Best Route from Guatemala City to Cancun.

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welshman1
welshman1

Hello,

Shortly, I will be travelling from GC to reach Cancun by mid March to fly to Cuba.

Ideally, I would like to include the following , in this order: -

GC (Can I do trips to Copan & Semuc Champey from here & return? Day trip to Copan seems expensive at $160) or go to Rio Dulce & back?
Antigua
Lago de Atitlan
San Cristobal
Palenque
Yaxchilan
Tikal
Rio Dulce/Livingston/Hopkins
Caye Caulkner
Tulum
Chichen Itza
Cancun/Paya Del Carmen/Merida
Isla Holbox
Back to Cancun for flight to Cuba.

I have about 6-7 weeks will be taking buses only.
Looking at travel company itineraries, this seems to be usually undertaken in a loop either from Cancun or Antigua/GC, but I want to travel in a general northern direction, via Belize, to see as many of the Mayan ruins as possible.

Is this feasible in the time period or sensible, as I wiil be going East to Tikal, then down to Rio Dulce, & north through Belize.

Can anyone suggest a better route to take in many of the above between GC & Cancun, as possible. (I appreciate a similar thread was posted recently "Tikal to Cancun" but differs as the route was more of a loop.

Thanks.

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hermosajoe
hermosajoe

Yeah, looks good to me, 42-49 days is good for this trip, dump Cancun and PDC.

I would not bother with Copan & Semuc Champey, out of the way, especially for a couple days. I'd replace it with San Ignacio, ATM cave trip and maybe Mountain Pine Ridge, it's on the way after Tikal.

You could go through Honduras but think your route is excellent. Maybe hit Valladolid instead of Merida, depends....

If your into ruins I'd also consider Calakmul and the sites around Xpujil, both a couple hours west of Chetumal.

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soniaberode
soniaberode

I can't help with your itinerary (I have not been to Mexico) but I just wanted to comment on the $160 day trip to Copan. You could go to Copan with a shuttle from Antigua and that costs $30 or so, so there and back would be $70 plus the entrance to the ruins ($15). That is cheaper already. Of course it would make sense to stay at least one night in Copan Ruinas (the shuttle takes 6 hours or so). And if you do that, much cheaper would be to take the Rutas Orientales bus in Guatemala City to Chiquimula (Q40). Then in Chiquimula take a bus to El Florido, the border (Q25). Minibuses will take you into Copan ($1). It takes 8 hours or so but only costs $9, $18 return (+ $15 entrance).

As you like ruins I would also recommend Yaxha near Tikal.

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welshman1
welshman1

Thanks for the information.

Trying to simplify my journey later, I'm thinking of starting by attempting to visit Copan, Rio Dulce/Livingston & Semuc Champey in a loop of approximately a week from (& returning) GC/Antigua. Is this a reasonable plan /doable? (I'm not bothered in which order I visit the 3 places).

As I'm concerned of overcomplicating things, I definitely want to visit Copan, but are RD/Livingston & SC also worth visiting?

Lastly, is it better to go to Copan from Santa Ana (where I am now) or GC?

Thanks for any further advice.

Thanks.

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hopefulist
hopefulist

If you spend 2 nights at each of those spots, that means you have just 1 day to explore and will be transitioning every other day; most of those trips will take most of a day. Whether RD/L and SC are worth it is a personal choice; it certainly wouldn't be worth it to me to spend that much time on the road for that little time to explore but it's your trip. If you could average 3-4 nights each stop then I would say go for it. Have a great trip, whatever you decide.

My photos w/ blog & travelogue links on the main page of each collection: http://www.flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/collections
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evangsmith2002
evangsmith2002

I did a similar trip last summer (we saw 8 of the places on your list) and I think you will have plenty of time. We had our own car, so I don't know for sure on your loop idea for copan, semuc champey, Livingston, but it sounds reasonable. I would definitely keep semuc champey on your itinerary, even though it's a pain to get to ... It was a highlight of our trip.

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soniaberode
soniaberode

We liked the Rio Dulce boat trip. Livingston was okay but we were not that impressed.

We love Semuc Champey and Lanquin. The scenery around Lanquin is amazing. We like the village and the bat caves. We think Semuc is great : the mirador and the pools and the kids selling chocolate.

Now as for making that loop : Rutas Orientales bus from GC (to Chiquimula, bus to El Florido, minibus to Copan) or shuttle from Antigua to Copan (6 hours), Copan to El Florido and Litegua bus to Rio Dulce (we did that from Rio Dulce to El Florido so assuming they do it the other way as well, if not a bus to Chiquimula and on to Rio Dulce). At least 6 hours.Then I am not even sure as I have never gone from there to Lanquin. I have heard there might be a shuttle (6 hours). There are also buses going to El Estor, then Cahabon and Lanquin but not many so not sure if that is even possible in a day. Lanquin to Antigua shuttle (or bus from Lanquin to Coban and Monja Blanca bus to GC), 8 hours.

Lots of travel. I would say you need a bit more than a week.

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mrmoto
mrmoto

Too many places and not enough time to enjoy them....is this the Amazing Race plan?

Adventure Travel to Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, Thailand, Burma, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, South Africa, Morocco, Turkey, EU, USA National Parks, enjoying culture, cuisine, motorcycling, scuba diving, surfing, sailing, rafting, hiking, fishing, camping, nature, wildlife. Get a Guidebook, and get lost!
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welshman1
welshman1

(Amazing Race Update). Thanks again.

Managed to get from GC to Copan ok in 6.5 hours via a few buses. Will try to get ot Semuc Champey/Lanquin via Chiquimula, El Rancho & Coban.

Been travelling for a while, so will try to trim the intinerary by skipping one or two places.

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