orinjneal

Hi all,

My fiancee and I are getting married in Mexico in late July, at a villa in Puerto Morelos. We're going down about a week ahead of the rest of the gang, and we're hoping to get to Palenque in a rental car. I'm looking for any suggestions about the quickest/best route with only one overnight stay between Cancun Airport and Palenque, and only one overnight on the way back. We land in Cancun at 2:30 PM, so this is a factor, as we won't want to drive all night.

Estimates of driving time would also be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Otis_B_Driftwood

We wanted to visit Palenque on our visit this last April to the Yucatan but gave up on it because of the very long distance.

The bus is the cheapest way to go but we would have needed 5 days or more to do the trip properly. We thought about flying but we couldn't find any direct flights from Cancun to Villahermosa. The non-direct ones were more expensive than our fares to Cancun from California.

We found it much easier to visit Tikal a few years earlier from Cancun than to visit Palenque during this visit.

We plan to do it as part of a trip to Mexico City and Oaxaca in the near future.

chimani

You don't need a car in Palenque so I again would consider the bus if you are serious about this.

If you can get from Cancun to Chetumal before midnight then you could take the deluxe bus to Palenque - arrives c. 8.00 am.

And I guess you could return the same way (I didn't).

have you checked out the brilliant mexican bus booking site (south of DF only it seems).

http://www.ticketbus.com.mx

I think you could do it if

thit_cho

I drove last year from Villahermosa to Palenque, and its only about two hours. I think Click flies from Cancun to Villahermosa, and if that's the case, your best bet may be to fly to Villahermosa and drive. I arrived in Villahermosa on the first flight from Mexico City, and was able to drive to and from Palenque in time to get back to the Villahermosa airport for the late flight back to Mexico City, and I had around five hours (which was plenty) at Palenque. So, if there are flight to Villahermosa from Cancun, and the times work, it can be done as a daytrip.

Don't settle for Chitzen Itza -- its been too heavily reconstructed, and it can be absolutely inundated with day visitors from Cancun (a lot of sunburned Americans in Senor Frog and Carlos-n-Charlie t-shirts making their obligatory cultural excursion from Cancun). Palenque, with its jungle setting, is much more rewarding.

SusanInToronto

I don't think that Click flies between Villahermosa and Cancun, unless you fly back to Mexico City. We wanted a flight like that in late February, and it wasn't possible. We ended up taking a bus from Palenque to Campeche, spending the night there, then continuing to Cancun the next day. We quite enjoyed Campeche - interesting colonial town with a nicely restored centro.

emd3

FYI, if anyone is interested in 2012, VivaAerobus flies from Cancun to Villahermosa . From Villahermosa aiport, there is now an ADO van that goes straight to Palenque town several times a day (224 pesos, 2 hrs). So you don't even need to go into Villahermosa to get a bus to Palenque. This ADO service from Villahermosa airport to Palenque is apparently a fairly new route for ADO.

My VivaAerobus flight froCancun to Villahermosa was $75 each way. VivaAerobus flies twice a wk, each way.