Arrival, reception and transfer to your hotel.

After breakfast, a guided city tour through Mexico City, starting from The Zocalo, the historical centre of Mexico City. The tour includes the National Palace, famous for its colourful murals by Diego Rivera; the Cathedral Metropolitana, perhaps the most impressive in all of Mexico which was built by the Spanish in the 1520s. Return to your hotel.

Meals: B

Breakfast, followed by guided tours of Teotihuacan, with its impressive Pyramids of the Sun, Moon and Quetzacoatl. Continue on towards the Basilica de Guadalupe. The city tour includes visits to the National Palace, Historical city centre and Chapultepec Park. Return to your hotel.

Meals: B

Transfer to the airport for the flight to Oaxaca. Arrival and transfer to your hotel. Free day at leisure.

After breakfast, tour of this Spanish-built city, complete with its narrow streets, it has a special atmosphere with its large indigenous population, flourishing markets and some superb colonial architecture. A visit to the Iglesia de Santo Domingo, the most splendid of Oaxaca's many churches and also to the 2500-year-old Zapotec ruins of nearby Monte Alban. Return to your hotel for Christmas dinner.

Meals: B & D

After breakfast, flight to Tuxtla and transfer to your hotel. A tour of this handsome colonial town in the pine-clad Valle de Jovel, surrounded by the classic Mayan villages of the Chiapas highlands. Free afternoon.

Meals: B

After breakfast, journey by road to the ancient ruins Palenque, situated near a town of the same name. This is Mexico's most breath-taking archaeological park. During the Mayan period, it was believed to be one of the most important cities of its day. Surrounded by lush tropical forest and jungle, this site has a serene, mystical atmosphere. Palenque contained tombs of ancient leaders and rulers, and still today, excavations are ongoing to uncover more of the mysteries and enigmas surrounding the ancient civilizations of the Maya.

Meals: B

Opportunity to return to the site for more personal appreciation before the main tourist groups arrive. After, transfer to the airport for the flight to Merida and transfer to your hotel. Conveniently located, it is only minutes from Mérida; one of Mexico's most nostalgic colonial cities, similar to the city of Oaxaca. Merida combines colonial-era architecture with a rich Indian heritage. After lunch, a visit to nearby Kabah and the pyramids of Uxmal, site of perhaps the finest of all Mayan cities, where you will also enjoy a sound & light show (8:30 pm).

After breakfast, tour of Merida before heading toward Yaxcaba and your lodge for the night, Mayaland Hotel. This was the first Hotel built at Chichen Itza (in 1923), and with its superb location amidst the temples, the first within an ancient site in the world. Lunch before a guided tour of this ancient Mayan city, dating back to 514 AD.

Meals: B

A final day to visit this incredible site before the main throng of tourists arrive. Exclusive to your lodge, you enter Chichen Itza this morning through a private entrance, with the El Castillo pyramid in its majesty just around the bend. After your tour, transfer to Cancun for a few days on the Caribbean coast.

Free day. Enjoy the New Year's celebrations.

Free day at leisure.

Free day at leisure.

After breakfast, transfer to the airport for your return flight home.

Meals: B