Our Mexican vacation is less than a month away, woot woot! We have scheduled a trip to see the Tulum ruins, and I've read in numerous places that it's much more meaningful if you actually know a bit about the history and culture beforehand. Can anyone recommend any books? I'm looking for something with more substance than your average Cancun travel guide but not too dry. TIA!

The standard work is Michael Coe's The Maya, now in its eighth edition, but that may be too academic for you.

I'm not sure you really need much to appreciate Tulum however. The location is breathtaking, the late Mayan structures relatively small scale. Take a visit to your library and check out a few travel guides to the Yucatan and you'll probably be more than prepared.

Try to get there when it opens at 8am to beat the heat and the crowds. We did that last June and again in December with our daughter and her husband. The lot is practically empty at 8 and filled with huge tour buses by 10 or so. Photos and write-ups below. Happy trails!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/collections

I assume you won't have your own car since you mentioned you "scheduled" a trip, is that correct? If you are getting a private cab, I second the previous post - get there early! I thought people were exaggerating the heat there, but they were not. For some reason, that site is ridiculously hot AND ridiculously crowded after 11AM. We were done by then, and then headed down to the beach there (a MUST, it is stunning) and by the time we left the beach, the ruins were packed with people.

I also would recommend a trip to Coba, if you're into ruins. It's in a fabulous jungle setting and the ruins are not fully restored (some only partly excavated) and you are allowed to walk through them, climb on them, etc.which you are not able to do at Tulum.

Does anyone have a favorite small tour company to recommend? We are going in a week & I still haven't booked any tours. We don't want to rent a car and would like to avoid the large bus tours.

Ditto to most of the above. The Tulum ruins themselves are less than spectacular. The setting (HOT) is the thing. And to KatieR, why not just hire a cab? You don't need a tour guide.

I hadn't thought about a cab, that would be no problem from the hotel but are they easy to come by at Tulum?

Yes, cab will be simple to return to the hotel.

http://yucatreks.com/

Best tour operator in Playa!

Their tour "Tulum and Beyond" would be perfect for you. I've done this one myself and it's a great mix of ruins and beaches.

thanks, jette

If you're in Playa, just walk to the municipal bus station and buy a ticket to the ruins. Very inexpensive, very easy -- and you come and go as you please.

My undergrad degree is in history, so I like to have a sense of the history of places. I'll look up the Coe book, thanks.

I've booked a private tour with Edventures, which had great reviews here and on Tripadvisor. I'll report back after our travels!

My daughter had a book written for kids that was a tour guide to going to the time of the Maya. Pretty cute and fascinating. One thing I found hard about ALL of the mayan ruins is that I had a really really hard time picturing life there. They say something is a store but it's tiny and you can't see how they could actually be conducting business there. Contrast to something like Pompeii where you very much could picture the living city. So if I were you I'd be looking for books on possible reconstructions of the ruins in Tulum and Coba (we LOVED Coba) so you could understand it better. I had to do my research after the fact.

Take WATER, there is NOTHING inside the ruins, not even a bathroom, ( there is one at entrance)Also we wore our swimsuits under our clothes a took a swim, really fun( it can be wavy so not ideal for children) ...and bring a towel( we just brought one to share) ..there is no facilites at beach, but there is a lifeguard.

We have been twice now, but just hopped on the collectivos( local buses) easy and so cheap...the ruins theselves are cheap too, only abiut 6 bucks!

"The Tulum ruins themselves are less than spectacular."

Is that what you meant? I thought they were amazing, with a perfect location (albeit hot).

FWIW we took a general tourbus to Tulum. Took forever to get to the ruins (the bus stopped at every other AI on the way to and from). We too used Yukatreks, but for a trip to Coba, plus a lunch and a cenote. That tour was better (small group).

But yes, you can get to either in more independent ways. I just wasn't up to speed to do that.

Bring a sun hat and sunscreen--not only is it hot, the sun is INTENSE and there's zero cover to be found anywhere--not a tree, not a shadow.

You don't need to know anything about Tulum's history to appreciate the setting, which is why it's considered such a big deal. It was a relatively minor city with unremarkable architecture that served as a port and trading post.

Agree that the ruins at Tulum are more about location and less about their importance in regards to ancient civilizations and or architecture.
Unfortunately most of what's been written about Tulum and many of the other Mayan ruins in the Yucatan is mostly hypotheses. There's been a few theories recently that have come to fruition but there's still not much know about the ruins here.

just rereading this thread.. reminds me of first time we went and approached the bluff .. the views of the ocean.. so amazing.. its a magical place.
Loved the view just as much the second time too..

I'm not sure why this thread, which is more than 5 years old, was topped. Clue me in to why we should elaborate!

Fodor's search engine allows old threads to be topped and added to. Some spammer added something and brought it to the top. Tedious, but they won't disable it.