Car rental in Yucatan
 

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. Planning my first trip to Mexico, will be traveling alone. Plan on flying into Cancun and heading directly to Chichen Itza for a day or two and then headinig to Merida for a few days(all tentative) then heading back to Cancun for a couple of day before flying to Mexico City for 5 days. What I am wondering is should I rent a car while in Yucatan or use the bus system? Do buses or other types of transport run regularly? Would they be more cost effective? Any other advice on what/where to see? Thanks in advance

We always rent a car, have gone to Riviera Maya and Yucatan State six times now. Last 3 times we rented with Easyway which is off the airport, office about 5 minutes away. They pick you up at the airport and drop you off. Their web site includes all insurance costs except zero deductible which is about an extra US$15/day. A coworker rented from Cancun Rent A Car, the site they have lists all insurance costs including zero deductible. You want the insurance. You may be able to get CDW through your credit card, but remember that should anything happen, such as minor fender bender, all costs must be paid before you leave the country, so you would only get reimbursed after you return and submit the claim and police report. We have never had any problems, worst we encountered was a damaged fender (cost an extra US$60) when we hit a pothole on road from Xcalak.

We liked Hotel Hacienda Chichen Itza very much. Can't help with Merida or Cancun, we usually stay around Akumal and finish up on Isla.

Hi jn -

I would suggest a small change to your itinerary.

Fly into Cancun and stay for a couple of days. Then rent the car and drive to Chichen. I can also recommend the beautiful Hacienda Chichen.

Then drive to Merida for a few days. We loved the Hotel Casa del Balam, which has the added attraction of being on the same block as a whole bunch of car rental places where you could drop the car off.

Or you could keep driving - Uxmal is an important and beautiful place. And in another couple of hours you're in Campeche, which is very nice. You could fly to Mexico City from Campeche.

I've done both and would strongly recommend the bus option. It's less expensive, less hassle, and that's a dead boring drive anyway. Unless you are going to Ek Balaam or Uxmal in addition to what you've mentioned, there's no real reason to have your own car. Driving and parking in Merida is a pain and it's only a few dollars each time to take a taxi there. The executive buses on that route between Cancun and Merida are REALLY nice and comfortable. (More so than most of the rental cars.)

Thank you for the advice. Globetrots, any advice on where to obtain information on bus lines and schedules. Do you know if buses stop at Chechen Itza or close by? Any problems with traveling alone on the buses?
Thanks

You can check bus schedules at:

www.ticketbus.com.mx

Busses do stop at Chichen and they are perfectly safe, not to mention quite comfortable.