Family Guatemala and Belize: Ancient temples and Caribbean isles

With its tallest temples jutting majestically through the thick jungle canopy and others still lying half-buried in vegetation, Tikal is an astonishingly atmospheric ancient city and perhaps the apex of Mayan architecture and artistry.

The city flourished in the Classic Period of the Mayan civilisation, between about 200 and 900 AD. During this time it was one of the most powerful cities in the empire and a sense of its importance endures in the vast open plazas, towering pyramids and extraordinary carvings and stelae that make up the site.

The most magical way to visit Tikal is to arrive just before dawn to climb one of the ancient step pyramids and watch the sun rise over the awakening rainforest. Wildlife is abundant here and will certainly make you aware of its presence – you can't miss the sonic boom of a howler monkey's call, audible from three miles away.

While only a fraction of Tikal has been excavated, much is known about its inhabitants and their lifestyles, so to fully appreciate the ruins it's well worth exploring with a guide who can explain the significance of the structures and the ancient rituals that were once performed in them.

A visit to the market town of Chichicastenango gives a strong sense of Guatemala’s indigenous heritage and the age-old Mayan belief systems that have fused with the Catholicism imposed by Spanish colonisers. The result is a unique blend in which European religious traditions mingle with ancient mysticism and shamanism.

On Thursdays and Sundays, the streets come alive with commerce and colour as Chichicastenango plays host to Guatemala’s largest open-air market. Indigenous communities from across the area congregate in spectacular traditional dress to trade their produce and sell traditional handicrafts, masks, textiles and figurines. You can also mingle with the locals at the market’s comedores (basic food stalls) which offer some intriguing, if not always appetising specialities.

Meanwhile vendors selling bundles of flowers spill across the picturesque steps of the church of Santo Tomás, a focal point for traditional rituals. On market days these steps – one for each of the 18 months of the Mayan calendar – are shrouded in a perpetual mist of incense. 

Graceful Antigua is without doubt one of the prettiest cities in Central America, and with its cobbled streets and compact historic core it is ideal for exploring on foot.

Your guide will lead you through Antigua’s flower-filled plazas and shaded streets, lined with baroque frontages. Along the way there are visits to a number of the city's most significant churches, convents and historic buildings, where you will learn about the city’s prosperous past.

Antigua’s beautiful surroundings have been both a blessing and a downfall – modern-day visitors may see the glorious views of volcanic peaks and lushly forested foothills as all part of the charm, but devastating natural disasters in the 18^th century laid the city low and turned much of its colonial architecture to ruins. Today these picturesque vestiges of Old Antigua sit alongside leafy gardens and lovingly restored buildings, resulting in an architectural mosaic of different eras.

You may also opt to begin the day by travelling to the village of San Antonio Aguas Calientes, 10 minutes' drive from Antigua, famous for its textiles and handicrafts, and enjoy a guided tour of a coffee farm.

Beneath the tranquil surface of Belize's Caribbean waters there lies a hotbed of marine life, centred around an astonishing 300km barrier reef – the largest in the western hemisphere.

One of the most thrilling ways to get up close to Belize's sea life is to take a boat trip out to Shark Ray Alley, where you can jump into a clear turquoise sea swarming with shadowy nurse sharks and graceful sting rays. While it may sound like a leap of faith, there is no element of danger – in fact these menacing-looking sharks don't even have teeth.

Laid-back Belize hides a bustling underwater world, with coral reefs packed with colourful fish and other exotic creatures. 

Tracing the coastline in a continuous stripe of coral, a 300km barrier reef provides a habitat for at least 500 species of fish. It's the greatest reef of its kind in the western hemisphere, and when combined with the three huge atolls to be found farther offshore it's no wonder that the thriving marine environment supported by this mass of coral makes Belize a popular place to learn to dive.