An 8 day/ 7 night tour of Belize’s magnificent Maya Classic legacy.  Sites included:  Lamanai, Xunantunich, Caracol, Cahal Pech and, as a bonus, Guatemala's magnificent Tikal!  And, if you would like, we can extend your stay in the Belizean Cayes.

This tour begins on the first and third Saturday of each month.

Begins and ends in Belize City.

DAY 1 SAT. ARRIVAL TO BELIZE CITY, Belize.   Meet at Belize City Airport and transfer to hotel in Belize City for overnight. 

DAY 2 SUN.  LAMANAI, Belize.  Transfer to Northern Belize to take a boat ride on the New River & Lagoon.  Lamanai has imposing pyramids in several plazas, some of them with impressive stucco carvings.  An important information about Lamanai is that it was inhabited by Maya People for more than 2,000 years.  Beginning in the Pre-Classic, it survived the Classic Maya collapse, it didn`t survive the Spanish conquest.  Overnight in Belize City.  (B,L)

DAY 3 MON.  ALTUN-HA, Belize.  Boat and ground transfer to visit Altun-Ha´s 2 plazas.  A relatively small site, Altun-Ha is where the largest carved jade piece has been found as well as archaeological evidence of contacts with Teotihuacan.  Back to Belize City, transfer to western Belize.  Overnight in San Ignacio.  (B,L)

DAY 4 TUE.  CARACOL, Belize.  A scenic drive through the Mountain Pine Ridge, to visit Caracol, one of the largest political, religious and economic centers of the Maya Classic Time.  Magnificent and well restored pyramids, the tallest one is named Caana.  Caracol is connected through a network of sakbeob with several small sites.  In the 7th Century, in an alliance with Calakmul, Caracol defeated mighty Tikal.  Overnight in San Ignacio.  (B,L)

DAY 5 WED.     XUNANTUNICH, Belize & YAXHA, Guatemala - Xunantunich is an interesting small site with a tall pyramid with an spectacular view of the San Ignacio valley.   Transfer to Central Peten area for the next visit, it is to Yaxha Archaeological Site, the only Maya Classic Site whose name is the same as its emblem glyph.  Known for having a large concentration of massive buildings and with defined avenues and causeways.  It was always an allied of Tikal.  Its location, on the shore of a lake and within the Maya Biosphere Reserve, makes it unique.  Overnight in Flores.  (B,L)

DAY 6 THU.  TIKAL, Guatemala - A UNESCO’s World Heritage Site and the first one in the Maya World, since 1979.  Intensive construction took place at Tikal from the late Pre-classic Period until the waning of Classic Maya civilization around AD 900.  At its peak the city covered about 48 square miles and had a population estimated at 55,000. Tikal's Stelae 29 bears the earliest Long Count date known in the Maya lowlands.  In 292 AD  Temple IV, one of the many pyramids erected to memorialize the dead rulers of Tikal's royal dynasty, and one of the tallest of Maya structures at 212 feet, was erected.  Overnight Flores. (B,L)

 DAY 7 FRI.  TIKAL, Guatemala.  Free morning.  Afternoon transfer back to Belize.  Overnight in San Ignacio Area.  (B.)

DAY 8 SAT. DEPARTURE FROM BELIZE CITY, Belize.  Transfer to Belize International Airport. (B.)