Yucatán State & the Maya Heartland
The Calcehtok caves are said to comprise the longest dry-cave system on the Yucatán Peninsula. More than 4km have been explored so far, and two of the…
Must-see attractions in Yucatán Peninsula
Riviera Maya
These two beautiful, protected bays are separated by a narrow point, 123km south of Cancún and 11km north of Tulum. To get here, head east (toward the…
Mérida
One of the nicest plazas in Mexico, huge laurel trees shade the park’s benches and wide sidewalks. It was the religious and social center of ancient T’ho;…
Mérida
Built in 1892, the Palacio de Gobierno houses the state of Yucatán’s executive government offices (and a tourist office). Don't miss the wonderful murals…
Mérida
The enormous Teatro Peón Contreras was built between 1900 and 1908, during Mérida’s henequén heyday. It boasts a main staircase of Carrara marble, a dome…
Isla Cozumel
About 17km south of San Miguel, Palancar is a great beach to visit during the week when the crowds thin out. It has a beach club renting snorkel gear (US…
Cancún
In the Zona Arqueológica El Rey, on the west side of Blvd Kukulcán, there’s a small temple and several ceremonial platforms. The site gets its name from a…
Izamal
Though not worth detouring wildly for, if you're here already, three of the town’s original 12 Maya pyramids have been partially restored. The largest …
Mérida
The 17th-century Iglesia de Jesús was built by Jesuits in 1618. It's the sole surviving edifice from a complex of buildings that once filled the entire…
Isla Mujeres
At the island's southernmost point you’ll find a lighthouse, a sculpture garden and the worn remains of a temple dedicated to Ixchel, Maya goddess of the…
Yucatán State & the Maya Heartland
Archaeologists have been excited about the ruins of Oxkintok for several years. Inscriptions found at the site contain some of the oldest-known dates in…
Campeche State
‘Discovered’ only in 1990, Balamkú boasts a remarkably ornate, stuccoed frieze that bears little resemblance to any of the known decorative elements in…
Cancún
A beach club and rustic cabins on a lovely stretch of white-sand beach overlooking Isla Mujeres. Get here before the big hotels attempt to completely take…
Campeche State
The buildings of Hormiguero date as far back as AD 50; the city (whose modern name is Spanish for ‘anthill’) flourished during the late Classic period…
Celestún
This abandoned hacienda, a few kilometers southeast of town, once produced dyewood and salt, and served as a summer home for a Campeche family. It’s 5km…
Chichén Itzá
This group east of El Castillo pyramid takes its name – which means ‘Group of the Thousand Columns’ – from the forest of pillars stretching south and east…
Campeche State
Though it only has one significant structure, Dzibilnocac possesses an eerie grandeur that merits a visit. Unlike the many hilltop sites chosen for Chenes…
Campeche State
Some of the most significant caves in the peninsula are found 31km north of Hopelchén, shortly before you reach the town of Bolonchén de Rejón. The local…
Riviera Maya
Paamul, 87km south of Cancún, is a de facto private beach on a sheltered bay. Like many other spots along the Caribbean coast, it has signs prohibiting…
Yucatán State & the Maya Heartland
Sayil is best known for El Palacio, the huge three-tiered building that has an 85m-long facade. The distinctive columns of Puuc architecture are used…
Yucatán State & the Maya Heartland
Dating from around 1609, Tekax' church has been looted a couple of times, initially during the Caste War and later during the Mexican Revolution. Most…
Campeche State
The largest lagoon in the Gulf of Mexico area, the Laguna de Términos comprises a network of estuaries, swamps and ponds that together form a uniquely…
Campeche State
About 60km south of Hopelchén, Hochob, ‘the place where corn is harvested,’ is among the most beautiful and terrifying of the Chenes-style sites. The…
Chetumal
The Museo de la Cultura Maya is the city’s claim to cultural fame – a bold showpiece that's beautifully conceived and executed, though regrettably short…
Mérida
Paseo de Montejo, which runs parallel to Calles 56 and 58, was an attempt by Mérida’s 19th-century city planners to create a wide boulevard similar to the…
Chichén Itzá
Called El Caracol (the Snail) by the Spaniards for its interior spiral staircase, this observatory, to the south of the El Osario, is one of the most…
Campeche State
The rather remote village of Miguel Colorado, 70km south of Champotón, has two large scenic cenotes (limestone sinkholes) with a spiffy new ecocenter and…
Templo & Exconvento de Los Santos Reyes
Yucatán State & the Maya Heartland
The Church of the Three Wise Kings and the attached convent (on opposite sides of Calle 51 on the plaza) was built in 1563 by the Franciscans. It's…
Campeche State
The ruins of Xpuhil are a striking example of the Río Bec style. The three towers (rather than the usual two) of Estructura I rise above a dozen vaulted…
Campeche State
Off Hwy 186, heading southwest from Escárcega, is one of Campeche’s most recently uncovered Maya sites, El Tigre. Archaeologists are almost certain it is…
Calakmul
The Gran Plaza, with its ancient buildings and many stelae, is a good place to begin your Calakmul explorations. Climbing the enormous Estructura II, at…
Yucatán State & the Maya Heartland
The House of the Turtles, which you'll find on top of a hillside overlooking the Juego de Pelota (Ball Court), takes its name from the turtles carved on…
Campeche State
Tohcok (spelled Tacob on signs) is 3.5km northwest of Hopelchén. Of the 40-odd structures found at this Maya site, the only one that has been…
Yucatán State & the Maya Heartland
The ornate palacio at Xlapak (shla-pak), also spelled Xlapac, is quite a bit smaller than those at nearby Kabah and Sayil, measuring only about 20m in…
Museo Arqueológico del Camino Real
Campeche State
This tiny museum, on the north corner of the plaza, doesn't get much traffic. But it should. It contains a small but compelling collection of ceramic art…
Yucatán State & the Maya Heartland
You'll learn more than you ever wanted to know about chocolate at this interesting chain museum that follows a circuit through six exhibition spaces…
Campeche State
Supposedly named after a local landowner from Tabasco, El Tabasqueño boasts a temple-palace (Estructura 1) with a striking monster-mouth doorway, flanked…
Chichén Itzá
Thought by archaeologists to have been a palace for Maya royalty, the so-called Edificio de las Monjas (Nunnery), with its myriad rooms, resembled a…
Yucatán State & the Maya Heartland
There's no lodging (or old house) here, but it provides an interesting look at how henequén was grown and processed. From the parking lot, follow the…
Laguna Bacalar
The fortress above the lagoon was built in 1733 to protect Spanish colonists from pirate attacks and rebellions by local indigenous people. It also served…
