Yucatan - Mexico

Mexico has the lot: a great climate, eye-catching scenery, knockout beaches and a gripping cultural history. The only trouble is, it’s vast, and in a single trip you could never cover it all. So why try? Skip the squalor and sprawl of Mexico City, the tack of Tijuana and the vast distances you’d need to cover to see the territory between them, and make a beeline for the Yucatan Peninsula. Jutting out between the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, the region is everything that’s good about Mexico.
For a start, this is the northern heartland of what was once Mayan country. The region is freckled with some of the most impressive archeological sites ever discovered; the ancient cities of Chichen Itza and Uxmal top a mighty impressive list. The Yucatan also has perhaps the most picturesque colonial cities in Mexico - Merida and Campeche stand out - while the countryside is full of evocative evidence of an era when this was one of the agricultural powerhouses of the world.

All over, you’ll find the dramatically dilapidated shells of haciendas - the former homes of the conquistadors, where plantation, processing plant and stately home were one and the same. The best of these have been converted into exquisite hotels, and if you like your five-star luxury to come with six-star character, they are exceptional places to stay.

Once the history’s done, there are the beaches. The so-called Mayan Riviera, stretching from Cancun to Tulum, has some of the best in Mexico, as well as a mushrooming selection of Caribbean-side hideaway hotels.

Here is our guide to a two-week, twin-centre break on the Yucatan, making use of an open-jaw flight into Campeche or Merida and out of Cancun. Spend your first six nights at two or three of those charming haciendas, then drive a few hours east and chill out with beachside cocktails at your pick of the resorts.

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