64 Best Sights in Yucatán and Campeche States, Mexico

Sayil is best known for its setting in a narrow valley surrounded by rolling hills and its majestic Gran Palacio. Built on one of those hills, the three-story structure is adorned with decorations of animals and other figures, and contains more than 80 rooms. The structure recalls Palenque in its use of multiple planes, columned porticoes, and sober cornices. Also on the grounds is a stela in the shape of a phallus—an obvious symbol of fertility.

At this Maya site, two plazas, surrounded by rather plain structures, have been restored so far. The tallest temple is the Xcambo, also known as the Pyramid of the Cross. Salt, a much-sought-after commodity in the ancient world, was produced in this area and made it prosperous. Indeed, the bones of 600 former residents discovered in burial plots showed they had been healthier than the average Maya. In addition, unearthed ceramics indicate that the city traded with other Maya groups as far afield as Guatemala and Belize. The Catholic church here was built by dismantling some of the ancient structures, and, until recently, locals hauled off the cut stones to build fences and foundations.

Xpujil (sometimes spelled "Xpuhil," meaning "cat's tail," and pronounced ish-poo-hil) takes its name from the reedy plant that grows in the area. Elaborately carved facades and doorways in the shape of monsters' mouths reflect the Chenes style, while adjacent pyramid towers connected by a long platform show the influence of Río Bec architects.

Some buildings have lost a lot of their stones, making them resemble "day after" sand castles. In Edificio I, three towers—believed to have been used by priests and royalty—were once crowned by false temples, and at the front of each are the remains of four vaulted rooms, each oriented toward one of the compass points. On the back side of the central tower is a huge mask of the rain god Chaac. Quite a few other building groups amid the forests of gum trees and palo mulato (so called for its bark with both dark and light patches) have yet to be excavated.

A visit to Yaxcopoil (yash-co-po-eel), a restored 17th-century hacienda 47 km (29 miles) north of Uxmal, makes a nice change of pace while touring area Maya sites. The main building, with its distinctive Moorish double arch at the entrance, has been used as a film set and is one of the best-known henequen plantation in the region. The great house's rooms—including library, kitchen, dining room, drawing room, and salons—are fitted with late-19th-century European furnishings. You can tour these, along with the chapel, the storerooms, and the machine room used in processing henequen. In the museum, you'll see pottery and other artifacts recovered from the still-unexplored Classic period Maya site for which the hacienda is named. Yaxcopoil has restored a one-room guesthouse (reserve online) for overnighters and will serve a continental breakfast and simple dinner of traditional tamales and horchata (rice-flavored drink) by prior arrangement.