The Maya Route 1

16 days and 15 nights

Highlights:

Cancún – Chichen Itza – Merida – Celestun – Merida – Uxmal – Campeche – Palenque – Agua Azul – Tonina – San Cristobal – San Juan Chamula – Zinacatan – Chichicastenango - Lake Atitlan – Antigua – Tikal – Yaxha – Xunantunich - San Ignacio

Itinerary

Day 1: Arrival (Unguided)

Meet & greet at Cancun international flight and transfer to your hotel.

Lodging in Cancun

Day 2: Chichen Itzá – Mérida

After breakfast we will get ready to begin our trip towards Chichen Itza (2 hrs). At your arrival visit Chichen Itza archaeological site, here you will visit the famous Kukulkan pyramid, the ball court, the observatory, the nunnery and the "cenote sagrado"( the sacrifice well) .after you will continue to Mérida (2 hours). In the afternoon you can explore this colonial city.

Lodging at Merida Yucatan

Day 3: Celestun Reserve

After breakfast you will begin the trip to Celestun Reserve located 95 km west of Merida this reserve has 51,139 hectares and a 20-km-long estuary, which empties into the Gulf of Mexico in the state of Campeche. At this biosphere reserve, you can witness the spectacular sight of pink flamingos in flight and you can admire more than 170 indigenous and migratory bird species that inhabit the area. You'll also spy crocodiles in the marshes and you may have the pleasant surprise of watching green, hawksbill and loggerhead turtles laying their eggs.

Lodging at Merida Yucatan

Day 4: Mérida - Uxmal - Campeche

After breakfast you will begin your trip towards Uxmal (1 hour) This archaeological site has palaces of majestic architecture. The city has 15 groups of buildings, including the Adivino Pyramid, an impressive structure that is 35 meters (115 feet) tall, and the Palacio del Gobernador (Governor's Palace), considered one of the most beautiful constructions of Mesoamerica. After you will continue to Campeche (2 hours)

In the afternoon you will visit the Museo de la Cultura Maya, housed in the San Miguel Fort, and the Museo de las Estelas Mayas, which exhibits regional art in the San Pedro Bulwark. At night, don't miss the fascinating light and sound show at the Fort of San Jose El Alto. After the show, you can take a walk along the Historic Center's cobblestone streets, where you'll see a wide variety of stores, restaurants, bars and cafes. You can also take a stroll down the beautiful 3.5-km boardwalk, which leads to a tourist walkway, parks and a bicycle track.

Lodging at Campeche

Day 5: Campeche – Palenque

Breakast and transfer to Palenque (4.5 hours) at your arrival you will check in at your hotel and after lunch (not included) you will start the archaeological tour of Palenque.

Palenque is unquestionably one of the most important Mayan archaeological sites that offer splendid ruins and beautiful sculptures and inscriptions dating back to the Classic period (400—700 AD).

The park is surrounded by jungle and mysticism, here is located the famous temple of the inscriptions, which protects the tomb of the king Pakal, after this tour you will visit the Archaeology Museum.

Lodging in Palenque

Day 6: Agua Azul – Tonina - San Cristóbal

After breakfast is time to begin our trip to San Cristobal de las Casas (4 hours), on route you will visit the beautiful Agua Azul Waterfall. After you will continue to the archaeological site of Tonina, this is part of the Mayan sites in Chiapas where it have been located the last hieroglyphic inscriptions made at the end of the classic period.

Lodging at San Cristobal

Day 7: San Juan Chamula, Zinacantan and San Cristóbal

After breakfast you will be transferred to the village of San Juan Chamula here you will visit their church, inside the church the Chamulas participate in syncretism rituals of unique devotion and solemnity, creating a magical atmosphere. Then you will continue to San Lorenzo de Zinacantan - another nearby town known for various crafts. Return to San Cristobal in time for a late lunch, then tour of the city, including churches and Na-Bolom Museum

Lodging at San Cristobal de las Casas

Day 8: La Mesilla Border and Chichicastenango

Today you will be transfer from San Cristobal de las Casas to La Mesilla border (3 hours) then continue to Chichicastenango (4 hours)

Lodging at Chichicastenango

Day 9: Chichicastenango Market

Today you will enjoy the multicolored market and their traditions. The magic that surrounds the ancient, indigenous commercial process in a mixture of flower scents and incense turn the event into a magical moment. After lunch you will board your bus and head to Panajachel,

Lodging in Panajachel

Day 10: Lake Atitlan / Antigua Guatemala

This morning you will take a scenic boat ride across Lake Atitlan (30min) to the village of San Juan La Laguna where you can visit the women's textile cooperative to see hand weaving and the natural dye process. Visit the studios / homes of the celebrated naïf painters, and then continue to the village of Santiago where you will have lunch in Hotel Posada Santiago. After lunch (not included) you will continue your tour to the village visiting the Maya God Maximon and learn about the textiles, spiritualism and beliefs of the T'zutujil Maya.

After we finish our visit to these magnificent villages, you will continue to Antigua Guatemala (2.5 hrs)

Lodging in Antigua

Day 11: Valley Bike and Antigua Cultural Tour

Riders can bike through the Almolonga Valley, visiting the site of Ciudad Vieja, home of Guatemala's former second capital, which was buried by an earthquake-triggered mudslide in 1541. Along the way one can visit an experimental macadamia farm and the village of San Antonio Aguas Calientes, famous for its weavings. Other trails, such as the Las Tierra Altas route, pass through a variety of coffee growing and farming areas.

After lunch we will visit the ruins and museums that combined with the old cobbled streets keep the stories and legends of those colonial times.

Lodging in Antigua Guatemala

Day 12: Tikal National Park

4:30 am, transfer to the airport (1 hour)

6:30 am, Flight from Guatemala to Flores (45 minutes)

7:30 am, meet & greet in Flores airport and transfer to your hotel for check in. After breakfast we will depart for Tikal National park where we will have a guided tour through the most important city in the Mayan world, a mixture of nature and archaeology. Abundant wildlife, the Mayan forest, millennial temples silent witnesses of the birth and splendor as well as of the collapse of one of the most important civilizations in the planet, all this is in our visit to Tikal, The City of the Voices.

Lodging in Flores Island

Day 13: Yaxha and Xunantunich Tour

After breakfast we will board our vehicle and we will be transported towards Yaxhá National Park (1.5 hrs), Yaxhá archaeological site is located in the shores of the lake with the same name. Here we will walk through the causeways under the exuberant tropical forest where howling monkeys flood the environment with their roars to impress the females or to warn a male intruder in their herd.

After lunch you will continue to Belize border and to Xunantunich (1.5 hr), this archaeological site is composed of six major plazas with more than twenty-five temples and palaces. "El Castillo" (the Castle), the largest pyramid at 130 feet above the plaza, has such carved friezes on the east and west sides. The frieze on the east has been preserved and covered with a fiberglass replica of the central mask representing the sun god flanked the moon, Venus, and different days. Afterwards we go on to the village San Ignacio (30 minutes).

Lodging in San Ignacio

Day 14: San Ignacio - Lamanai - Corozal

After breakfast you will be transferred to north all the way to the Toll Bridge almost to Orange Walk, then you will have a peaceful boat ride down the New River to Lamanai (2 hours)

La'man'ain is the indigenous name for this once majestic Mayan City. In the Yucatec Mayan language, it means "submerged crocodile". La'man'ain was settled in 1500 BC, abandoned in post classic 1800 AD.

Lodging in Corozal

Day 15: Cancún

After breakfast you will be transferred to Cancún (5 hours)

Day 16: Back home

Breakfast and transfer to the airport in time to catch your international flight back home.