Day 1 Sat, daytime flight via the USA, arriving same evening.
Day 2 Guided tour of Panama City, including visit to Miraflores Docks on the canal.
Days 3,4 Drive west along the Panamerican highway to Boquete, a delightful rural base in coffee-growing country for a range of optional activities - horse-riding, birdwatching, visits to hot springs.
Days 5-7 Beautiful mountain bus ride north to the steamy tropical Caribbean coast and continue by ferry to the unspoilt, densely forested archipelago of Bocas del Toro and Colón Island. There are opportunities to snorkel on the nearby coral reefs and explore the Bastimentos National Marine Park.
Day 8 Cross the border into Costa Rica, a naturalist’s paradise, and continue through banana plantations and a scenic climb into the highlands to the capital, San José.
Day 9 Explore the capital or take a river rafting trip through pretty countryside.
Days 10,11 Drive to the dripping cloud-forest of Monteverde National Park. One of the few remaining habitats of the resplendent Quetzal. Guided tour of the Park and an optional visit to a butterfly farm.
Days 12-14 By bus (crossing the border into Nicaragua) to colonial Granada, where the elegant architecture is still relatively untouched by tourism. Our stay here includes an excursion to the volcanic craters and lakes of Masaya National Park. There's an optional full day to rural Ometepe Island on Lake Nicaragua, with its twin volcanoes, prolific wildlife, and pre-Columbian artefacts.
Days 15, 16 Drive to León, another colonial gem, via Managua. Optional tour to view evocative ruined buildings of the original site of the town, León Viejo, or the Pacific Coast.
Day 17 By road into Honduras and its capital, Tegucigalpa.
Days 18,19 Drive to Copán, along with Tikal perhaps the most impressive Mayan site. The ruined temples and pyramids are noted for their exquisite carvings. Overnight in a nearby village.
Days 20,21 By bumpy road across the border to Guatemala and on to Antigua, a lively colonial town full of charming old houses, pretty squares, and bars, shops and restaurants.
Day 22 UK clients depart from Guatemala City airport, arriving day 23, Sun. |  Antigua - one of Central America's most atmospheric towns.
 Stelae at the Maya site of Copán, Honduras.
 Panama Canal - possibly one of the greatest engineering feats of mankind.
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