a short taxi or bicycle ride away from your hotel.

Day 8 : Tulum

A second day at leisure in Tulum. We can help you arrange trips to swim or dive in the otherworldly-seeming cenotes that pocket this region of Mexico. The freshwater they contain makes for a refreshing swim, and they're often home to shoals of fish and other marine species, making for good snorkeling.

Day 9 : Tulum

A third day at leisure in Tulum. Today you may wish to take a trip to Sian Ka'an, a nearby ecological reserve, or Coba, a quieter Maya ruin with a huge pyramid towering over the canopy that can be climbed.

Day 10 : International return flight

Today, take a private transfer to Cancún Airport (about an hour and a half away) for your flight home.

Day 11 : International return flight

Arrive home today to complete your journey.