Endless dreamlike beaches, unforgettable good food, lovely people. That is Mexico. But what makes the Mexican culture even more special is the thousands of years old Mayan culture and the associated Mayan site of Chichen Itza. This incredibly fascinating site, including the Kukulcán pyramid, is a must-see during your visit to Mexico. If the stones could talk, they would tell many fascinating stories.

Chichen Itza is the most famous Mayan site in all of Mexico. It is located in the state of Yucatan and is accessible from many tourist destinations such as Cancun, Tulum and Playa del Carmen. However, if you want to have a truly unforgettable experience and have almost all of Chichen Itza to yourself, we don’t think you should visit it from these places. Of course, we understand that due to time constraints, there is not always any other way. In this case it is recommended to start as early as possible to be there before the opening at 08:00 AM.

It is much easier to start from the city of Valladolid in Yucatan. From here you have a 45 minute drive to Chichen Itza and can easily be there before the ticket office opens at 08:0 AM. In order not to have to be one of the first, but also to be able to skip the few other early birds, there is the possibility to buy tickets in advance on the official site of Chichen Itza . You will have to dig a little deeper into your pocket for this luxury (approx. $55 instead of $25). In our opinion, it is much more worthwhile to simply be there before the doors open, but a little more about that later.

To visit Chichen Itza, in Cancun, Tulum and Playa del Carmen the most different tours are literally thrown at you. We don’t want to talk bad about them at all, because they have a right to exist and their audience. If you want to book such a tour, please feel free to do so. We just recommend here, maybe not to book the first tour you get offered, but to compare a bit to get a good price.

Even more importantly is to get a good arrival time. At about 10 AM while we were there, some bus tours had already arrived and the place didn’t have that magical, untouched magic anymore. But sometimes there is no other way and then a tour like this is a good thing.

Visiting Chichen Itza from Valladolid

However, if you have a little more time, you should visit the beautiful city of Valladolid in the wonderful Yucatan state. From here, a visit to Chichen Itza is best planned and you can have done everything within a forenoon. From here you can go to the Collectivo Terminal right next to the ADO bus terminal. From there you will be asked anyway if you want to buy a ride to Chichen Itza. The ride costs $1.80 (40 pesos) per person one way and takes about 45 minutes. The first one leaves as early as 7 AM, as people want to be the first on site. Therefore, it is recommended to be there 15-20 minutes before to be sure to get a seat in the mini-van.

After arriving, it’s best to follow the other travelers to the ticket office and ideally you’ll have to wait a bit until the ticket office opens. Unless of course you have read the text in detail up to here and bought your ticket in advance. Then you can skip the line.

We in our case had not bought a ticket in advance (Not really a good deal!) and had to wait. When the ticket office opened at 8 AM, we immediately bought two tickets for a ridiculous $25.50 (571 pesos). The ticket is divided into two sections. 486 pesos are for admission, so to speak, and 85 pesos are government fees.

Please also keep in mind that you will be charged extra for everything in Chichen Itza. Do you have to put something in the locker? 50 pesos! Do you have a vlog camera like GoPro? 50 pesos! The additional fees of $2.20 are a bit annoying, but unfortunately a reality. Just have enough cash with you.

Bought tickets, got through security and off you go! If you did everything right, you will be one of the first in Chichen Itza. Don’t panic if a few people have already walked in before you, the place is so big that you more or less have the place to yourself for the first hour after opening. That’s why we also think, that you shouldn’t really buy the early bird tickets. Just be there early enough and you will be fine.

Now enjoy the view of the pyramid of Kukulcán and the whole Chichen Itza Maya site, you deserve it.

To visit Chichen Itza, you can stay in the touristy places Cancun, Tulum and Playa del Carmen and book a day tour. You should know the disadvantages of this after reading this post.

We recommend you to sleep in Valladolid and plan everything from there. It is the closest and beautiful.

We stayed at the beautiful Airbnb of In Wotoch and can highly recommend it.

The best time to visit Chichen Itza is during the dry season between December and April. The coolest months are between December and February, but the temperature can still reach averages of 28 degrees.

• Take the Colectivo to be one of the first.
• Be there before it opens at 8 AM.
• Have some cash with you, you will need it.

The prices are per person, except for the accommodation, which we rent for 5 people.

Accommodation: $29 / night

Snack: $5 / meal

Colectivo: $1.80 / ride

Entry: $25.50 / event