Kathie

Thanks for that rainfall chart, RAC. The one I looked at listed 11-12 inches of rain in November - about what we get in Seattle (but the rain in CR would be warmer!). I really don't worry about rain much and have visited Borneo during the rainy season, for instance, and found the rain forest a lovely place in the rain. But - the rainy season can make it impossible to get to places when dirt roads become a sea of mud.

And thanks for the advice on flying into Villahermosa to get to Chiapas.

RAC

There are no paved roads for the good wildlife locations. In some cases there aren't even roads. Trails get washed out, etc.

The entire Osa peninsula pretty much shuts down in October, and November isn't a whole lot better, but weather is unpredictable.

Tropical rainstorms can be very soothing, but not terribly conducive to seeing wildlife

kja

Another option for flying into Chiapas is Tuxtla Gutierrez. The airport is halfway to the delightful city of San Cristobal de las Casas and is easily reached from there.

There are paved roads to Calakmul and its wildlife.

BTW, you might also want to look into the Yucatan's Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve for a pleasant and interesting place to see a variety of birds and native flora. I don't think it would be easily reached from any base that would be good for exploring Mayan ruins, except perhaps Tulum, from which you could see the ruins of Tulum (which are in a spectacular setting, but as noted upthread, are otherwise "meh", and Coba, which I skipped).

RAC

There are also some pretty good ruins inside Sian Kaan (Muyil). The canals in Sian Kaan were supposedly created by the Mayans.

Kathie

Ok, so I'm working on the Mayan ruins portion of this trip. I've outlined a circular route through the Yucatan that would cover a fair number of sites:

Fly into Merida, spend a day or two, visit the museum. Stay in Merida for two or three nights.

Next go to Chichen Itza, stay at the ruins at the lodge perhaps, for three nights with a day trip to Ek Balam.

Next go to Uxmal, stopping on the way at Izamal. Stay three nights at Uxmal, perhaps at the lodge, visiting other sites in the Puuc region.

Return to Merida, with a stop at Dzibilchaltun. Spend last night in Merida before flying out.

So what do you think? Is this a realistic itinerary? Would we have enough time to explore the ruins? Do we need more time at any of these places?

I mapped out options for other areas with clusters of Mayan ruins, but this looked to be the easiest. If you think we would be better off starting somewhere else, do say so.

I appreciate getting the benefit of your experiences of traveling in this area.

Fra_Diavolo

Be sure to be in Merida on Saturday and Sunday for the street festivities.

Your route looks eminently doable. You will not be rushing! The lodges at CI are very comfortable but also tend towards the touristy side -- buses bring in a lunch crowd. Afternoon is quieter. It's a few hours drive from Merida. Your schedule would give you one full day at CI and another at Valladolid/Ek Balam, with an extra half-day at leisure.

Uxmal. Again, you'll be driving a few hours. One day for the site, one day for the Puuc Route and caves. It's been a few years so I cannot recommend a hotel, but note that you are not in town, so will be relying on the hotel restaurants and services.

We used private drivers arranged through the hotels to get around. Getting between Merida and Valladolid you could use a bus, if you prefer.

Stairgod

I love Merida. We used that as our base to explore Mayan ruins a few years ago. Reading some of the comments it brought this back to life for me. We flew into Villa Hermosa and stayed several days exploring many different ruins then back to Merida and then out again to explore. Chichen Itza (chicken pizza)although the first ruins we ever saw about 17 years is just a crap shoot now with all the vendors hawking the same goods as we saw 2 years ago. However, in the area around Chichen there are caves with prehistoric markings from 3 fingered people and there are several other ruins in the area to explore.

RAC

Certainly doable--if you wanted you could see Chichen Itza and Uxmal in a 3 night stay if you based out of Merida, so 10 days or so is ample time.

jamie99

Visit Merida for 2-3 day (I have not been yet so will let others comment). You can visit Uxmal from here, or stay at one of the lodges. We stayed at Hacienda Uxmal, but the food is better at their sister place, Lodge at Uxmal.
Then visit Chichen Itza and Ek Balam. You can either base out of Valladolid, or we also stayed at Hacienda Chichen Itza. This place was built for the Carnegie Expedition of the 1920s. It is small so does not get the tour groups like Mayaland does. The food is very good and the grounds are beautiful. If you want, you could also drive to Rio Lagartos to see the flamingos.
No beaches?

Kathie

No, no beaches.

Let me ask more about lodging. We would like to stay close to the ruins once we get outside of Merida. Smaller is better, luxe is better. I've looked at the various places on/near the grounds of Chichen Itza and Uxmal and it isn't always clear to me which places are the "best." I would be interested in hotel recommendations for all of the places we are visiting, including Merida.

Also, does staying at lodging on/near the grounds of the various Mayan cities get you early entry (or allow one to stay later) to the ruins?

Many thanks for all of the information you are offering.

lovewildlife77

We love Central & S, America. We either travel with our children or just with hubby. Hope this give you an idea of our experiences. Love wildlife and always choose destinations for that (Borneo, Oz, Amazon etc):

Costa Rica - best birds, sloths & monkeys & adventure activities.
Tikal - very nice ruins
Tulum - simple, nice ocean view & swim (similar to Manuel Antonio)
Cozumel - not impressed with diving.
Akamai - snorkeling in cenotes
Isla Mujeres - peaceful, nice snorkeling.
Whalesharks - not best, we snorkelled with them from Isla Mujeres
Belize - we didn't like jungle, not good for wildlife. Diving was not bad.

kja

In general, I think your itinerary is realistic and that you will have sufficient time for the ruins you have selected. I’m not yet sure that your plan is optimal. ;-) So a few comments:

• As Fra_Diavolo said, you might consider trying to plan your time so that you are in Merida on Sat. and Sun. – and I’ll raise him to add in Fri. evening.

• Note that the museum in Merida is small – IIRC, I spent only about 2 hours there, and you may already know that I spend MUCH more time in museums than most Fodorites. Also note that I was very glad that I visited the museum AFTER seeing Chichen Itza. I would make planning time for Merida’s weekend festivities a greater priority than sequencing your time at the ruins and the museum, but mention sequencing in case it matters to you.

• I would not, and did not, stay at the lodge by Chichen Itza. I was very glad to have chosen to stay instead in Valladolid, from which Chichen Itza can be reached easily and conveniently by frequent buses. I found Valladolid to be a surprisingly pleasant small city, with an impressive cathedral and vibrant markets and several things that I found worth seeing. I also found it a convenient base for Chichen Itza, Ek’ Balam, and the stunning Cenotes Dzitnup. I stayed at El Meson del Marques, which still gets decent reviews as a hotel and as a restaurant.

• Izamal is lovely – enjoy!

• Rather than staying at the lodge at Uxmal, consider staying at the charming Flycatcher Inn, which is very nearby.

• “We would like to stay close to the ruins once we get outside of Merida. Smaller is better, luxe is better.” Understood, and my recommendations are not likely to meet your standard for luxe, but honestly, I would have been very disappointed with the lodges near Chichen Itza and Uxmal. Maybe they have changed since I was there, but when I was (2008), the food was decidedly substandard and the accomodation notable more for convenience than anything else. But I think I have very different preferences for accomodation than you and Cheryl….

Hope that helps!

Kathie

Well, kja, help me optimize our itinerary. What I gave you was a general outline, I am aware there are other sites to see near the ones I listed, I just listed the largest, best-known sites. And since we are looking at a year from now, I can easily make sure we are in Merida for a weekend.

I'm surprised to hear that the museum in Merida is so small. I read a couple of recommendations for it that indicated it had a fabulous collection of Mayan artifacts and one should certainly see that before heading off to the ruins. It's just a reminder to me that recommendations from people I "know" who have been there is better.

jamie99

Kathie,
I believe Mayaland has a private entrance to the ruins but as far as I am aware there is no early entry or late exit. We did not stay there because it was bigger than we care for and it does get bus tours stopping there (although I have heard you can avoid them but did not care for having to make the effort). I have also stayed at Meson de Marques in Valladolid and really liked it, the food in their restauant is quite good.
When we were in Uxmal we also visited two of the smaller Ruta Puuc ruins, Kabah and Sayil. Have a great trip.

kja

I wholeheartedly agree that the museum in Merida is excellent and that it has a truly fabulous collection of Mayan artifacts. But it is a SMALL collection. Whether to see it before or after the ruins is, I suspect, an individual choice.

What will be optimal for you depends, of course, on what you end up deciding to do -- and as you note, you have plenty of time! Depending on when, exactly, you go, you might consider flying into Cancun and out of Merida or vice versa, just to avoid backtracking. Depending on what you decide to do in / around Chichen Itza and Valladolid, the latter might be a better base (even if the lodge was top notch). Etc. But you'll work it out, and as you do, I'm sure you will continue to get great input from fellow Fodorites.

I'm not sure if it was jamie99's experience, but when I visited some of the small Ruta Puuc sites (Kabah, Sayil, Labna), I was often completely alone. Such a wonderful contrast to the ruins that were packed with others! IMO, well worth doing if at all possible.

Fra_Diavolo

My experience on the Puuc route matches that of kja. Solitude and wonderfully detailed facades. Bring binoculars as well, as you may see some interesting birds.

jamie99

We were indeed the only ones at Sayil, there were a handful of others climbing around at Kabah. FYI, the guard told me there were no banos at Kabah, my Spanish is on the turista level so I may have misunderstood, just an FYI.

november_moon

We enjoyed the Ruta Puuc immensely as well. We spent 3 nights in Maria Elena at the Pickled Onion B&B, which is very close to the Flycatcher (mentioned already). We enjoyed the Pickled Onion very much. Our itinerary for that area was:

Day 1: Depart Merida, tour Sotuta de Peon hacienda (surprise highlight of the trip), overnight in Maria Elena at the Pickled Onion.

Day 2: Morning visit to Uxmal, afternoon poking around various towns in the area, relaxing by the pool at the Pickled Onion.

Day 3: Most of the day visiting the Ruta Puuc sites and visiting a couple more towns.

We felt that this gave us a really nice amount of time in this area without having to rush.

Regarding Chichen Itza - that was our next destination after the Ruta Puuc area - and we stayed at the Mayaland. Its a nice place to stay, but the tour buses do stop there, so it can get busy. These aren't the tour buses from the Mayan Riviera bringing people for the day, but rather the multi-day tours bringing people to stay overnight - so it is busy, but not super busy. We were there for 1 night so that we could see CI first thing the next morning and head out, which worked well for us. If I were staying more than 1 night, I'd stay in Valladolid for sure.

crosscheck

I'm late to the party, but FWIW, I have been to most of the places mentioned, but not all of my info is current. (I lived in Mexico and backpacked extensively in the 70s and 80s before many of these places were fully excavated). Now we return and rent houses in the Yucatán and CR every other year or so. Last year was Tulum, this year northern CR.

My favorite Mayan ruin is Palenque. Fave colonial/Mayan towns are San Cristobal de las Casas and Valladolid. My preferred nature destination in CR is Tortuguero -- haven't yet made it to the Osa because we haven't been there at the right time of year.

I agree with those who say that you can 'have it all' in Belize because you can do a day trip to Tikal and the jungle/cave adventures are less commercial (and more edgy). I also think Guatemala cannot be beat for culture, scenery and the iconic Tikal, but you won't get the wildlife there.

LOVED Merida, super cool city, but that was many moons ago. Chichen used to be fabulous when you could climb the ruins -- not sure if I'd even bother to go now unless you stay at the Hacienda Chichen on the property. The only way to go to get in before the tourist buses. Uxmal overall is probably a more pleasant experience.

I know you're skipping beaches, but not sure if that means all water. Last December we went on a mindblowing day trip from Tulum to the Sian Ka'an Peninsula where we toured Muyil (small, hidden Peten ruins and also some undocumented ruins, a photographer's paradise -- reminded me of Tulum and Coba back in the day). That was followed by a stunning boat ride, then an otherworldly float trip through warm pristine waters and a memorable picnic in the jungle. Organized by Mexico Kan tours. We have well-traveled friends who described this trip as life changing. A lot to live up to, but it was indeed magical (and I thought I had seen it all in that part of the world.)

In Valladolid do not miss Casa de los Venados -- the largest private collection of Mexican folk art in the world. Reservations essential because this is someone's private home. Has to be seen to be believed. A traveler's secret. http://www.casadelosvenados.com/

Kathie

Thanks for your comments, crosscheck. More grist for the mill.