Drive to Chichen Itza from PDC or take a tour?
 

We will be staying in Playa del Carmen and would like to go to Chichen Itza. I usually like to do things on my own schedule, so am tempted to just rent a car and drive to the ruins. Does anyone have first hand experience that can tell me the pros and cons of driving vs. taking a tour? I hear the drive is about 2 hours. Is that the case? Your feed back is appreciated. Thanks.

I am fairly certain the drive is more like four hours, at least on the bus. I personally have heard some bad experiences of people renting cars around those parts (police pulling them over for bribes, accidents...) Not to mention they do NOT drive like people in the US. The Shoulder is a lane in mexico and it doesn't matter if your a huge bus, they will pass you. If you don't want to sit on a bus for that long, Coba & Tulum are about 45 mintues to an hour away by bus.

We're actually staying in Tulum for a few days as well. Does anyone know how long the drive is from Tulum to Chichen Itza? Maybe we'll do it from there instead. Thanks.

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One possibility is to split the trip over a couple of days. It's a long trip otherwise and you wouldn't have much time at the ruins. You could stay in Vallodolid, which is only 1/2 hour from Chichen Itza. We didn't drive, we took a bus, and that's where we stopped.

We drove from Cancun to Chichen Itza and back in one day, and we had a grand time. It took us about 3 hours, including a quickie side trip into Vallodolid, which is a colorful and vibrant small city. The advice we received was to not rent a fancy new car and then you won't be so quickly identified as rich Gringos. We rented an old but serviceable VW microbus which got us there and back just fine. The road is narrow but very straight. You need to watch out whenever you see a sign reading, 'Topes' (speed bumps), because those suckers are huge, and you can literally go airborne if you don't slow way down. The topes are there to prevent motorists from flying through villages. Vendors sit by the topes, trying to sell you food and trinkets. Only other thing we learned: in Mexico, when someone you are following puts on their left blinker, they are commonly signalling you that it is safe to pass them. Until we figured that out, I would slam on my brakes as I pulled out to pass a slow car and he put on his left blinker!<BR><BR>We purchased a guidebook in the gift shop at Chichen Itza, which helped tremendously while touring this huge sprawling site.<BR><BR>I think that the driving experience was worthwhile, particularly if you are staying somewhere like Cancun or Cozumel, which face it, is not very 'Mexican'.

ALF,<BR><BR>I am assuming that the 3 hour trip you mention is one way. Is that correct?<BR><BR>Anyone else,<BR><BR>Do you know how long this trip would take from Tulum, driving the road past Coba to Chichen Itza? Thanks.

Yes, 3 hours each way, between Cancun and Chichen Itza. That is a leisurely pace - it could probably be easily done in 2.5 hours.

I would highly recommend a bus tour. We did and the trip was 4 hours round trip. The bus had a bathroom and we watched a movie on the return. Our tour guide was awesome! I would recommend bringing some water. The tour people gave us one bottle each and I was so hot I poured it over my head instead of drinking it! We usually never do a tour as we like to do things on our own schedule too, but friends told us doing the tour is a must. Just my opinion.

Are there any tours of Chichen Itza that return later at night in order to include the nightly light show? I have looked but can't find any. Otherwise is there a public bus that goes to Chichen Itza? Thanks.

Thanks for the replies. Has anyone driven there from Tulum, or taken a tour from PDC with additional info? Seems like most of you have come from Cancun. Thanks.

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I would definitely recommend going to Chichen Itza. We took a bus trip from PDC three years ago. It took about 4 hours each way because you must first go back north to Cancun and then on to Chichen Itza (that's how the highways run). I, too, hesitate to take organized trips, but the bus wasn't bad. It was one of those luxury models, with tables between the seats, movies and snacks onboard, and the time passed quickly. You could also fly from PDC (although it's a small puddle jumper, more expensive, and space is very limited). The bus stopped at a Mexican market on the way, for lunch at an authentic restaurant including a dancing show, and at a cenote for swimming on the way back. The best reason of all for the bus tour is that you have a guide who is very knowledgeable about all the structures at Chichen Itza. Definitely go now while they still allow you to climb the pyramid (but it's not for the faint of heart). Just one year prior to my visit, you were able to climb other structures at the site as well as El Castillo, but this has now been discontinued. And you will see why if you climb (on the outside, particularly). If the pyramid was located in the US, lawsuits would have shut it down years ago. An amazing experience! True, Tulum is closer to PDC (and farther from Chichen Itza), but has less intact architecturally.

We did exactly what ALF did and he is right, beware the &quot;topes&quot;. They are huge, I was driving when we hit the first one and we were airborne.<BR><BR>It was a fun trip but I wouldn't recommend driving after dark. When we did it, it was about 10 years ago but I remember that few cars bothered to turn on lights. It was a bit scary. Still the driving yourself, gives you a lot of freedom to explore.<BR><BR>

We rented a car and drove from Cancun to Chichen Itza and had no troubles. Remember the tolls and have cash. People were friendly and helpful - you can hire a tour guide when you get there, but we chose not to. Others in our group went another day by public transportation and hired a guide once there and were quite pleased that they did.

ALF:<BR><BR>Would you be willing to tell me where you rented your VW Microbus?<BR><BR>Thanks,<BR>Kelly