Gardens and Ancient Sites of Mexico

Meet your Ross Tour Leader Paula Benneian at Sydney Airport for your flight to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Culture, cuisine and ecology are the big attractions of Puerto Vallarta. It’s the quaintest town on the Mexican Pacific sitting on Bahia de Banderas, the largest natural bay in Mexico.

Free afternoon. Our hotel is the Garza Blanca, Preserve Resort.

Welcome dinner included tonight.

Morning excursion with a Naturalist Bird Guide to see the rare and endangered azure Military Macaws and other birds in a tropical jungle sanctuary. Continue to the award-winning Puerto Vallarta Botanical Gardens. The Gardens are the vision of one man, our friend and founder, Robert Price, who created this tropical paradise 11 years ago. On arrival at Puerto Vallarta Botanic Gardens Conservatory, vanilla orchids march up cacao trees and sprays of tropical orchids decorate open conservatories like priceless jewels. Learn about the vanilla and cacao plants and production.

Lunch is in the restaurant overlooking the picturesque mountains and gardens while watching hummingbirds feed.

Boat cruise along the Pacific coastline, spot endemic frangipanis on tiny islands and arrive for an early lunch at the edge of the ocean.

Afternoon flight to Mexico City. Mexico City is one of the world’s greatest capitals where an ancient world lives alongside new cutting-edge technology, a place with a formidable art scene and an extraordinary celebrated, food culture. Its leafy neighbourhoods are graced with Beaux Arts and neoclassical buildings.

Check into our hotel located on Paseo de la Reforma, one of Mexico City’s most fashionable avenues.

Dinner included tonight.

Morning visit to the archaeological site of Teotihuacan, located 50km northeast of Mexico City. Teotihuacan is one of the most impressive cities of the ancient world, held sacred by the Aztecs. We will explore its temples, palaces and pyramids, including the Quetzalpapalotl Palace Complex, the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, the Pyramid of the Moon, and the immense Pyramid of the Sun, ranked among the biggest in the world.

Lunch included today. Afternoon visit to Teotihuacan Botanical Gardens to see an incredible collection of Mexico’s national fruit Opuntia (prickly pear)

Templo Mayor this morning for an introduction into Mexican Aztec culture and architecture. We’ll walk through the Zocalo, the huge main public square and one of the most recognisable places in Mexico City. Several historic buildings border the square, including the city’s national cathedral, and the National Palace, dating back to 1693 where we will admire the famous Diego Rivera murals that chronicle Mexico’s history.

Lunch included today overlooking the Zocalo! Admire the famous Diego Rivera murals in the National Palace.

Visit to the official residence of Mexican presidents, a white mansion built in 1853 and known simply as ‘Los Pinos.’

In the afternoon, one of the finest cultural artefact collections in the world! The superb National Museum of Anthropology houses the largest collection of traditional Mexican art and artefacts, spanning 5000BC to 1522. Gaze upon the famous 22-ton Aztec Sun Stone, Xochipilli the Aztec God of Art and the magical crystal skull. We will concentrate on the importance and history of the Aztec people who flourished in this area of Mexico 1300 – 1521.

Early Morning Cruise on the Xochimilco canals in traditional wooden boats called Trajineras. Listen to Mariachi, the traditional classic music of Mexico. This canal and chinampa system is a World Heritage Site, a vestige of Mexico’s pre-colonial past.

Afternoon visit to Museo Frida Kahlo. This historic house and art museum is dedicated to the life and work of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, located in the Colonia del Carmen neighbourhood of Coyoacán in Mexico City.

Nestled in the outskirts of Naucalpan de Juárez, northeast of Mexico City, El Nido de Quetzalcóatl is a residential complex quite unlike any other. Designed by architect Javier Senosiain Aguilar in the shape of a colossal serpent, the iridescent structure twists and turns amid the lush gardens, winding streams and oak groves housing ten sparsely furnished rental apartments in its bowels. Drawing inspiration from the Aztec feathered snake god Quetzalcóatl, Senosiain designed a serpentine building harmoniously integrated into the natural landscape in line with the principles of organic architecture.

Afternoon tour of a local market and a cooking class at Aura Cocina Mexicana Cooking School.

Morning flight to Cancun from where we will travel directly to Playa del Carmen on the Yucatán Peninsula’s Riviera Maya.

Free afternoon to walk the white sandy beach of the Caribbean. Dinner included tonight.

Morning drive into the heart of the Yucatan province and the heart of the Mayan culture. We visit the world-class archaeological site of Chichen Itza – one of the New 7 Wonders of the World – the best restored and most exciting of Yucatan’s Mayan sites. Explore the magnificent limestone ruins set in a dense forest, including the Pyramid of Kukulcan – its height and striking geometric design dominating the whole site, the Great Ball Court – the largest and most impressive in Mesoamerica, the Sacred Cenote – a natural well used for human sacrifice, and many other beautiful temples.

On the route home we will cool off in Mexico’s most beautiful natural swimming spots, a circular pool cut out from limestone and full of refreshing cool fresh water – a cenote – there are 7000 cenotes doted in the arid limestone area of the Yucatan. Back to our hotel in Playa del Carmen. Dinner included tonight.

Back to our hotel in Playa del Carmen. Dinner included tonight.

Visit Tulum, the site of a pre-Columbian Mayan walled city, which served as a major port for Coba and the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. Tulum was one of the last cities built and inhabited by the Maya at its height, between the 13th and 15th centuries. Tulum managed to survive 70 years after the Spanish occupation. Visit the Temple of the God of Wind, a cenote, and discover Tulum’s nesting sea turtles.

Farewell Dinner tonight.

Transfer to Cancun Airport today for your flight home.

Inflight

Arrive home today.