Yucatan travel guide recommendations
Sep 20th, 2016, 01:06 PM
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Yucatan travel guide recommendations
Hi everyone,
My boyfriend and I are in our 30s, and planning our first trip to Mexico for ~10-12 days in December. We thought we'd start with a nice and safe, easy trip to the Yucatan.
We'd like to see a couple ruins (at least one big, and one less touristy ruin?), do some hiking, get a sense of the culture&food, and relax. Raging nightlife is not our style, but we'll enjoy any music/dancing performances, etc we come across.
From the initial research it looks like most people use inter-city buses (we're not interested in renting a car) and get to the sites either by taxi or booking very long full day excursions that pack in multiple sites in one go.
My boyfriend has not traveled as much as I have and is worried about navigating the inter-city bus system on our own or finding local taxis with our little to non-existent Spanish.
We'd like to try to find a compromise between navigating the transportation all on our own and simply signing up for hectic excursions. Can anyone recommend a travel company that could help us? Ideally one that can help us with some guidance on the inter-city travel as well as more customizable day trips - either private or smaller groups perhaps? Or even one that would help with the whole trip from start to finish across the Yucatan. My boyfriend would really like to have a contact person in case of missed connections/misunderstandings/emergency throughout the trip if at all possible.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I'll include our rough itinerary below to give you more details on what places we might use as home bases.
We'll likely fly in/out of Cancun (from Washington DC area).
Stay in Playa del Carmen the first night
Stay in Tulum 1-2 nights, explore town, visit the Tulum ruins, Gran Cenote, +/- Coba
Stay in Valladolid 1-2 nights, explore town, visit Chichen Itza ruins, Hacienda San Lorenzo Oxman Cenote +/- Ek Balam ruins
Stay in Merida 2-3 nights, explore town, +/- visit Uxmal ruins, +/- Grutas de Loltun, +/- side trip to Cuzama town for more cenotes
Back to Playa del Carmen to flight out or relax on the beach for the last night if time leftover
My main questions are about travel guides above. But if you're read this far and have any recommendations on the itinerary in general (especially those +/- places I listed), we're all ears
Thank you so much for any suggestions! I always find these forums so extremely helpful.
My boyfriend and I are in our 30s, and planning our first trip to Mexico for ~10-12 days in December. We thought we'd start with a nice and safe, easy trip to the Yucatan.
We'd like to see a couple ruins (at least one big, and one less touristy ruin?), do some hiking, get a sense of the culture&food, and relax. Raging nightlife is not our style, but we'll enjoy any music/dancing performances, etc we come across.
From the initial research it looks like most people use inter-city buses (we're not interested in renting a car) and get to the sites either by taxi or booking very long full day excursions that pack in multiple sites in one go.
My boyfriend has not traveled as much as I have and is worried about navigating the inter-city bus system on our own or finding local taxis with our little to non-existent Spanish.
We'd like to try to find a compromise between navigating the transportation all on our own and simply signing up for hectic excursions. Can anyone recommend a travel company that could help us? Ideally one that can help us with some guidance on the inter-city travel as well as more customizable day trips - either private or smaller groups perhaps? Or even one that would help with the whole trip from start to finish across the Yucatan. My boyfriend would really like to have a contact person in case of missed connections/misunderstandings/emergency throughout the trip if at all possible.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I'll include our rough itinerary below to give you more details on what places we might use as home bases.
We'll likely fly in/out of Cancun (from Washington DC area).
Stay in Playa del Carmen the first night
Stay in Tulum 1-2 nights, explore town, visit the Tulum ruins, Gran Cenote, +/- Coba
Stay in Valladolid 1-2 nights, explore town, visit Chichen Itza ruins, Hacienda San Lorenzo Oxman Cenote +/- Ek Balam ruins
Stay in Merida 2-3 nights, explore town, +/- visit Uxmal ruins, +/- Grutas de Loltun, +/- side trip to Cuzama town for more cenotes
Back to Playa del Carmen to flight out or relax on the beach for the last night if time leftover
My main questions are about travel guides above. But if you're read this far and have any recommendations on the itinerary in general (especially those +/- places I listed), we're all ears
Thank you so much for any suggestions! I always find these forums so extremely helpful.
Sep 20th, 2016, 04:37 PM
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No reason to hire a travel company unless that is your preference. Some sites are easy to visit without a car and without a guide -- assuming, at least, that you did a bit of homework beforehand. 
From Tulum, you can easily get a taxi to the Tulum ruins, etc.
From Valladolid, you can easily get to Chichen Itza by bus and to Ek' Balam and the gorgeous cenotes of Dzitnup (which I recommend; I don't know the cenote you mentioned) by collectivo or taxi.
I believe there is a way to visit Uxmal, and perhaps some of the other sites of the Ruta Puuc, by joining a tour group from Merida. Including the Loltun caves might be a bit trickier....
You can get an idea of your options by consulting rome2rio.com, but it isn't perfect, so double-check any options it suggests. And the <i>Rough Guide</i>, <i>Moon Guide</i>, and <i>Lonely Planet</i> all give excellent coverage of transportation options.
Consider pushing on to Tulum your first night -- that would let you cut down on one change of hotel.
Hope that helps!
From Tulum, you can easily get a taxi to the Tulum ruins, etc.
From Valladolid, you can easily get to Chichen Itza by bus and to Ek' Balam and the gorgeous cenotes of Dzitnup (which I recommend; I don't know the cenote you mentioned) by collectivo or taxi.
I believe there is a way to visit Uxmal, and perhaps some of the other sites of the Ruta Puuc, by joining a tour group from Merida. Including the Loltun caves might be a bit trickier....
You can get an idea of your options by consulting rome2rio.com, but it isn't perfect, so double-check any options it suggests. And the <i>Rough Guide</i>, <i>Moon Guide</i>, and <i>Lonely Planet</i> all give excellent coverage of transportation options.
Consider pushing on to Tulum your first night -- that would let you cut down on one change of hotel.
Hope that helps!
Sep 20th, 2016, 04:53 PM
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Agree about the suggestion about not staying in PDC the first night if all your going to do is stay there and not enjoy the beach or the town itself. Also, Tulum is generally a costly place to stay if you're going to be touring all day.
You can quite easily take a very comfortable bus to any tourist site. You'll always be able to find someone who can help you.
Consider renting a car - it's fairly inexpensive and easy to get around in the Yucatan.
Also Uber is another good option. You can, as an example take Uber from Merida to Chichen Itza for 1300 MXP - That's around 80. USD
You can quite easily take a very comfortable bus to any tourist site. You'll always be able to find someone who can help you.
Consider renting a car - it's fairly inexpensive and easy to get around in the Yucatan.
Also Uber is another good option. You can, as an example take Uber from Merida to Chichen Itza for 1300 MXP - That's around 80. USD
Sep 21st, 2016, 08:08 AM
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Sep 21st, 2016, 10:04 AM
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Here are a couple of posts and articles that might help get you started.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopi...Peninsula.html
http://www.cozumelmycozumel.com/Pages/KimsAdventure.htm
I would consolidate your first few nights. No need to do Playa and Tulum. They are so close together, that one or the other is a good start. Maybe look at someplace in Akumal. Less touristy than Playa. The ruins at Tulum aren't much, so no need for two whole days. You will find plenty of easy transport options to the big ruins. You can fly to Chichen Itza. Beautiful early morning flight over the jungle, arriving well ahead of the bus hords.
Spanish will not be an issue. Everyone you will encounter will speak wonderful English. Signs are in English. Menus are in English. In fact, it's often hard to practice any Spanish. Everyone wants to practice their English. You can also put a translation app on your phone or get the phone number for your hotel concierge as a touchstone to call if in a real need for translation. We did that in Thailand and traveled the country......and Thai is a tough language!
And don't worry about being safe. You are going to a great location with wonderful people.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopi...Peninsula.html
http://www.cozumelmycozumel.com/Pages/KimsAdventure.htm
I would consolidate your first few nights. No need to do Playa and Tulum. They are so close together, that one or the other is a good start. Maybe look at someplace in Akumal. Less touristy than Playa. The ruins at Tulum aren't much, so no need for two whole days. You will find plenty of easy transport options to the big ruins. You can fly to Chichen Itza. Beautiful early morning flight over the jungle, arriving well ahead of the bus hords.
Spanish will not be an issue. Everyone you will encounter will speak wonderful English. Signs are in English. Menus are in English. In fact, it's often hard to practice any Spanish. Everyone wants to practice their English. You can also put a translation app on your phone or get the phone number for your hotel concierge as a touchstone to call if in a real need for translation. We did that in Thailand and traveled the country......and Thai is a tough language!
And don't worry about being safe. You are going to a great location with wonderful people.
Sep 21st, 2016, 12:02 PM
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Definitely 2 to 3 nights in Merida (stay at the El Caribe hotel one block from main square) (especially on a week end), this would include a visit to Uxmal ruins.
1 to 2 nights in Valadolid (stay at the Meson de Marquis, main square), this would include a visite to Ek Balam ruins where you can still climb the main pyramid and there is a cenote right in town that you can walk to.
Personaly, I would skip Tulum and stay in Playa for the start and the finish of you stay. Playa is THE place to be if you wish to rent a car, a tour guide, a bus, hotel room, beach , bar, shopping you name it it's in Playa.
By the way, there are 2 ADO bus stations in Playa that offer direct service over to Merida on the new highway which is now appr. 4 hours, give or take.Same thing for Valadolid but less time...
1 to 2 nights in Valadolid (stay at the Meson de Marquis, main square), this would include a visite to Ek Balam ruins where you can still climb the main pyramid and there is a cenote right in town that you can walk to.
Personaly, I would skip Tulum and stay in Playa for the start and the finish of you stay. Playa is THE place to be if you wish to rent a car, a tour guide, a bus, hotel room, beach , bar, shopping you name it it's in Playa.
By the way, there are 2 ADO bus stations in Playa that offer direct service over to Merida on the new highway which is now appr. 4 hours, give or take.Same thing for Valadolid but less time...
Sep 21st, 2016, 01:56 PM
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These are really more like a guidebook than a map, but I strongly recommend the mapchick maps www.mapchick.com or cancunmap.com
She has maps for Riviera Maya, Isla Mujeres, Cozumel, Cancun, PDC and for inland the Mayan Adventure map.
I have always rented a car and driven, both solo and with my late husband, it is really no big deal. I would stay in Akumal, or Tulum if you can afford the beach road lodging (the days of stick huts are long gone). In Tulum to get to the beach road without a rental car you have to take a taxi. No ADO or colectivo there.
Playa has just gotten too built up for me but lots of others like it.
Check into Yucatreks or Edventures for small group or private tours.
She has maps for Riviera Maya, Isla Mujeres, Cozumel, Cancun, PDC and for inland the Mayan Adventure map.
I have always rented a car and driven, both solo and with my late husband, it is really no big deal. I would stay in Akumal, or Tulum if you can afford the beach road lodging (the days of stick huts are long gone). In Tulum to get to the beach road without a rental car you have to take a taxi. No ADO or colectivo there.
Playa has just gotten too built up for me but lots of others like it.
Check into Yucatreks or Edventures for small group or private tours.
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