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Chichén Itzá - Planning Your Visit by Dorothy and Bill Bell
ADVICE The best time of day to visit Chichén Itzá is right when the site opens in the morning. You will be grateful you did. The three main reasons for this are: There are fewer people. The tour busses begin to arrive in mass at 10 am. If you arrive early you can take pictures without strangers in your pictures. There are fewer vendors. They arrive also around 10 to service the tour busses and crowds. This is a very important point as the vendors can become aggressive in their selling and this interferes with the ambience of the city. The air is fresher and cooler allowing easier walking, hiking and climbing. Additionally from a photographer’s point of view, the morning light can produce a very nice creamy morning glow to your masterpieces.
Planning the Length of Your Visit
A
visit to
Chichén Itzá
will likely take 4 hours or more of a moderately challenging
walk. From the Entrance to the Sacred Cenote to the Nunnery and
back to the entrance is approximately 3 kilometers. Add humidity
and intense sunshine and the walk becomes more challenging. GETTING THERE There are a number of ways to get to Chichén Itzá. (Our preference is to drive a car and stay in Valladolid the night so that you can visit the site as soon as it is open.) We will discuss a number of the options below.
Driving Mexican drivers are very aggressive and you must exercise caution and defensive driving techniques. Anticipate erratic drivers. Driving from either Cancun or Merida is not particularly challenging once you get out of the congested city. Simply look for Highway 180D and make sure you take the toll highway called the Cuota or “D”. This will ensure you are not on the slow highway that goes through many small towns with lights and speed bumps. It takes approximately 2 ½ hours to drive to Chichén Itzá from Merida or 1 ½ hours from Cancun. There is convenient pay parking onsite (220 pesos).
Taxi Taking a taxi would be prohibitively expensive.
Tours and Tour Busses If you are selecting a tour bus from your hotel, try to select one that offers multiple arriving departure times. Compare what tours offer, if the entrance fee or tour guide is included and if more activities are included. As you will likely spend at least four hours at the site, it is unlikely that you will enjoy more tours crammed into a single day. Cost varies considerably.
Bus (Self-guided) From Merida, the ADO bus lines offer at least three first class trips to Chichén Itzá as well as a number to Valladolid. We recommend you take a tour bus if you are only making a day trip to the site as otherwise you will be spending a lot of time waiting for busses and making stops along the way. Cancun offer numerous busses that shuttle tourists back and forth to the site. Ask at your hotel which bus station is closest to your hotel.
Staying in Pisté or Valladolid near the Site You can stay in either Pisté or Valladolid two small towns located near the site. Pisté is the closer of the two towns to the ruins and from the main street it is approximately 2.5 kilometers from the main entrance. As you will be walking for 3 to 4 hours at the site, we suggest you drive or take a taxi. Pisté has many hotels with a variety of amenities and prices as well as camping for both tent and RVs. Pisté shopping is limited to small stores mainly directed at the tourist market. Valladolid is 40 Kilometers (25 miles) away from the site but we recommend it over Pisté because it offers an authentic colonial town experience. Named a Pueblo Magico in August 2012, Valladolid is charmingly small historic city. Built around an active plaza with a church, La Parroquial de San Servacio is on one side and municipal buildings with a collection of murals on another. It is walking distance from Cenote Zaci or the Franciscan monastery of San Bernardino There are larger grocery stores and a larger variety of hotels and shops.
ACCOMODATION HOTELS We suggest you search the internet for quality and price of Hotel you prefer.
Pisté Hacienda Chichén Resort & Yaxkin Spa Carretera Libre 180, Zona Hotelera de Chichen Itzá, Piste, 97752 México 001-888-383-7630 www.haciendachichen.com
Piste Economical Dolores Alba Chichen Itzá Km 122 Carretera Mérida- Cancún, Chichen Itzá, Piste, 97751 México 001-888-383-7630
Pirámide Inn Resort Piste, Yucatan
Calle 15 A #30x20 Phone: (011-52-) 985-851-0115
RV PARK Piramide Inn Resort
Valladolid El Meson del Marquis Calle 39 #203 x 40 y 42 Col. Centro. CP 97780.
Valladolid, Yucatan, Mexico reservaciones@mesondelmarques.com www.mesondelmarques.com
Maria de la Luz Calle 42 No. 193 Plaza Principal Valladolid, Yucatán. México
Phone: (985) 856-11-81
WHAT TO WEAR AND BRING Leave your stilettos at home! It is important to wear good, comfortable, non-skid footwear. While all the pyramids are now closed for climbing, the grounds can get slippery especially after a rain. The 3 kilometer round trip walk demands shoes that are comfy and practical. Take a backpack that can store a bottle of water to keep you hydrated and also to store extra layers of clothes, your wallet or purse and camera. Determine what time of year you are going and plan accordingly. In the summer there is more precipitation so bring light rain gear especially if you are visiting in the afternoon. Ask your tour operator what the current weather conditions are for the site or go online for the daily forecast. A good choice is to wear layers of lightweight cotton clothes. You can always take off or put on more layers as the weather changes or as it gets warmer in the day. Long lightweight pants or jeans are practical for the hike but likely you will be more comfortable in shorts. Wear a hat and take sunglasses and bug spray. The sun can get quite hot so pack accordingly. Sunscreen and sunglasses are a must. Pack your camera of course. If you have a working cell phone it can be fun to call someone you love with a pyramid in the background. The site has phone signal. WEATHER AND CLIMATE
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What You Should Consider for Your Visit
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On the Road In - Mexico
editor@ontheroadin.com