Laurent Kretz

I joined for a long week end (close to a week actually: 6 days) my father and sister in the Yucatan, Mexico. Pictures are here.

It was a wonderful trip and I didn’t expect it to be so nice: I thought it was a very touristic region, and we traveled during the rainy season. We actually had a wonderful weather (wonderful for the region: so still warm and humid, but bearable) and the mass-tourism is concentrated on certain beaches (Cancun, Playa del Carmen) and sites (Cobà, Chichen Itza). Here is a suggested itinerary of what to do for a long week end in the Yucatan !

We arrived in Cancun, the major (only?) international airport in Yucatan and directly rented a car. From there, we drove West to Valladolid, about an hour and a half from the airport on the Cuota (highway).

Valladolid

Valladolid is a nice little colonial town (65K inhabitants). There is a lot of animation on the Zocalo (central square), surrounded by a few palaces and colonial houses with beautiful patios and the old cathedral.

We spend the night in a very nice and luxuous hotel with a beautiful patio: El Meson del Marques. We also spent a night in another hotel, without the patio but half the price: Hotel San Clemente.

Chichen Itza (or: Mayan Disney Land …)

After a nice breakfast in the patio the next day and a tour in the city, we leave for Chichen Itza. About 45mn drive on the route through the villages (not the highway). We arrive at what seems to be Disney Land or something like this: about 20 buses, 50 tourists mini-vans, a full parking … The last Mayan site I saw was Tikal, Guatemala and there was only a few other backpackers on the site - so that’s quite a change.
However, the site is very nice: the pyramid is huge, the ball game courts are impeccable, the thousand columns palace is great.

Merida

After Chichen Itza we head to Merida and make a quick detour by Izamal. Itzamal is a very small village with an impressive church and monastery. The church is actually built on a platform (a square of about 400 yards long) raised of about 10 yards from the street level - what a Herculean work !
From Izamal we continue to Merida, the capital of Yucatan. Merida is a beautiful colonial city (1M inhabitants) with old colonial and last century buildings. We sleep at the Hotel Caribe, next to the Gran Hotel. Hotel Caribe occupies an old catholic college and the rooms are organized around a large and well-spaced patio - also, there is a swimming pool on the roof, with room around it.
The Zocalo is crowded in the evening, lots of animation, the cathedral is beautiful, and the meridians close the downtown streets in the evening to install restaurants and music bands - we feel like in Madrid or Barcelona !

Uxmal and other Mayan sites (Kabah, Sayil, Labna)

After one night in Merida, we drive south heading towards Uxmal and a few other small sites in that area (Kabah, Sayil and Labna). We arrive in the afternoon and visit the small sites before trying to find a hotel. We are literally alone in the sites, which allows us to explore quietly and feel an incredible atmosphere. We then head to Santa Elena and find available bungalows at Hotel Sacbe.
Next morning, we leave for the main site, Uxmal. Uxmal is an amazing site, and probably the one we preferred: it’s huge, counts dozens of constructions that you can visit, is made of various platforms at different levels, has two main pyramids including one allowing to overview the site, and offers an incredible set of echoes. We walk for a few hours on the site, enjoy its quietness as we arrived very early, and explore all of its corners !

From West to East: Uxmal to Tulum by the center villages

After Uxmal, we drive back to the east coast (Caribbean cost) to Tulum, with one night in Valladolid and a visit of Cobà (Mayan site).
This was our route: Santa Elena > Ticul > Dzan > Mani > Teabo > Mayapan > Cantamayec > Sotuta > Holca. More or less 3 hours from Uxmal to the highway, and then another half hour to Valladolid. All those small villages are nice, always organized around a Zocalo (central square) and a church, and we feel time has stopped for a few centuries … Kids run in the streets, the elderly seat and talk, some dogs and goose play hide and seek.

We spend the night at Valladolid (hotel Clemente this time) and leave early in the morning to Cobà, the last inland Mayan site we will visit. The site is nice, but crowded with tourists. After the site, we walk along the lake (Lago Coba) and see enormous crocodiles !

Tulum and the most photogenic ruins

We end up the trip in Tulum, about 30mn east of Cobà, 2h south of Cancun (concrete concrete concrete) and 1h south of Playa del Carmen (1m inhabitants). The nice thing about Tulum (15K inhabitants) is that you still have small backpackers hotels and bungalows, and much less resorts than in the north. We find a nice one called Maya Tulu: beautiful bungalows with an ocean view, and cheap compared to the competition !
Early next morning, we drive to the Mayan ruins site of Tulum, arrive there at 8:02am (so 2mn after the opening) and are the 3rd and 4th person to enter the site. The site is beautiful, the water turquoise, the sky is blue with impressive clouds, it’s a photographer paradise !

This marks the end of the trip for me. My father and sister will stay another few days on the coast, while I drive north to catch my flight in Cancun.

If you’re leaving for the Yucatan and need some advice, don’t hesitate to comment below !

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