Yucatan and the Riviera Maya
Seven days from Merida's colonial squares through Uxmal and Chichen Itza to the cenotes and the Caribbean.
Ancient Wonders · 7 days · November to March
The Yucatan is usually entered from Cancun and never left, which turns one of the densest concentrations of pre-Columbian architecture in the world into an optional excursion. Starting in Merida reverses it: the Puuc sites in the west first, when you still have the energy for them, then Chichen Itza at opening time rather than at noon with four thousand other people, then east to the coast with the cenotes in between. Tulum is last because a Mayan city on a cliff over the Caribbean is a better ending than a beginning.
Day by day
- Day 1
Merida
A colonial capital built on henequen money, and the easiest arrival in the region.
16:00Plaza Grande and the cathedral
The cathedral was finished in 1598 from the stones of the Mayan city that stood here, which is the whole history of the peninsula in one building.
The Casa de Montejo on the south side is a bank now, and you can walk in to see the facade from the courtyard.
18:00Paseo de Montejo
A boulevard of French-styled mansions built by families who got rich on sisal rope, most of them within a twenty-year window around 1900.
Closed to cars on Sunday mornings, when the whole city cycles it.
- Day 2
The Puuc route
The finest stonework in the Maya world, in the hills south of Merida, and almost nobody at it.
08:30Uxmal
The Puuc style at its peak: the Nunnery Quadrangle and the 100-metre Governor's Palace are the most refined pre-Columbian architecture in the Americas.
The Pyramid of the Magician cannot be climbed. The Governor's Palace platform can, and should be.
12:30Kabah
The Codz Poop is covered in around 250 masks of the rain god Chaac, repeated across the entire facade, and it is unlike anything else.
Twenty minutes south of Uxmal on the same road. Very few visitors, and no shade.
15:30Hacienda Ochil or Yaxcopoil
The sisal estates ran on debt-bonded Mayan labour and collapsed when synthetic rope arrived; the machine houses have been standing empty since.
On the road back to Merida. Yaxcopoil is left deliberately unrestored, which is more affecting than the polished ones.
- Day 3
East to Valladolid
Two hours across the peninsula, with a swim in a cave in the middle.
11:00Cenote Suytun
A closed cavern with a stone platform in the middle of the water and a single hole in the roof directly above it.
The famous shaft of light is around midday and only on clear days. It is also extremely popular; go at opening or late.
16:00Valladolid centre and San Bernardino
A 1560 convent built over a cenote that the friars used as their water supply, in a town that has kept its colonial grid intact.
The Calzada de los Frailes between the plaza and the convent is the prettiest street in the state.
18:30Cenote Zaci
A swimmable cenote inside a working town, which is what most of them were before any of this was a destination.
In the middle of town, three blocks from the plaza. Half-open roof, so it is lit until late afternoon.
- Day 4
Chichen Itza at opening
Forty-five minutes west, at eight in the morning, which is the entire strategy.
08:00Chichen Itza
The Castillo encodes the solar year in its steps, the ball court is the largest in Mesoamerica, and the Sacred Cenote is where the offerings were thrown.
The coaches from Cancun arrive around eleven. El Castillo has not been climbable since 2006. There is a state tax on top of the federal entry fee.
13:00Cenote Ik Kil
An open circular shaft with vines hanging the whole way down to the water, five minutes from the ruins.
Twenty-six metres down a stone staircase. Busy and organised; the water is deep and cold.
16:00Ek Balam
The stucco frieze on the Acropolis was sealed under rubble for a thousand years and is nearly intact, with winged figures nobody has fully explained.
The Acropolis is still climbable, which almost nowhere else is. Steep and unshaded.
- Day 5
Down to the coast
South through the jungle to Coba, then the last hour to the sea.
09:00Coba
A city of fifty thousand connected to the rest of the lowlands by raised stone causeways, most of it still under trees.
The site is spread over several kilometres of jungle; bicycles and pedal taxis are available at the entrance. Nohoch Mul is no longer open to climb.
14:00Gran Cenote
Part of the Sac Actun system, one of the longest underwater cave networks on earth, and shallow enough to snorkel.
Part open, part cavern, with turtles. Sunscreen must be washed off before entering; it is enforced.
- Day 6
Tulum
The only Mayan city built on the sea, and the reserve immediately south of it.
07:30Tulum archaeological zone
A walled port city on a twelve-metre limestone cliff over the Caribbean, still standing when the Spanish sailed past it in 1518.
Opens at eight and is unbearable by ten. The beach below the ruins is sometimes closed for turtle nesting.
10:30Sian Ka'an biosphere reserve
Six thousand square kilometres of wetland, reef and forest with a Mayan-cut canal running through the mangroves that you can float down.
Access is by licensed operator; the road in from Tulum is rough. Boat and float trips through the mangrove canals are the standard format.
- Day 7
Coast road north
Two hours to Cancun, with the one stop worth making on the way.
09:00Akumal Bay
A seagrass bay where green turtles graze in waist-deep water, thirty minutes north of Tulum.
Snorkelling with the turtles now requires a guide and a life jacket, and the numbers are capped. Do not touch or chase them.
12:00Puerto Morelos
A fishing town that the Riviera Maya development skipped, with the leaning lighthouse still in the water and the reef 500 metres offshore.
Twenty-five minutes from the airport, which makes it the correct last lunch rather than eating at the terminal.
Questions
- How long is the Yucatan and the Riviera Maya itinerary?
- The Yucatan and the Riviera Maya itinerary runs 7 days and covers 17 stops across Merida, Uxmal, Valladolid, Tulum.
- When is the best time to do the Yucatan and the Riviera Maya itinerary?
- November to March is the best window for the Yucatan and the Riviera Maya itinerary.
- What happens on day one of the Yucatan and the Riviera Maya itinerary?
- Day one is merida: A colonial capital built on henequen money, and the easiest arrival in the region.
Sources
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