19| Aztec & Maya Mexico | 7 Days - 6 Nights

19| Aztec & Maya Mexico | 7 Days – 6 Nights

Aztec & Mayans were outstanding civilizations with their own political, social, religious and economic structures, these American Aborigine Societies stand in the history of mankind as amazingly developed cultures, comparable to ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, China and India. Along this extended tour, you will enjoy places with a profound culture & historic legacy by visiting outstanding colonial monuments, world class museums, and pre-Columbus standing pyramids uncovered in their original archaeological sites as well as amazing natural reserves for those who enjoy to be in contact with nature. At the end…

Monuments | Attractions Envisage

Mexico City: National Palace, The Metropolitan Cathedral, Tenochtitlan Templo Mayor Pyramids, National Anthropology Museum, Teotihuacan Pyramids, Virgin of Guadalupe Shrine.

Merida: Governor Palace, Montejo Palace, San Idelfonso Cathedral of Merida.

Kabah: Palace of the Masks.

Uxmal: Pyramid of the Magician, The Governor’s Palace, The Nunnery Quadrangle.

Celestun Biosphere Reserve: Pink Flamingos sighting, boat ride into mangrove swamps and Sweetwater springs.

Chichen Itza: Temple of Kukulkan, Great Ball Court, Skull Platform, Sacred Cenote, Temple of the Warriors, Group of a Thousand Columns, El Mercado, The Osario, Las Monjas, El Caracol.

Accommodation Overview

As part of the Aztec & Maya Mexico tour you will be staying at a selection of four star hotels.

Equipped with modern day facilities, these hotels are known to offer the utmost care and comfort along with high standards of service.

Accommodation for your tour will be as described below, at the following properties:

3 Nights at Hotel Casa Blanca 4* or Similar in Mexico City on Bed and Breakfast basis.

3 Nights at Hotel Del Gobernador 4* or Similar in Merida on Bed and Breakfast basis.

Hotel Casa Blanca 4* – Located in the political, historical, economic and cultural centre of Mexico City, a few steps from the most important avenues, Reforma and Juárez, a strategic point in Mexico City. The property has rooms for meetings or private celebrations, a restaurant serving Mexican cuisine prepared by old recipes and bar overlooking the city. In the 12th, next to the bar floor, there is an outdoor pool. There is also a small gym open 24 hours and a solarium.

Hotel Del Gobernador 4* – Located near of the most important historical sites in the beautiful city of Merida, in the historic city centre, just 300 meters from the downtown; make it ideal for your travel business or pleasure. Surrounded by museums, theatres, restaurants and colonial buildings, close to the main shopping area of the city and the main avenues, its location will allow you to visit the most important tourist sites including the Main Plaza Merida and The Cathedral.

* Please note that should accommodation in the above listed hotels not be available at the time of your visit we will offer a similar standard.

Board Basis (Meal Plan) & Included Services

Welcome greeting at the airport in Mexico City.

Transportation in air conditioned vehicles.

English speaking guide during the days of the tour.

06 nights accommodation at the hotels mentioned above in DBL occupancy.

Daily breakfast at all the above hotels.

Visits mentioned in the itinerary, including entrance fees to the archaeological sites.

Three lunches at local restaurants (drinks are not included).

Government taxes.

Exclusions

Expenses of personal nature like tipping, laundry, telephone/fax calls, alcoholic/non- alcoholic beverages, camera/video camera fee at monuments, medical expenses, airport taxes, any insurance etc.

Any meals other than the mentioned.

Gratuities in hotel (maids and bell boys).

Beach extension hotel

Flight Mexico City to Merida..

Information

7 Days - 6 Nigths

Mexico City & Yucatan Peninsula

Departure/Starting City

Mexico City
Hotels during Tour

Hotel Casa Blanca or Similar (Mexico City) | Hotel Del Gobernador or Similar (Merida City)

From Our Gallery

Day 1: Arrival in Mexico City

Mexico City, once the capital of the Aztec Empire, has in the valley of the nation’s capital, a population exceeding 22 million people. All ov er you can find the heritage of the Pre-Hispanic societies that populated or influenced the configuration of such a colossal urban settlement. A new architecture was enforced by the colonizers using as foundation for the new buildings the religious monuments of the existing people. Churches were placed on top of the aborigine temples and today you find colonial churches with rich and artistic furnishings and in some cases next to the church, what was not used as a foundation, has been uncovered to its original archeological formation. Mexico City has a historic district which central square is known as the Zocalo, right in the center of the city.

Overnight in Mexico City | Hotel Casa Blanca 4* or Similar | Standard room on Bed & B reakfast basis

Day 2: City Tour - Mexico City & Anthropology Museum

After an included breakfast, you board a Mexico City guided tour visiting major attractions. We start where it all began, at the Zocalo. You will see the National Palace with an extended series of mural paintings that show a graphic evolution of the history of the country which were painted by Diego Rivera. The Metropolitan Cathedral, the oldest and largest cathedral in Latin America, is a spectacular building intended to distract the Aztec people from their own previous believes and convert them to the new religion. Right behind the Cathedral you can find the “Tenochtitlan Templo Mayor Pyramids” which were part of the big ceremonial center of the Aztecs. Templo Mayor was not only the most visible sight of an immense aborigine urban complex, but also represented the cosmic center of the universe for the Aztecs. You will drive by the Palacio de Bellas Artes, a 19th Century all white marble building functioning as a theater as well as an art museum, with many fine sculptures. To get a feeling of the city you will drive along the Paseo de la Reforma Avenue which was inspired by the “Champs Elysees” of Paris until you reach and visit the National Anthropology Museum, the largest in its type in the world.

Overnight in Mexico City | Hotel Casa Blanca 4* or similar | Standard room on Bed & Breakfast basis

Day 3: Mexico City – Guadalupe Shrine - Teotihuacan – Mexico City

After breakfast you will take a guided excursion to the outstanding Teotihuacan Pyramids, starting with a visit to the Virgin of Guadalupe Shrine. This church is a place of pilgrimage for millions of Mexicans and followers from all over the world. The day will then dedicate a visit to the ancient archaeological zone of Teotihuacan, north of Mexico City. This was the Toltec-Aztec ceremonial center of Teotihuacan, an archeological site with buildings bigger and as impressive or more, as the Egyptian pyramids. These monumental buildings where constructed by Toltec architects, a very advanced culture dominated by the Aztecs before the colonization of Mexico. You will see its impressive Toltec pyramids dedicated to the sun and the moon, the Quetzalcoatl Temple and the fortresses, the largest monuments of their type in the world.

Overnight in Mexico City | Hotel Casa Blanca 4* or Similar | Standard room on Bed & Breakfast basis | Travelling Distance Approx. 150 km

Day 4: Mexico City – Merida Historic District City Tour

After breakfast in Mexico City, transfer to the airport for a morning flight to Merida with check in at Hotel in Mérida. In the afternoon you will tour this impressive place, one of the biggest cities in Mayan territory. The city has a colonial charm with its palaces, narrow streets and romantic horse-drawn carriages. The city is full of Spanish and French influences. You can visit the Governor’s Palace, the one of the oldest Cathedral in Mexico and the Montejo Palace. The city has preserved its colonial heritage in the historic district. It is in the center of the state and all the roads converge at the state capital. Merida’s central square or “Plaza Grande” is surrounded by ancient buildings that form the historic district such as The San Idelfonso Cathedral of Merida, the most antique church of the American continent, built in the second half of the XVI century. Merida’s Cathedral has one of the biggest interior statues of Christ in the world. The city was founded on January 6, 1542 on the indigenous trace of Ichcaanziho's City, called also T'ho.

Overnight in Merida | Hotel Del Gobernador 4* or Similar | Standard room on Bed & Breakfast basis

Day 5: Merida – Kabah – Uxmal – Merida

After breakfast, we will depart to Kabah which is known as the second largest religious center in the Puuc Route area. Kabah flourished around the year 800 AD. Kabah is connected with Uxmal by a sacbe (Mayan Route) which begins right in the arch, a kind of main door to the city. Kabah has Classic style architecture and its main attractions are the Palace of the Masks with over 300 representations, mainly dedicated to Chaac, God of Rain and the “Pirámide de los Mascarones” also including masks and stalls. We then continue to Uxmal which means "Three times constructed"; the architecture of Uxmal is among the most majestic in Yucatan. Its beauty is characterized by low and horizontal palaces placed around patios and quadrants richly decorated with detailed sculptures. Uxmal, enveloped by legends and myths, is situated within a series of hills known as the Puuc or the mountainous area of the Yucatan. Lunch is included in Uxmal. Continue back to Merida.

Overnight in Merida | Hotel Del Gobernador 4* or Similar | Standard room on Bed & Breakfast basis | Travelling Distance Approx. 208 km

Day 6 Merida – Celestun Biosphere Reserve – Merida

On the sixth day you will continue to Celestun, home of pink flamingo colonies and considered an ecotourism paradise with freshwater springs and beaches that are part of a Biosphere Reserve officially declared a fauna shelter. Celestun is also a typical fisherman’s village. Among Celestun’s main attractions we will visit by boat tour, the quiet Flamingoes Lagoon, known as "The Drum". After the tour you can enjoy lunch in one of the selected seafood restaurants along the beach.

Return to Merida for overnight | Hotel Del Gobernador 4* or Similar | Standard room on Bed & Breakfast basis | Travelling Distance Approx. 182 km

Day 7: Merida – Chichen Itza – Cancun or Riviera Maya Hotel

On the seventh day, we will transit just over 2 hours to Chichen Itza, the Mayan Post Classic Sacred City, which represents the most intact and impressive of the ruins of the Mayan Civilization that the modern world still preserves. Chichen Itza has a huge “Cenote”, a big pond nourished by underground rivers which supplied clean water to the complex. Chichen Itza, "The Mouth of the Well” as other Mayan centres was originally a ceremonial and spiritual site, more than a commercial area. Chichen Itza has maybe the most impressive pyramid of the entire Maya world. The Castle has 4 staircases (one for each season of the year) with 91 steps each, totalling 365 with the top platform. The orientation of the pyramid is such that for about an hour around 4 o'clock during the spring and fall equinoxes (March 21st & September 21st), the shadow of north-west edge of the pyramid on the side of the north stairway, draws seven triangles of light that imitates a serpent creeping downwards until it joins the huge serpent's head at the bottom of the stairway. This was a religious message telling the people it was time to seed the land or it was time to harvest with the blessing of their God Kukulcan. At Chichen Itza, you will see an astrological observatory with a design similar to others built in the Modern Age. There are many more buildings such as The Temple of the Warriors, part of the "Thousand Columns Complex", the Temple of the Jaguars and the Ball Court. Chichen Itza was voted one of the Modern Seven Wonders of the World in 2009. After a visit of almost 2 hours, you will have lunch and we will then transit to Cancun.

Drop off at your selected hotel in Cancun or Riviera Maya | Travelling Distance Approx. 327 km