Has anyone visited Chichen Itza in Merida?

About 1971 my g/f won a trip for two through National Geographic to Merida and Chichen Itza (Archaeological Zone) . Had a good tour guide and lectures from the curator of the archeological museum in Mexico City.

I would like to go back there and wanted to know if anyone has done it recently. I don't expect it to be the same, but it still sounds great from Trip Advisor.

Any input?

Thanks.

One of the larger ruins around, but literally PACKED with tourists coming in many buses. If you go, be there at the opening bell (one can stay at a hotel onsite or close-by in Valladolid). BTW, it is not THAT close to Merida but visiting there and its surrounds is also worthwhile.

I would skip Chichen and go to Uxmal, less people and beautiful ruin as well.

Yes! I would too. Less of a tourist trap.

Trailrunner wrote:Yes! I would too. Less of a tourist trap.

I'll look up Uxmal. We were planning 4 nights at Chichen Itza, but if it's mobbed and a lot of tourist crowds, we don't really like that.

Thanks for the info., this really may have saved us from a bad time.

Stay at the Pickle Onion in Santa Elena and also visit Labná, Kabah and Sayil it is all the area and you will not see crowds..

brigitte wrote:Stay at the Pickle Onion in Santa Elena and also visit Labná, Kabah and Sayil it is all the area and you will not see crowds..

Looks very nice. I'm seeing a substantial price difference between Uxman and Chichen Itza.

I'm wondering if Chichen Itza is less crowded weekdays. Looking at arriving Monday and leaving Friday in late April.

If I remember correctly, the tour buses (and there were a LOT of them) arrive around 10 at Chichen. We were advised to get there before then and we did. By the time the hordes hit we were on our way out of the park. Lots and lots of vendors, tour guides. . . most of then outside of the gate.

It was summer, during the week, and it was very very hot and sweaty. Bring bottles of water and drink them.

April is very hot in Yucatan.. uncomfortably so..

Price difference on what the hotels? Ruins ? Uxmal is a great place. and the hoteles in Saint Elena are very nice you can also take day tours from Merida to Uxmal and the other Puuc ruins.

I do not, upon faith in my continued existence in peace, wish to contradict my Darling
Wife Brigitte, but if I were you I would skip both Chichen Itza and Uxmal (clerarly superior to Chichen Itza)and head to Tikal in Guatemala to observe spectaclular Maya ruins. We first came to Mexico, I as a native of the United States state of Alabama and my wife as a native of France, in the 1980s. To communicate our love for this country - this is where we decided mutually, to finish our journey on this planet as opposed to either France or the United Stattes or, incidentally.Portugal, We acquired Mexican citizenship afrer14 years here. . No regrets. Maybe Antigua,Guatemala would have been a good alternative choice but one must live wih one's decisions after a while.

I went, again, 2 weeks ago. 2 days and 1 night is enough, then move on to other sites.

All the site mentioned are worth visiting. Each is unique. The one not mentioned is Coba, just down the road from Akumal. We seen hardly anyone there. Coba, Uxmal, and Chitzen all have Club Med Arqueologico Villa hotels right outside the entrance. The ultimate in convenience. The lodgings are simple and inexpensive and they each have a pool and a good restaurant. http://www.villasarqueologicas.com.mx/

David wrote:All the site mentioned are worth visiting.  Each is unique.  The one not mentioned is Coba, just down the road from Akumal.  We seen hardly anyone there.  Coba, Uxmal, and Chitzen all have Club Med Arqueologico Villa hotels right outside the entrance.  The ultimate in convenience.  The lodgings are simple and inexpensive and they each have a pool and a good restaurant.  http://www.villasarqueologicas.com.mx/

I agree wih David about Akumal and Coba but I would avoid Chichen Itza, which I have visited, like the plague. As a commercial enterprise, it is ,Disneyland South. If I had one Maya ruin to visit and I have been to many. give me Tikal in Guatemala or, otherwise Coba but Uxmal is faulously interesting . My wife visited some Maya ruin in Honduras just across the border with Guatemala which she loved   but I did not accompany her so I will steer clear of that. There are a number of Maya ruins in Mexico which are unheralded in the international press.  Go to one of those to walk the grounds in peace and pretty much alone.  These ruins will be a real treat and not offensive as can be Chichen Itza for those seeking solitude and historical pursuits..

Just to make my point clearer, I live at both Lake Chapala and in the Chiapas Highlands and have for 16 years. I am also a Maya ruin freak. That doesn´t mean I know what I am writing about but, what the hell.

OK, other then the tourist traps, is there anything near Chichen Itz worth the trip?

Museums, other places of historic interest, etc?

And if I read right, getting to the pyramids early, maybe 0800, could avoid the masses?

Yes, go in when they open (8?) and spend a couple of hours. It takes less time today that it did years back when you could climb the pyramid and other structures. IMHO, if you are in the area it's worth the trip. Especially if you go before the summer tourists from the USA arrive.

Clueless wrote:OK, other then the tourist traps, is there anything near Chichen Itz worth the trip?

Museums, other places of historic interest, etc?

And if I read right, getting to the pyramids early, maybe 0800, could avoid the masses?

Most outdoor activities are best done in the mornings.  Afternoons are for the water or siesta's.  Night time, when it is cooler, are for being outside.  Bring plenty of Deet.  There are discounts or free entry with INAPAN cards to most ruins.

If you haven't been to Chichen before, than go see one of the New Wonders of the World. That is why it is busy and a tourist hotspot.

For the most part, museums are in Merida.  Centro in Merida is fun on weekend nights.  I have heard there are some very nice, re-furbished, hacienda's that have tours or rooms for rent but  have not done that myself.  

Ek Balam is a "newer" ruin with hardly any crowds.  The government is still digging it out.  There is a great cenote their too.

BTW, my favorite ruins are Palenque, which are not in the area.  There is something magical about that whole area.

If you are in Palenque . it is worth taking the trip to Yaxchilan which is less crowded and has a wonderful location on the river.