Valladolid, Mexico
February 17-26, 2024
From Izamal we hop on a short 1.5 hour bus ride with Oriente and head to the small city of Valladolid. Located about half way between Merida and Cancun, it serves a lot of day trippers from both directions. But remarkably most of the tour buses encircle the main square and tourists don't seem to wander too far, allowing for many of the other areas of the city to remain quiet. Valladolid has a nice laid back vibe and reminds us of Merida on a smaller scale, and is also cleaner and a bit more pulled together. It boasts colorful buildings and streets and several beautiful churches. We immediately like it here and settle in for our week long stay.
Our Accommodations
We found a nice little Airbnb apartment located just outside of the central area. The building contains
three small apartments side by side, all with their own kitchens and small living room.
There is a shared courtyard which is nice but because its so hot we didn't use it. Its has everything we need for a
great stay and we can easily access everything we need within walking distance.
Around Valladolid
Cenote Zaci - Valladolid Centre
What is a cenote?
A cenote is a natural sink hole formed when limestone caves collapse revealing pools of fresh underground water.
Cenotes held great significance to the ancient Mayan people serving as water sources and sacred places for rituals.
Cenotes can be fully open, partially open (like in Valladolid), underground cenotes and cenotes in caves.
Cenote Zaci is right in the centre of Valladolid making it one of the easiest cenote's to visit and for 60 pesos ($5 CAD) you can swim all day long. Its a fresh water partially open cenote and has a nice jungly feel to it. The water is a nice color although it is murky and there's some black fish in it. You can jump from the ledges if you're feeling adventurous!
Chichen Itaz - Mayan Ruins
The famous Yucatan ruins of Chichen Itza are a Unesco site and deemed one of the 7 wonders of the world.
It was one of the largest Mayan civilizations and was an active city between 525-1200 AD. Chichen Itza grew during the centuries, and as the city thrived, it became more and more powerful, had a defined political structure, powerful economy, and evidence that the city was in contact with other cities and cultures. It was abandoned before the Spaniards arrived (approx 1000 years ago) but its not certain as to why. Some believe it was overpopulation that caused the Mayans to run out of resources. Others say it was environmental issues such as drought that forced them to leave. Either way, its a sophisticated example of their knowledge at the time in architecture, mathematics and astrology.
What to Know
From Valladolid you can catch a colectivo from the central area which we later discovered were nicer than we imagined (AC, good condition vans). Or you can get a ticket with Oriente bus at the central bus station. Buses from Cancun and Playa del Carmen also travel here but its approximately 2.5 hours each way. Most people coming from the coast go by group tour. We did a self guided tour of Chicen Itza using this handy self guided map from "my free range family" blog but you can also hire guides on your arrival at Chichen Itza. Many of the tour groups arrived around 10:00am-10:30am so if possible, we suggest finding a tour that gets you there earlier than this to avoid the hoards. At 634 pesos per person ($51 CAD pp) to enter, it seemed a bit expensive given the resources and staff onsite seemed to be lacking. The compound is laid out well with some basic info on signs at each structure.
From Valladolid you can catch a colectivo from the central area which we later discovered were nicer than we imagined (AC, good condition vans). Or you can get a ticket with Oriente bus at the central bus station. Buses from Cancun and Playa del Carmen also travel here but its approximately 2.5 hours each way. Most people coming from the coast go by group tour. We did a self guided tour of Chicen Itza using this handy self guided map from "my free range family" blog but you can also hire guides on your arrival at Chichen Itza. Many of the tour groups arrived around 10:00am-10:30am so if possible, we suggest finding a tour that gets you there earlier than this to avoid the hoards. At 634 pesos per person ($51 CAD pp) to enter, it seemed a bit expensive given the resources and staff onsite seemed to be lacking. The compound is laid out well with some basic info on signs at each structure.
El Castillo - The Castle
The most famous structure at Chichen Itza stands in the centre of the compound
The Great Ball Court
Once the ball was thrown into the court it could only be touched by the hips and thighs - many players were decapitated in this rough and ceremonial ball game.