North America 17-Day Tours and Trips

This was a really well -planned full itinerary with little down time and early starts every morning! The traffic in Mexico City meant that journeys between locations always took a long time but Berto, our driver was very calm.  On the first day you are still recovering from the long day of travel but the visit to the Frida Kahlo House was very worthwhile and the canal boat "dodgems" at Xochimilco was great fun! It was nice to get out of the City to the site at Teotichuacan the next day - the large pyramids are stunningly impressive but you can no longer climb them. The best time was in Oaxaca as we spent 4 nights at the same central hotel and we had plenty of opportunity to soak up the festive atmosphere and see plenty of costumes and parades. The food is very good here and, of course, we learned how to make some salsas and mole. We were lucky enough to spend time at the cemetery with a family where the son was playing the guitar and singing ballads to the dead relatives - very moving and atmospheric. Monte Alban was my favourite archaeological site, partly because of the stunning views but Palenque was lovely because of its jungle location with the howler monkeys screeching in the background and the fact it was possible to climb the Pyramid of the Cross to have a view across the site. Unfortunately, we only had less than an hour at Uxmal as we arrived late in the afternoon and our visit to Chichen Itza was quite short as we had to leave for the airport. We did so many extras and Arturo always ensured we had good places to eat and drink!

The trip was everything I hoped it would be- planned and executed brilliantly and so much fun! Many of our hikes and campsites were off the beaten track as such which made it even more memorable. I would 100% recommend this trip to anyone wanting to explore the outdoors in Canada!

What an incredible experience of a part of Central America. Guatemala took my breath away and I would highly recommend this tour to anyone considering Latin America. The activities, the pace, the nature and cultural experience was a perfect balance. My only regret is not staying on the second leg of the tour to continue onto Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador.

I am absolutely glad I took this trip. The people, and the variety of experiences, I could never have put together on my own. We had an excellent CEO, Ana, who added so much to the trip with her enthusiasm and knowledge and acceptance of all of us. I appreciated the contact that we had with local people, getting a feel for how they live and work. I loved visiting the ancient ruins and hearing stories from local guides. I loved the nature experiences we had with snorkeling, caving and hiking. And beyond that we had a great group of people of varying ages and points of view. It was special to share that time with them.

The title of this tour describes the itinerary. We explored archaeological sites galore, toured historical city centers, visited local artisans, and ate lots of Mexican (and some Mayan) food. The hotels were all comfortable, and the baos mostly had toilet paper and soap. We had opportunities to swim and to visit a cenote.

An excellent introduction to the sights , sounds and culture of Mexico. It involved long days travelling on occasion, and a larger bus would be an improvement. The one provided had the exact number of seats for the passengers so there was no possibility of spreading out, the seats in the back being particularly cramped.