Fifteen days in Mexico: what the route actually covers

Fifteen days is enough for Mexico if you travel in one direction and accept that you are seeing the centre and the south, not the whole country.

Mexico is vast and astonishingly varied. Our route runs from the high central plateau, down through the south, and out to the Yucatán — a single westward-to-eastward line that never doubles back, taking in three ancient civilisations, two colonial cities and some of the best food anywhere.

In short

• Fifteen days: Mexico City → Puebla → Oaxaca → Chiapas → Palenque → the Yucatán
• Aztec, Zapotec and Maya sites, rather than a single archaeological tradition
• Cooking with local families in Oaxaca, and an alebrije workshop with the makers
• The first days are high — Mexico City sits above 2,200 metres — and the last are at sea level
• A maximum of 12 travellers, land-only, no trekking or camping

Days 1–3 — Mexico City. One of the great cities: the historic centre, the museums, the food, and the pyramids of Teotihuacán on the third day.

Days 4–5 — Puebla and on to Oaxaca. Colonial streets, tiled façades, and the road south.

Days 6–7 — Oaxaca. A cooking class with local families, and an alebrije workshop where the carvers work — plus mezcal, markets and one of the most distinctive food cultures in the Americas.

Days 8–9 — Chiapas. The Sumidero Canyon by boat, then the highland villages of Zinacantán and San Juan Chamula, where Maya and Catholic practice have merged into something entirely their own.

Days 10–11 — the jungle. The waterfalls of Agua Azul, and the Maya city of Palenque, half-reclaimed by rainforest.

Days 12–15 — the Yucatán. A cenote at Mucuyché, colonial Mérida, and Chichén Itzá to finish.

This is what makes Mexico different from most archaeological trips, and it is worth understanding before you go.

Teotihuacán, near Mexico City, predates the Aztecs by centuries — they found it already abandoned and gave it its name. It is enormous, and nobody is certain who built it.

Oaxaca is Zapotec and Mixtec country, with its own languages, its own script and a culture that was old when the Aztecs arrived.

Palenque and Chichén Itzá are Maya, and separated from each other by centuries and several hundred miles — Palenque swallowed by jungle, Chichén Itzá restored and monumental.

So you are not seeing one culture's ruins repeatedly. You are watching several unrelated civilisations, and the Spanish arrival on top of them, which is why the colonial cities belong on the itinerary rather than interrupting it.

Altitude. Mexico City is above 2,200 metres and Puebla higher — mild by Andean standards but noticeable after a long flight, particularly on day two. The itinerary starts gently for that reason. After Oaxaca the route descends steadily; the Yucatán is essentially at sea level.

Heat. The highlands are pleasantly cool. Chiapas and the Yucatán are hot and humid, and Palenque in particular is jungle heat.

Walking. Moderate: cities on cobbles, steps at archaeological sites, and a good deal of time on your feet in Mexico City and Mérida. No trekking.

Pace. This is a moving itinerary — two nights in most places, with regional travel between them. It covers a lot of ground, which is the point.

One bonus of the shape: the shortest flight from the UK of any of our Latin American trips.

Baja California and the Pacific coast. A different Mexico entirely, and a long way north-west.

Copper Canyon. Bigger than the Grand Canyon and nowhere near this route.

Beach time. There are beaches near the end; there is no beach stay built in.

Guadalajara and the colonial Bajío. Superb, and off the line we travel.

If Day of the Dead is what draws you, that is a question of timing rather than route — see Day of the Dead in Mexico.

The tour is land-only, so you book the flights that suit you, and runs on guaranteed departures — it goes ahead regardless of how many others have booked. If you are weighing Mexico against elsewhere in the region, our comparison of Costa Rica or Mexico sets out the choice.