Valladolid to Chichen Itza
 

I know driving at night is not recommended; however, we will be getting to Valladolid in the late afternoon and wanted to have dinner there. Our accomodations that night are in Chichen Itza/Piste. What is the drive from Valladolid like at night? How long is it?

Would you forgo being walking distance to the ruins in the morning to not have to make that drive (in other words, should we overnight in Valladolid instead)?

Also - I can find nothing on restaurants in Piste? Anyone have a good dinner recommendation there?

We've decided to stay in Valladolid and shuttle from there to Chicén Itzá 1st thing in the morning. It's close enough you can get there before the ruins open at 8am.

Stay in Valladolid which is a quaint, colonial town near Chichen Itza. Just get to the ruins by 8am. The buses start pouring in at around 10am.

how long is the drive from Valladolid to Chichen Itza really? I have seen everything from 20 minutes to an hour!

Everything I've read says 20 or 25 minutes.

I would highly recommend staying at the Hotel Mayaland. I just recently returned from there, having stayed both places. Both are lovely but I'll tell you why Mayaland. First you have complete access to the ruins. Staying there, you can have breakfast and tour the site before the tourists buses arrive.You can fly into Cancun or Merida and be here before sundown. Why sundown? I also recommend seeing the evening light show. If your Spanish isn't up to par rent the headset and LISTEN. Very informative. The ruins are completely different by the light of day but you'll have a great knowledge of the site from the pm light show. The hotel has excellent dining options and are very accommodating.It is literally a 3 minute walk through beautiful gardens w/ mayan sacbe's running through. It is a very open site and the sun can be brutal (this coming from someone who lives on a small island not terribly far from Cuba)Again, why I recommend this hotel. You can get up, have a nice breakfast walk to the ruins and virtually have to yourself for 2-3 hours before the buses arrive. Check out's not til 1. Have some lunch, go for a swim at the beautiful Cenote Ik Kil (500 m away) A lot of the buses stop here AFTER the ruins. Again, you can have it almost to yourselves by staying at this hotel. Hotel is friendly, clean, the bungalows are beautiful, tall palapa ceilings, oversized bathtubs, mini bar, tv. I highly doubt you were expecting shrimp stuffed veal tenderloin in the middle of the Yucatan!The restaurant is excellent. I just stayed there and our room was $72. They upgraded us to a bungalow. You might save $10 by staying in Valladolid but then have to take a bus, cab or drive the 24 miles to the site. For ease & ability to not be in the crowded time of day, well worth it. Keep your ticket and you can go in and out at your leisure. As well as after pm light show. If you arrive in the evening and go to the show, the following day you only pay the difference. Stop in Valladolid stay one night and visit Ek Balam & Coba. Eat at Campanas. Hotel Colonial Aurora & Meson Marques are nice. The hotel Maria De La Luz has a good breakfast.

I'm very glad I spent a night in Valladolid.

We stayed in Valladolid and drove to the ruins early the next morning. I can't remember how long a drive it was, but I think it was just under an hour. It wasn't too difficult, but I'm not sure I'd want to do it at night - it's pretty rural. Valladolid is a pleasant little city, nice for a night or two. We stayed at the Meson del Marquis right on the square. It's the nicest hotel in town, with the best restaurant in town.

We loved our stay in Valladolid. The colectivos for the ruins stopped just around the corner from our hotel - Hotel Zaci - near the bus station and it was easy to make the quick trip to the ruins by the time it opened; everyone else in the van worked there. Photos with trip links below. Happy trails!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/collections

We're planning to visit Chichen Itza from Valladolid as well and need to figure out transportation from the Cancun airport to Valladolid. The bus would get us to Valladolid too late. Any suggestions for other options? We'll be 2 adults and two kids, 9 and 11.

Since it has been mentioned, Mayaland is indeedwonderful, I stayed there for a night in Nov. 2011 before visiting CI early next morning. It is a lovely old hotel and grounds, peacocks roaming, lots of birds, hughe old trees and gardens, etc. But is is pretty pricey. They do have a very good restaurant; we had dinner there the night we checked in and thoroughly enjoyed it. OUr room had a big picture window w/a direct view of the Observatory at CI.

You could rent a car. If you do, be sure to read up on rules-of-the-road in Mexico.