chichen itza tour recommendation

[Mouth Breather]

I'd love to see Uxmal but as you've said it's too far. This is just a convenient surface interval for us after 4 days in coz. We've rented a car and visited Tulum on previous trips but the bus is really comfy and the guide educated us on the way. If we can't find a less "Disneyesque" tour we might just do our interval in a cenote.

 

[Rob9876]

If you have not been to Coba before, it is a very nice set of ruins also. An easy drive -- we rented a car from Rentadora Isis in PDC, then you drive basically ~1 hour down to Tulum, then ~1 hour inland to Coba. Easy drive and roads were in good condition. There are bus options also from PDC as well as tour options from the same website I shared plus others probably. The tour they have with Coba in the morning and then all-inclusive Xel-Ha after that could be fun (we enjoyed snorkeling near the mangroves in Xel-Ha).

In some ways I liked Coba better than Chichen Itza. Last I heard you could still walk up the main pyramid in Coba. They also had a large pyramid that was still partially covered by jungle, which was kind of neat to show our kids how the jungle can reclaim an area. Also, you can either rent bicycles or hire a bicycle taxi/rickshaw to take you from the starting point into the jungle to the ruins (you can walk, but biking around the ruins was fun to me). We also found a Mayan restaurant nearby, where the food was quite good and not your regular Mexican fare. Since we did it on our own, we stopped at Tulum on our way back and cooled off in the water at the beach near the ruins.

 

[wnissen]

I'd love to see Uxmal but as you've said it's too far. This is just a convenient surface interval for us after 4 days in coz. We've rented a car and visited Tulum on previous trips but the bus is really comfy and the guide educated us on the way. If we can't find a less "Disneyesque" tour we might just do our interval in a cenote.

To be clear, I only brought up Uxmal as a point of reference, wasn't suggesting you go there on this trip.

 

[Chavodel8en]

I visited Chichen Itza ~25 years ago, when you could still climb El Castillo, and remembered I was awed by the architecture, especially the feathered serpents on the pyramid, and the many columns in the hall. Definitely worth a trip.

Coba was interesting (about 5 years ago) and they did allow climbing the pyramid, but I believe COVID has stopped that for now (social distancing issues). Coba is not as well-preserved or reconstituted, so some of the architecture looks worn/rough in comparison, but it has a "lost in the jungle" feeling to it.

Tulum is mainly about the location - beautiful Caribbean right below the ocean. The architecture is small and not as impressive. When I went ~20 years ago, we could swim in the ocean right there, that was nice.

I hear great things about Uxmal, havent been. Went to Merida about 20 years ago, a beautiful city, colonial architecture, Yucatecan food, great shopping and would second Merida/Uxmal as a worthy and easy side trip from diving.

This would be a very far land trip, but I did it in my energetic youth 20 years ago - Palenque, in Chiapas was really impressive architecture, purely Mayan, and interesting to compare to Chichen Itza, with its central Mexican influences. LOOONG bus ride from Merida (although you could break it up by visiting Campeche, which I hear is a pretty colonial city) - by bus, my itinerary was Mex DF -> Oaxaca -> San Cristobal de Las Casas -> Palenque -> Merida -> Playa del Carmen, ohh, to be young and dumb again!!)

 

[Lorenzoid]

This would be a very far land trip, but I did it in my energetic youth 20 years ago - Palenque, in Chiapas was really impressive architecture, purely Mayan, and interesting to compare to Chichen Itza, with its central Mexican influences. LOOONG bus ride from Merida (although you could break it up by visiting Campeche, which I hear is a pretty colonial city) - by bus, my itinerary was Mex DF -> Oaxaca -> San Cristobal de Las Casas -> Palenque -> Merida -> Playa del Carmen, ohh, to be young and dumb again!!)

I did almost the same trip 17 years ago, but in reverse, from Cancun up to Mexico City. But as I mentioned in a previous post, I can't remember any details. A bunch of pyramids in various states of decay, and blocks scattered everywhere like a jigsaw puzzle they would never complete. I'm impressed you still remember details like serpents and columns and what not.

 

[jwarrenod]

A bit late, but we hired a local guide from Puerto Morelos fo-r the day and went to Ek Belam. Able to climb the ruins and had a local guide…

We toured Valladolid That day also also.