Group of the Thousands Columns is just one part of the archaeological park at Chichen Itza.
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The most studied of the Mayan pyramids, Chichen Itza is located on Mexico's Yucatan peninsula four miles south of the small town of Piste. Hotels within walking distance to the ruins include the Mayaland Hotel and Bungalows (mayaland.com), the Hotel Villas Arqueologicas (villasarqueologicas.com) and the Piramide Inn (piramideinn.com). The nearest airport is Cancun International (cancun-airport.com), 135 miles east; car rentals are available.
Chichen Itza Tours from Cancun
Chichen Itza Tours (chichenitzatours.net) offers three full-day excursions to the pyramid with pick-ups from major Cancun hotels. The 13-hour "Chichen Itza Ruins Tour and Light Show" is offered on Wednesdays; the daily "Classic Ruins Tour" and "Ruins and Suytun Underwater Grotto Tour" are 12-hour tours. All three include buffet lunches, bilingual guides leading separate Spanish and English speaking groups on 1 1/2-hour tours of the ruins, and round-trip transportation. The ChichenItza-Tour company offers two similar day-long tours to the archaeological ruins from Cancun. Watch videos about Mayan history and commentary from bilingual guides on the 2 1/2-hour bus tour. Hostesses serve continental breakfast on-board. Stops include the town of Valladolid, a visit to Cenote Ik-Kil (cenoteikil.com) park and a buffet lunch at a hacienda before arriving at Chichen Itza. After a group bilingual two-hour tour, there is time to explore on your own.
Overnight Tours
Overnight tours from Cancun allow visitors plenty of time to explore the ruins beyond what they see on a 90-minute guided tour. Cancun Discounts (cancun-discounts.com) has an 8:15 a.m. departure on Wednesday morning that returns to Cancun at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Hotel accommodations at Mayaland are included, but admission to the ruins is not. From Cozumel, Cozumel Tours by Johann and Sandra (cozumel-tours.com) leads daily overnight trips via ferry and bus to the ruins. Entrance to the ruins and light show is included on the first day but not on the second. Accommodations are at Mayaland.
Self-Guided Tours
Travel to Chichen Itza on your own from Cancun with a rental car. Parking at the ruins was $10 MXN at the time of publication. From Cancun, public buses make the journey in about three hours. At the time of publication, the fare was $180 MXN or $15.47 USD one-way. Buses also run from the town of Merida, about 75 miles from the ruins. From Piste you can walk to the ruins. Start with exhibits at the museum and plan on spending the better part of the day exploring. El Castillo, the main pyramid, and the Great Ball Court are part of the Great North Platform ruins; the Ossario Group is a smaller pyramid structure. Ruins in the Central Group include residences and towers for watching equinoxes and the summer solstice.
Considerations
Chichen Itza is open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission fees include the evening light show, which is held later in the evening during the summer season. Climbing to the top of El Castillo is not permitted. Wear comfortable shoes; use hats and sun block; carry bottled water. Early morning self-guided explorations are cooler and miss tour-bus traffic. Do not buy from unauthorized vendors selling souvenirs trolling the grounds of the archaeological park. Lockers are located at the park entrance for over-sized bags. Guided tours require advance reservations.
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Photo Credits
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