Best way to see Chichen Itza from Cancun

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
5
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
9
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
6
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
2
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
10
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
9
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
67 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
192nd/454
Top 40%
continent
North America
country
Mexico
Length of time
1-2 days
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$70 ($50-$150 in 2019 prices)
Time of year visited
June
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Ancient ruins Mayan Wonder of the World
All Tags
Cenotes Jungle Pyramids Temple complex UNESCO world heritage site
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐⭐
Summary

One of the 7 Wonders of the World, Chichen Itza is a must visit site.  The iconic El Castillo pyramid; the great ball court that conjures up scenes from movies of brave competitors playing for life and death; the mysterious Cenote Sagrado believed to be the entrance to the underworld; and all  throughout the site a reminder of the complexity, sophistication and genius of the Maya.  The only downside is just how busy this world famous site can get which, when combined with the heat and humidity, could easily spoil the experience

Two key tips:

  • 1. Spend the night in one of the hotels nearby (we stayed at Mayaland, which was nicer than it sounds).  This allows you to enter the park early at 8am when it is far quieter and cooler, compared to an energy sapping trip from somewhere like Cancun for a wander round in the heat of the day.  It also allows you to enjoy the night show . . .
  • 2. Stay for the night show – I’m usually a little sceptical about night shows as they can be a bit tacky and really just another way to make money, but the Chichen Itza Night Show, I thought, was fantastic.  It tells you a bit of the history, runs a spectacular series of images across the El Castillo pyramid, and it’s also just super cool to be walking around the ruins in the early evening when the vast majority of tourists have left.  Must do
Highlights
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#1 The world famous El Castillo pyramid, the centre piece of this Wonder of the World

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Chichen Itza Night Show - fantastic experience

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#3 Seeing the Cenote Sagrado, believed to be the route to the Mayan underworld

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#4 Walking through the Great Ball Court and imagining what it must have been like to be a life & death competitor here

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#5 A slightly odd, but non-the-less fun stay at the Mayaland Hotel

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#6 Wandering through the less famous ancient sites, getting lost and thinking what it must have been like all those years ago

Other Travel Tips

  • Get a bit lost first – as with so many of these world class ancient sites, its often best to first head in and generally get a bit lost in the feelings of wonder, discovery and adventure as you make your way around the complex and soak it all in.  You can then follow up through a guide or simply make use of the very good audio guides provided
  • Hawkers – be prepared for quite a lot of stores selling tat, even in some prime spots in the site
  • Chichen Itza was at its height in what is known as the post-Classical Mayan period (900AD to 1500AD, although in the case of Chichen Itza it was abandoned around 1250AD), which partly explains why so many of the ruins are so well maintained
  • Other Mayan sites – for Classical Mayan Period ruins, it’s hard to go wrong with a visit to the premier Mayan site of Tikal in nearby Guatemala.  See Mayan Ruins of Tikal for a review and tips on how to best enjoy your time there.  Calakmul, around 250km to the south of Chichen Itza is also supposed to be great, but sadly we didn’t get a chance to visit
  • A different Mayan experience – for pre-Classical ruins, and a bit of an adventure, I would highly recommend the one day helicopter trip from Flores in Guatemala (next to Tikal) to El Mirador which has only seen excavation start relatively recently and has, it is now being realised, some of the most massive pyramid complexes in the world.   See Helicopter Trip to El Mirador in the heart of the Guatemalan Jungle for my tips on this unforgettable experience
  • Books – if you have an interest in Mayan history or Pre-Columbian American civilisations in general, I’d recommend reading 1491 by Charles Mann.  It gives an insight into what these civilisations were like before Europeans arrive and the level of their sophistication.  Great introductory read
  • Broad points for this Yucatan part of Mexico:
    • Safety – we felt safe at all times.  The violence that is happening in so many other unfortunate areas of the country has thankfully not spread to this part of Mexico.  The same as in your home country cities, use common sense and you should be fine
    • Note on the sargassum (seaweed) – unfortunately the beaches in this part of Mexico have been hit hard over the past years by strong blooms of sargassum (with varying theories as to why).  Have a quick research before you go as to how strong the bloom is and the approach the place you’re staying has to dealing with it because it really does change the vibe of the place.  The large hotels have armies of staff removing it from their beaches, but the surrounding areas don’t and so the mounds of sargassum will dominate your beach experience both in terms of visually and the smell
    • Ubers were abundant and the easiest way of getting around
    • Don’t expect everything to be dirt cheap.  This part of Mexico has some world famous attractions and is a natural destination for many tourists from the US, so prices reflect this
Experiences nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

The other 7 Wonders of the World Experiences

The Pyramids of Giza
⭐⭐⭐

Walking the wild Great Wall of China by Jinshanling
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Exploring Petra in winter
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Three days in Rome
⭐⭐⭐⭐

The tourist highlights of Rio de Janeiro combined with a cooking course
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Machu Picchu
⭐⭐⭐

The Taj Mahal
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences — from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

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