Magical Mexico

Meet at Athens Eleftherios Venizelos airport and fly to Mexico City. On arrival the next day, after collecting your luggage at Benito Juárez airport, our local representative meets you and takes you to your hotel. We drop our bags and start our tour of Mexico City: huge, cosmopolitan, colourful, chaotic, modern and old at once, built more than two kilometres above sea level, in other words unique. We visit the historic centre, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, starting with its main square, officially Constitution Square but known to all as the Zócalo ("base"), where we see the Cathedral and the National Palace, built on the site of the palace of the Aztec emperor Moctezuma II. We then drive along the city's most impressive avenue, the Paseo de la Reforma, and through the Bosque de Chapultepec, a huge urban park with lakes, the city zoo and many excellent museums. Return to the hotel and check-in. Overnight.

After breakfast we start at the Square of the Three Cultures, where past and present meet, and visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. We continue to the impressive archaeological zone of Teotihuacan to admire the monumental Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon, the Temple of Quetzalpapalotl, the citadel and the Avenue of the Dead. Lunch and return to the hotel. Free for the rest of the day.

After breakfast we take a panoramic tour of the lovely Coyoacán district, with its sixteenth-century mansions and the church of San Juan Bautista. Here we visit the Frida Kahlo Museum, known as "The Blue House", where the world-famous Latin American artist lived. We then visit Xochimilco, a World Heritage Site, for a boat ride on a traditional trajinera. Return to the hotel to rest and an evening stroll.

Breakfast and free time for shopping and activities in the city. You can visit the craft market and the flower market, the Museum of Anthropology or the Santa Fe shopping centre. We then collect our things and transfer to the airport for our flight to Mérida. Arrival, check-in and a first look at this beautiful city.

After breakfast we visit the ancient city of Uxmal (pronounced "Ooshmal"), perhaps the most impressive archaeological site of the Yucatán peninsula and certainly the most harmonious and peaceful. In the Maya language Uxmal means "built three times", referring to the impressive Temple (or Pyramid) of the Magician, its best-known building. We visit it and all the other important buildings of the site. After lunch we continue to the "white city" of Mérida, capital of the state of Yucatán, for a panoramic tour. Rest, and in the evening you are free to wander the lanes and enjoy the city's nightlife.

Breakfast and departure for Chichén Itzá, home of the most extensively studied of all Maya pyramids and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. We also see the Palace of a Thousand Columns, the observatory, the huge Sacred Cenote that gives the site its name (Chichén Itzá means roughly "at the mouth of the well of the Itzá") and of course the ball court from which, according to a famous Maya prophecy, the serpent warrior god Kukulkan would emerge on 22 December 2012 to bring our world to an end. Before continuing we swim in one of the famous Selva Maya cenotes, where we also have lunch. Arrival, check-in and a free evening.

Free days to enjoy one of the most beautiful and famous resorts in the western hemisphere, a paradise on earth. From the beach with its unique sugar-white sand and incredible turquoise water to the hotels with endless options for relaxation, sport, entertainment and excellent food, you will enjoy every moment of the day.

Morning transfer to Cancún airport for the return flight to Athens.

Arrival in Istanbul and then Athens, full of images and unforgettable memories.