Inspiration for your own tailor-made trip
Mexico - Mexico City - Palenque - Campeche - Seye - Valladolid - Tankah Bay
100% customisable for you
Your Mexican adventure starts today. Head to the airport, breeze through security and into the lounge, where you can relax with drinks and nibbles before boarding. Your flight from London to Mexico City takes around 11-and-a-half hours, so come armed with entertainment.
After collecting your bags and clearing customs, you’ll be met and privately transferred to your home for the next three nights: an elegant hotel in the trendy Cuauhtemoc neighbourhood. This is a great base for exploring on foot… and via your tummies. Cuauhtemoc sits right at the city’s cultural, historic and financial crossroads, and it wears its layers well. There’s a strong local pulse beneath the polish, so expect taco stands and street vendors rubbing shoulders with chic coffee spots, organic markets and an excellent dining scene. You’re also within easy walking distance of El Angel de la Independencia: one of the city’s best-known landmarks.
After breakfast, take an hour-long private transfer to the ancient city of Teotihuacan, a UNESCO World Heritage site that, between the first and seventh centuries AD, ranked among the Americas’ great urban powers. Teotihuacan roughly translates as ‘the home of the gods’ and, trust us, whoever named it wasn’t overselling it. From the vast Avenue of the Dead to the gargantuan Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon, Teotihuacan’s scale and ambition are staggering.
Cosmic symbolism, rituals, sacrifices and a cast of all-powerful deities once ruled the roost here, all of which your English-speaking private guide will bring to life as you explore the key monuments, residential quarters and artefact-packed museum. Bring sunscreen, wear comfy shoes and prepare to step back in time.
Afterwards, swing by the nearby Augustinian monastery of Acolman, where Mexico’s early evangelisation story stands in sharp contrast to Teotihuacan’s monumental, pre-Hispanic scale.
Today is your chance to dive into the capital’s Centro Historico, where the past hangs in the air alongside the faint scent of tacos al pastor (spit-roasted pork shaved into tortillas). Start at the Zocalo, the vast square built over the bones of Tenochtitlan (the Aztec capital), then roam on foot: murals, markets, mezcal bars, taquerias and street musicians providing the soundtrack. The National Palace and Metropolitan Cathedral frame the plaza – step inside the latter for a blaze of gilded altarpieces and Baroque drama (no wonder it took 250 years to finish).
Fancy a greener finale? Head to Chapultepec Forest, the city’s ‘lungs’ and largest park, for shady walks, lakeside people-watching and a culture double-header at the Anthropology Museum and the Museum of Modern Art.
Alternatively, if you’d rather not go solo, we can arrange a private tour with an English-speaking guide. Just say the word.
This morning, you’ll be privately transferred from your hotel to the airport for the roughly one-and-a-half-hour flight to Villahermosa. On arrival, collect your hire car and hit the road to Palenque. It’s a journey of around two hours, depending on traffic and road conditions.
Chosen for atmosphere and ease, your hotel for the next two nights is simple but comfortable. Take time to unwind in your tropical surroundings and relax into temple mode. This evening, enjoy a hearty meal in the hotel’s restaurant. Don’t be fooled by the low-key vibe, the kitchen knows its stuff and the food here is genuinely delicious.
Set out today with an English-speaking guide to discover the rainforest-enveloped UNESCO World Heritage site of Palenque, one of the Maya world’s most atmospheric ruined cities.
When Palenque was abandoned around the ninth century, the jungle promptly moved back in, a strange twist of fate that helped preserve the site and protect it from looting. Hidden in dense vegetation, the city’s sacred spaces went largely unnoticed for a thousand years.
Exploration began in the 1830s, and excavations continue to this day. The most significant discovery came in 1952, when the tomb of the ruler K’inich Janaab Pakal was found within the Temple of the Inscriptions. Even now, only five per cent of the city is believed to have been uncovered.
Palenque may not be the biggest Maya site, but its preservation and stunning setting – listen out for the howler monkeys – make it one of the most mystical and evocative.
After breakfast, set off for Campeche. The drive time is a hefty five hours, so refresh en route at the Miguel Colorado cenotes: a private nature reserve and eco-centre. Cenotes are natural limestone sinkholes fed by ancient underground rivers, regarded as gateways to the underworld by the Mayans. Today, they’re magical swimming spots perfect for a mid-drive dip. Scenic swims aside, you can hike the trails between the two waterholes (keep an eye out for spider and howler monkeys and an array of tropical birds), go kayaking, and, if you are feeling brave, take to the skies on high ziplines across the water.
Arrive in UNESCO-listed Campeche and settle in for two nights at a characterful old town base. Once you’ve unpacked, head out to mooch the colourful pedestrian streets and sea walls, then follow the sea breeze to supper. Need a nudge? Our local Concierge can point you to the best tables.
Founded in the 16th century by Spanish conquerors, Campeche was once the most important seaport on the Mexican Gulf… and a hotspot for pirate attacks. With the buccaneers long gone, this UNESCO-listed Baroque harbour town is now a treasure trove for aesthetically minded foodies, who come to soak up its colonial vibes and superb seafood-led cuisine. Expect some of the best shrimp of your life, and a new appreciation for cazon (dogfish). A Campeche speciality, the small shark is served in countless ways, including the town’s signature pan de cazon: a lasagne-style affair of layered tortillas, shredded dogfish, and black beans, topped with a punchy tomato-and-habanero sauce.
You’ve the whole day to discover Campeche’s secrets. Alternatively, hop back in the car and head inland for an hour to the meticulously restored Maya complex of Edzna. Built in the Puuc style, the site’s five-tier pyramid-temple and ballcourt hint at a world where ritual, power and agriculture were tightly entwined.
After breakfast, swap coast for countryside and set off along the Yucatan Convent Route – via small towns such as Oxkutzcab, Mani and Chumayel – to Seye (approximately two-and-a-half-hours’ drive). Tracing the country’s Christianisation timeline via churches, convents and cloisters, the journey is a history lesson in itself, so it’s worth factoring in a few stops along the way.
Your home for the next two nights is a boutique minimalist retreat surrounded by low Yucatan jungle. Designed to inspire serenity and encourage you to switch off, expect a contemporary, pared-back aesthetic, a small pool for cooling off, and the option of a massage to iron out the road miles. Mealtimes here are a quiet highlight, too, with fresh local ingredients shaping bright, seasonal dishes from breakfast through to dinner.
Grab your swimmers because today you’re going cenote-hopping. Cenotes are big business here (the Yucatan Peninsula is honeycombed with them): the best are like natural cathedrals, with stalactites and stalagmites forming a quietly surreal, sculptural scene beneath the surface. Others are, well, just busy swimming holes…
So, start with a double-act that still feels like a find. Reached via a dirt track (which helps keep visitor numbers down), X’Batun is all trailing vines, tangled roots, and azure water so clear it looks lit from within. Nearby Dzonbacal – X’Batun’s rugged twin – is part open, part cavern, with limestone drama built in.
Head home via Sotuta de Peon, a 19th-century estate where henequen (agave) is still harvested to produce traditional sisal rope. With an English-speaking guide, follow the process from spiky plant to finished cord (you’ll never look at a simple knot the same way), before cooling off in the hacienda’s cenote.
Alternatively, we can arrange for you to explore Merida with a clued-up local guide.
Enjoy a relaxed breakfast before hopping back in the car and heading east for about two hours to the small colonial city of Valladolid. One of the Yucatan’s quieter crowd-pleasers, sleepy Valladolid often slips under the radar but promptly wins people over with its friendly, easygoing rhythm. Think colourful facades, shady arcades, a main plaza made for slow evening laps, and a food scene that rewards wandering without a plan.
Your base matches the mood: a beautifully renovated, characterful hotel right in the centre of town, with a pool for cooling off and a restaurant serving home-style Mexican cooking.
Today, make the 45 minute-drive in a private transfer to reach Chichen Itza. With an English-speaking private guide, step into one of the Maya world’s most famous cities, where maths, myth and power collide with awesome effect. The headline act is the Pyramid of Kukulcan, dedicated to the feathered serpent deity and engineered with mind-bending astronomical precision. Your guide will unpack the cosmic thinking behind the layout and explain how, at each equinox, light and shadow create the illusion of the serpent god slithering down the pyramid’s steps.
Other highlights include the vast Great Ball Court (the largest in Mesoamerica) and the tzompantli, a carved skull platform that reveals the fate of the Mayans’ enemies. The Sacred Cenote rounds out the story, a reminder that these watery hollows were once considered gateways to the underworld (and fantastic spots for ritual sacrifices).
Afterwards, swap symbolism for serenity with a swim at Tsukan cenote: it’s the perfect post-ruins reset.
It’s time to relax Riviera Maya-style. After breakfast, head south to Tankah Bay, just north of Tulum. An easy 90-minute drive, you can be up to your ears in the Caribbean Sea by lunchtime.
Opening onto a private stretch of beach, your hotel for the next two nights is perfectly prepped for easy living. Relax by one of the pools, hit the water sports centre, indulge in a massage – your call, but make sure to leave time to snorkel. Aside from the healthy coral reef just offshore, Tankah boasts an open cenote that links one of the world’s longest underwater cave systems to the sea. Winding through dense mangroves, its crystalline waters attract an impressive cast of wildlife. Then, as evening calls, shuffle home, sandy-toed, for sunset cocktails and supper. Yes, it’s tequila time.
Not reached temple overload? If you’d rather, we can arrange a private guided tour of Tulum’s stunning ruins.
Sadly, it’s your final morning in Mexico. The good news is your flight home isn’t until this evening, so you’ve still time for a leisurely breakfast and one last swim. Then, when you can put it off no longer, whack the cases in the car and head up the coast to Cancun International Airport: a drive of about one-and-a-half hours. On arrival, return your hire car and check in for your direct flight home. Flight time is a little over nine hours, so you’ll arrive back in London – with salt on your skin, sand in your shoes and Mexico still very much on your mind – tomorrow morning.
Everything in this itinerary is entirely customisable, down to the smallest details. Here are some more suggestions of what could be included
Each of our trips is entirely tailor-made with originality, quality and cultural immersion in mind. Our team of destination specialists will craft itineraries based on your tastes, using their first-hand knowledge and the help of our in-country team of Concierges and guides. All trips are accompanied by a wide range of additional services, including a 24-hour helpline, the Original Travel app, fast-track airport services and much more.
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We work with you to build an ultra-personalised holiday itinerary with your choice of accommodation, experiences and activities
All of our holidays include little extras designed to make a big difference to your trip, from fast-tracking you through airport check-in and security to our network of local Concierges
