Walk through San Cristóbal de las Casas with your Trip Manager, from Plaza de la Paz and the Zócalo along Real de Guadalupe towards the hilltop Templo de Guadalupe. The route also passes Santo Domingo and its nearby artisan market.

Look for colourful facades, street art and craft stalls against the backdrop of the Chiapas highlands. This orientation introduces the town’s walkable streets and distinctive mountain setting.

Explore two of Chiapas’s waterfall landscapes. At Agua Azul, follow trails beside tiered turquoise cascades and take time for a swim. At Misol-Ha, see a single 35-metre fall framed by jungle, with an opportunity to walk behind the falling water.

The contrast is part of the experience: Agua Azul spreads through a series of pools, while Misol-Ha plunges into a forested basin. Both offer time to enjoy the setting beyond a roadside viewpoint.

Explore Oaxaca’s historic centre with your Trip Manager, passing Santo Domingo, the Museo de las Culturas and the lively Zócalo. The walk finishes near the cathedral and the streets where locals gather to eat and socialise.

Stone facades, street music and market life give this UNESCO-listed centre its character. The orientation offers a closer look at Oaxaca’s public spaces and the cultural life that surrounds them.

• 1 Lunch (L)

• Mexico City: You’ll now book and pay for your Free Time Add-Ons through WeTravel — a simple website link where you can browse all the FTAs, pick what you’re keen on, and pay directly by card, in any currency. You’ll get the link in your Welcome Email, usually 3–5 days before your trip starts. Once you’re in, it’s easy: check out the pics, descriptions and prices, add your chosen experiences to your cart, then check out online. You can book before your trip starts or while you’re on the road, up until each activity’s booking deadline.Missed the link? No stress. Your Trip Manager can share it with you on trip too.

• Mexico City: Explore Mexico City’s historic centre, from the Templo Mayor and Metropolitan Cathedral to the huge Zócalo plaza. Walk past Diego Rivera murals, grand civic buildings and Bellas Artes for a fast, fascinating first look at CDMX.
• Oaxaca: Walk into Oaxaca’s historic centre with your Trip Manager, passing Santo Domingo, the Museo de las Cultures and the lively Zócalo. We’ll finish near the cathedral and dinner spots, with the city’s colour, music and street life doing most of the talking.
• Oaxaca: Head into the countryside for a community-based mezcal experience at a rural palenque.Ride out to the maguey fields, learn how agave is grown and harvested, then taste several mezcals before sitting down to a traditional lunch.
• San Cristobal: Start at Plaza de la Paz and the Zócalo, where the colourful cathedral, cafés and street art give you a quick feel for the city. Wander along Real de Guadalupe to the hilltop Templo de Guadalupe, then loop back past Santo Domingo and the artisan market for craft stalls, cobbled streets and big local flavour.
• Agua Azul: Cool off at two of Chiapas’ standout waterfall stops. Agua Azul brings turquoise cascades and natural pools. And Misol-Ha delivers a dramatic 35-metre drop and a walk-behind-the-falls moment.
• Palenque: Step into the jungle and explore Palenque’s ancient Maya ruins with a guide. Expect impressive temples and intricate stone carvings
• Roberto Barrios Waterfalls: Swim, chill or snap your way through a series of turquoise pools surrounded by jungle. It’s an easy nature reset after a morning of ruins.
• Merida: Start at Plaza Grande, home to Catedral de San Ildefonso, the colourful Mérida sign and some of the city’s key historic spots. Then walk along Paseo de Montejo to see grand mansions, the Monumento a la Patria and Mérida’s old-school elegance in full swing.
• Chichen Itza: Explore Chichen Itza, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, with a local guide.You’ll see the Temple of Kukulkan, the Great Ball Court and other iconic structures while learning about Maya astronomy, architecture and mythology.
• Cenote Ik Kil: Take a dip in Cenote Ik Kil, one of the Yucatán’s most famous natural sinkholes. Think deep blue water, hanging vines and limestone walls.
• Valladolid: Walk through Valladolid with your Trip Manager and see highlights like San Gervasio Cathedral and the 16th-century Convent of San Bernardino of Siena. Keep an eye out for street food vendors too — your future snack self will thank you.

Contiki

Meet your Trip Manager and fellow travellers at a hosted welcome meeting in Mexico City. Get acquainted with the group and hear practical guidance for travelling together across Mexico.

It is a chance to ask questions and connect before exploring a country whose capital, highland towns, Maya sites and Caribbean coast each offer a distinct sense of place.

Walk through Mexico City’s historic centre, taking in the vast Zócalo, Metropolitan Cathedral and Templo Mayor. Pass grand civic buildings, Diego Rivera murals and the Palacio de Bellas Artes as you get your bearings in the capital.

The route reveals a city built in layers: the remains of the Mexica capital sit close to colonial architecture and the public art of modern Mexico.

Visit a rural mezcal palenque in the Oaxacan countryside for a community-based introduction to the spirit. Head into the maguey fields to learn how agave is grown and harvested, then taste several mezcals and share a traditional local lunch.

Mezcal production draws on generations of knowledge about agave and place. Seeing the landscape behind the drink makes each tasting more than a sample: it connects flavour to local craft.

Explore Palenque’s ancient Maya ruins with a guide amid the rainforest of Chiapas. Walk among temples and ceremonial structures, and look closely at the intricate stone carvings that preserve traces of the city’s rulers and beliefs.

Palenque was a major Maya centre during the Classic period. Its sculpted monuments and jungle setting make the guided visit a chance to consider both the people who built the city and the landscape around it.

Visit the Roberto Barrios waterfalls near Palenque, where a series of cascades feeds turquoise pools surrounded by jungle. There is time to swim, relax beside the water or photograph the falls from different viewpoints.

Rather than one towering drop, this site offers a succession of pools and flowing limestone terraces. The sound of moving water and the shaded forest make it a refreshing way to experience Chiapas’s natural scenery.

Discover Mérida on an orientation walk beginning at Plaza Grande, where the Catedral de San Ildefonso and other historic buildings frame the city’s central square. Continue along Paseo de Montejo to see its grand mansions and the Monumento a la Patria.

The route contrasts the civic heart of Mérida with the elegant avenue shaped by the Yucatán’s henequén-era prosperity, offering a grounding in the city’s architecture and history.

Explore Chichén Itzá with a local guide, visiting the Temple of Kukulcán and Great Ball Court alongside other structures at this celebrated Maya archaeological site. Learn how its architecture connects with Maya astronomy, ritual and political life.

Chichén Itzá was a major centre in the northern Yucatán. A guided visit adds context to its monumental scale, helping you look beyond the familiar silhouette of the pyramid to the wider ancient city.

Swim in Cenote Ik Kil, one of the Yucatán’s best-known natural sinkholes. Cool off in deep blue water beneath high limestone walls, with hanging vines reaching down towards the pool.

Cenotes form where limestone gives way to reveal groundwater beneath the peninsula. This stop is a chance to experience that distinctive landscape firsthand, exchanging the heat of the open-air archaeological sites for the sheltered atmosphere of a cenote.

Walk through Valladolid with your Trip Manager to see landmarks including San Gervasio Cathedral and the 16th-century Convent of San Bernardino of Siena. Get a feel for the streets and keep an eye out for local food vendors along the way.

Valladolid’s historic buildings and everyday street life offer a different perspective on the Yucatán from its major archaeological sites. The walk introduces a town whose public spaces remain part of daily local life.

Join a gourmet taco tour for lunch in Mexico City and explore the capital through one of its defining foods. This optional experience offers a hosted way to discover different flavours and approaches to the taco rather than choosing a lunch spot on your own.

Mexico City’s food scene draws on regional ingredients and traditions from across the country. The tour is at additional cost and bookable on tour through the operator’s add-on booking link, subject to its booking deadline.

Experience lucha libre in Mexico City, where masked wrestlers, theatrical rivalries and an engaged crowd make the spectacle about more than the matches themselves. This optional evening offers a lively introduction to a distinctive part of Mexican popular culture.

Colourful masks and ring personas are central to the tradition, giving each bout its own drama. The experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour through the operator’s add-on booking link, subject to its booking deadline.

Explore Sumidero Canyon and Chiapa de Corzo on an optional excursion from San Cristóbal de las Casas. See more of Chiapas beyond the highland town, combining the canyon’s dramatic natural setting with a visit to a historic settlement.

Sumidero Canyon is known for the steep walls rising above the Grijalva River, while Chiapa de Corzo offers a contrasting view of the region’s cultural heritage. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to the operator’s booking deadline.

Join local hosts for a Yucatán home cooking experience in Mérida. Spend time with people who know the region’s food firsthand and discover its flavours in a home setting rather than a restaurant.

Yucatecan cooking has a character of its own within Mexican cuisine, shaped by local ingredients and long-standing food traditions. This hosted experience offers a personal introduction to that culinary culture. It is at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to the operator’s booking deadline.

Take a full-day trip to Río Lagartos and Las Coloradas from Valladolid to see another side of the Yucatán Peninsula. The experience pairs the coastal setting of Río Lagartos with the striking saltwater landscape around Las Coloradas.

Las Coloradas is known for its pink-toned salt ponds, whose appearance varies with conditions. Together, the two places provide a contrast to the peninsula’s inland towns and Maya sites. This excursion is at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to the operator’s booking deadline.