Luxury Mexico: Yucatan in style

Day 1

Arrive in Mexico City. Transfer to central hotel.

You’ll be met at the airport by one of our local representatives and accompanied to your luxury hotel. Mexico City, known by the local people simply as ‘DF’ (Distrito Federal), was built on the site of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire, and it lies at 2,250m above sea level. Vast, chaotic and vibrant, this sprawling megalopolis of more than 20 million people has a multitude of attractions.

Stay at - The Alest Mexico City

Day 2

Guided tour of Mexico City and the Teotihuacan pyramids.

The arrival of the Spanish conquistadores was seismic event in the story of the Aztec people.  Their magnificent causewayed city was razed, and the invading Spaniards rebuilt it in their own tradition  ̶   the development fuelled by silver mining.  This is all reflected in the cultural vestiges apparent all over the modern-day city which you’ll see during your guided tour. Visit the zócalo, or main square, with its monumental Metropolitan Cathedral and the remains of the original Aztec city upon which the modern-day capital was superimposed. Stroll down elegant boulevards, or browse at a handicraft market.

Passing through the northern suburbs of the capital, you head into the countryside towards the megalithic archaeological site of Teotihuacán. Teotihuacan dates from the time of Christ and was once one of the largest cities in the world. It is hugely influential in the historic narrative of modern Mexico and, although it had already been abandoned by the time of the Aztecs, even this great empire held it in awe. Soak up the history as you stroll along the imposing Avenue of the Dead, leading to the vast Pyramid of the Sun, and take the opportunity to climb its vertiginous, ancient steps for a panorama of the ruins and the surrounding countryside.

If you have time after or before the tour we suggest you visit the world-class Museum of Anthropology, exhibiting remarkable, well displayed expositions of Aztec artefacts alongside items from other ancient civilisations. It’s a fantastic introduction to the superb and sometimes grisly artistic achievements of Mexico’s early inhabitants.

Stay at - The Alest Mexico City

Day 3

Visit Coyoacan neighbourhood and museum of Frida Kahlo

Visit the lively and bustling colonial neighbourhood of Coyoacán, located in the south of Mexico City. There’s a palpable feeling of old Mexico here: Coyoacán was the first capital of New Spain and as a result, still proudly maintains its own identity, with narrow streets recalling a bygone era, plazas, cafes and a vibrant Bohemian atmosphere. The occasional strolling musician only adds to the atmosphere. You will explore Coyoacán’s main square, an array of churches and beautiful old buildings, then you’ll visit the home of surrealist artist Frida Kahlo. The house has been converted into a museum and gives an authentic representation of the lives and characters of both Frida Kahlo and her muralist husband, Diego Rivera – it highlights the political strains under which both passionate artists lived and constantly fought. Afterwards, visit the Leon Trotsky Museum, the former house where the Russian revolutionist lived during his exile in Mexico, having had a close friendship with Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.

Stay at - The Alest Mexico City

Day 4

Fly to Mérida, transfer to hacienda hotel.

Mérida is the capital of the state of Yucatán. The city was founded by the Maya. In 1542 it was conquered by the Spanish conquistadores who dismantled the pyramids and used the stones as foundations for the cathedral. Mérida then became an immensely wealthy city, described as the Paris of the New World. Its money came mainly from the production of sisal, cactus fibres that are used to make rope, and it was culturally and geographically isolated from the rest of the country until transport infrastructure reached it in the 1950s.

Stay at - Hacienda Xcanatun

Day 5

Visit Hacienda Yaxcopoil and the Mayan temples and ballcourt at Uxmal

Today’s full-day excursion begins with a drive to Yaxcopoil, a 17th century hacienda just outside Mérida that was typical of the many large, aristocratic estates which peppered the peninsula during the sisal boom. Yaxcopoil has been only partly restored, leaving some evocative vestiges of the old hacienda, and now also accommodates a museum narrating the history of sisal production in the region.

Continue to the ruins of Mayan Uxmal, (30mins) an important Unesco World Heritage Site considered the finest and most extensively excavated example of Puuc architecture, embracing such details as ornate stone mosaics and soaring vaulted arches. Whilst Chichén Itzá often steals the limelight for its sheer scale, Uxmal for many is a favourite for its ornate beauty and setting. The ruins are surrounded by forest and birds and bats flit around the broken walls, adding to the ambiance of mystery. After this you may be ready for a dip in the cool turquoise waters of a limestone cenote – hundreds of them punctuate the Yucatán landscape. To the Mayans, these represented the entrance to the underworld, and many valuable artefacts and even human skeletons have been found in them.

Stay at - Hacienda Xcanatun

Day 6

A free day to explore Merida at your leisure

Unique due to its geographical isolation, strong Mayan presence and rich cultural heritage, Mérida is filled with striking white-stone Spanish colonial architecture and  is known as ‘the white city’. Mérida retains a lovely historic centre, with a mix of opulent and crumbly buildings but it is a modern, bustling, thriving city, with lots of local character, some excellent places to eat and good shops and markets. The inhabitants, descendants of the Maya and the colonists, love a good fiesta, and there are plenty throughout the year, with live music and market stalls.

Your hacienda hotel is around 15km north of the city’s elegant central axis, the Paseo Montejo. Merida’s stately boulevard, modelled on Paris’s Champs Elysées, is lined with mansions built by the wealthy plantation owners during the boom era of the city’s sisal trade at the turn of the 20th century. You can either plan to visit under your own steam or let us pre-book a guided walking tour of this joyous city, taking in its cathedral on the plaza grande (the oldest in Latin America) as well as its leafy, elegant plazas filled with pavement cafés and musicians. There’s a festive atmosphere, especially in the evenings after the heat of the day has passed.

Stay at - Hacienda Xcanatun

Day 7

Travel to Chichén Itzá archaeological site, guided tour of the ruins. Overnight nearby.

From Mérida drive to Chichén Itzá (3 hrs), the grandest of all the Mayan sites, dominated by the huge, symmetrical, stepped El Castillo pyramid. The origins of the site are mysterious, and appear to have Toltec as well as Mayan influences. It has the largest and best-preserved ball court in the Americas: the venue for an ancient ritual game that was played throughout the continent, but which is still not fully understood.

Archaeologists have not been able to determine whether the losers or winners were decapitated, but judging from the gory carvings along the base of the court’s walls, someone certainly came to an unpleasant end. There is also a huge cenote sacred well. Accommodation is a short walk away, and in the evening there is the option to return to the site for the Sound and Light Show.

Stay at - Hacienda Chichen

Days 8-10

Relax at a luxury resort on Mayan Riviera, Caribbean coast.

Time to head for the Riviera Maya for 3 nights of utter relaxation. It’s a 3-hour drive to the white sands at Playa Maroma.

Relax on the sands or luxuriate in your jungle pool villa, enjoying your spacious terrace or private plunge pool. Take a kayak or paddleboard out on the Caribbean sea or sign up for a spa treatment before settling down for sundowners.

Stay at - Chable Maroma

Day 11

Transfer to Cancún airport for international flight home.

Transfer to Cancun airport.