Departure day, where you will fly to Mexico City with connecting flights along the way. At Mexico City airport, you will be met by a driver who will accompany you to your hotel.

Today, you’re going on an exciting guided tour of Mexico City, which is one of the world’s largest cities. Located at an altitude of 2,240 metres, it is one of the world’s highest cities, and it is surrounded by volcanoes. You’ll be visiting the colonial centre of Mexico and the central square, Zocalo, which is bordered by the National Palace and the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral, the largest cathedral in the country. Templo Mayor, the ruins of the ceremonial centre of the former Aztec capital Tenochtitlan are also located here (admission not included).

You continue from here to Alameda Park, where the country’s beautiful national stage, Palacio de Bellas Artes, is located. Opera, ballet, plays, and concerts are performed here. You continue along the wide avenue, Paseo de la Reforma, which runs right through the heart of Mexico City to Chapultepec Park. The anthropological museum, Museo de Antropologia, which houses a large collection of artefacts from before the arrival of the Spanish, is situated here. It is an exciting museum that offers fascinating knowledge about the country’s many different cultures.

You are back at your hotel late afternoon and have the evening to yourself.

Today, you will be visiting the temple city of Teotihuacán, whose name translates as The place where people became gods and which is one of the largest ruin complexes in Latin America. As you walk along the 3-km-long Avenida de los Muertos (Avenue of the Dead), you see the huge temples and pyramids that date all the way back to the year 200 BC, but which were constructed over a very long period of time. They include the Quetzalcoatl temple, where the remains have been found of more than 200 prisoners of war offered up in sacrifice, Quetzalpapalotl Palace, and the famous pyramids of the Moon (60 m) and Sun (70 m), which were built in the centre of the city over a cave around 100 metres long, where it is said that mankind was created.

The tour then continues to the church called Basilica de Nuestra de Guadalupe, which can hold a congregation of 10,000 people, and which around 20 million pilgrims visit each year. The church has given its name to Our Lady of Guadalupe, the guardian angel of both Mexico and the whole of Central America.

Finally, you arrive at the last stop on today’s trip: the Plaza de las Tres Culturas (The Three Cultures’ Square), which symbolises the three periods of Mexican history. Here you can admire the remains of the pre-Columbian Aztec ruins, a Spanish church from the colonial age, and the Mexican mestizos’ modern building that houses the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Today, you leave Mexico City and fly to Tuxtla. Here, you will be picked up and driven to Sumidero Canyon, where you will go on a breathtaking, 2-hour speedboat trip into the canyon, the mountainsides towering on either side of you. Enjoy the nature and the exciting wildlife. If you are lucky you will see monkeys, crocodiles and different kinds of birds.

Back on dry land again, you board the coach to San Cristobal de las Casas, which is located at an altitude of 2,100 metres and one of the most beautiful cities in Mexico. This charming place was once called just ‘San Cristobal’ – ‘de las Casas’ was added subsequently in honour of Bartolomé de las Casas, a Spanish priest who famously fought for the rights of the indigenous Indians. The city is famous for its magnificent colonial architecture. Next to the centrally located square called Plaza 31 de Marzo stand one of the most beautiful churches in the city: Templo de Santo Domingo.

Other attractions in the city include: Templo del Carmen, with its distinctive tower, the local market that sells food and arts and crafts items, and Na Bolom, the home of the Danish adventurer and archaeologist Frans Blom, Na Bolom. The building has now been converted into a hotel including a museum that presents exhibitions of his lifelong work to study the Indian tribes.

Please note there is no English-speaking guide on this day (nor is one needed).

San Juan Chamula is home to 50,000 descendants from the Mayans, primarily Tzotzil and Tzeltals. The Mayan descendants take care to maintain their distinctive features and cultural heritage, so they speak their own language, the town has its own police force and own rules. You will also visit the distinctive church, which is located on the central square in the town. The church is a good example of how the original Mayan beliefs gradually merged with the Catholic faith. The Indians pray to the Mayan god or saint relevant to the illness or wish that forms the basis for their visit. There are no pews in the church, so visitors have to kneel and pray on the floor among the numerous lighted candles. The air is thick with incense, and the walls are lined with wooden figures of the local saints and of John the Baptist, who is the guardian angel of the town.

Both San Juan Chamula and Zinacantán are well-known for their weaving techniques, and each village has its own special costumes featuring carefully composed patterns and colours. At the markets, Indian traders in colourful clothes sell ceramic items and clothing made of wool and cotton.

Today, you begin the drive from San Cristóbal de las Casas to Palenque in the early hours of the morning. On the way, you will stop off at the delightful Agua Azul Falls, which are set in an area of tropical rainforest (this day is in transit and therefore unguided). With the turquoise water, intense colours, the constant breeze and the rumbling water, this is one of the most beautiful and memorable natural attractions in Mexico. There are more than 500 large and small waterfalls here, ranging in height from 3 to 30 metres. You will then go to see the 35-metre-high Misol-Há waterfall, which is famous far and wide for its beauty. This beautiful landscape is surrounded by tropical vegetation, and dotted with mahogany and sapote trees. You  arrive at the town of Palenque towards the end of the afternoon.

Please note there is no English-speaking guide on this day (nor is one needed).

*Currently, gov.uk has a travel advisory on the road from San Cristóbal to Palenque via Agua Azul and Misol Ha waterfalls (Route 199) because it is often affected by demonstrations and roadblocks. As long as gov.uk advises against this route, we will change your program for this day and take you to Palenque by a different route via the town of Villahermosa. Unfortunately, you will not be able to visit the two waterfalls with this route change.

Palenque is set in an area of tropical rainforest and known for its beauty and magnificent location overlooking the flat Yucatán countryside. Palenque was one of the biggest cities in the Mayan kingdom, and gives its name to the nearby Mayan ruins, which feature on the UNESCO World Heritage List. These fascinating ruins are hidden deep in the almost impenetrable rainforest in the Chiapas province of Mexico. Here, you will take a closer look at the Inscription Temple, a burial monument to King Pacal the Great.

Today, you have a long day of travelling ahead of you, but as you are on board a first-class bus to Mérida, you can just sit back in the soft seats and enjoy the landscape rushing by. You can either walk from the hotel to the bus station in Palenque or take a taxi (at your own expense). On your arrival in Mérida, a taxi is waiting to drive you to your hotel.

The drive takes about 8 hours.

There are no excursions planned for the day, so you can explore the city for yourselves.

This delightful city was founded in 1542 on the remains of the former Mayan town of Tihó. Mérida is known as ‘The White City’ on account of the many white-painted houses it contains. The locals also refer to it as ‘the Paris of Mexico’ as it is the most European city on the Yucatán peninsula. You could also choose to go on an excursion out of the city, either to see the flamingo colony in Celestun, the beautiful cenotes, or to visit the impressive Mayan ruins at Uxmal.

Today the tour continues to Tulum, but first you make a stop at another highlight of the tour; the ruin city of Chichen Itza, which today is both a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

The ruins have traces of two different cultural epochs, a Maya era and an Itza era. You gain exciting insights into its history on a guided tour to many of the ruins in the area. Of course, you also experience the iconic pyramid of El Castillo, which is 25 metres high.

This is followed by a lovely conclusion to your tour in the pleasant beach town of Tulum. Look forward to kilometres of gorgeous beaches, azure water and swaying palm trees. The pace in Tulum is completely different and much calmer than what you experience in other parts of Mexico. Both locals and tourists use bicycles to get around here.

The days in Tulum are spent at your leisure. You can relax and bathe in the warm seawater or enjoy a cold drink in the shade of a palm tree with the refreshing ocean breeze tousling your hair.

If you would like to be active, you can rent a bicycle and visit the nearby Tulum Maya ruins or go on an excursion to the Sian Ka’an Reserve, which has a wholly unique plant and animal life, and which is included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

The Yucatán Peninsula is famous for its “cenotes”, which are natural fresh-water wells or grottos where you can both bathe and dive. Several of these “cenotes” are located close to Tulum and can be visited on a half-day tour.

It’s time to say goodbye to Mexico. You are driven to the airport in Cancún and begin your journey home. You will fly to the UK with connecting flights along the way.

You arrive in the UK after an exciting tour in Mexico.