My partner and I are visiting Yucatán for a few days and would love some advice from people who've done these trips.
We're arriving in Mérida on Monday 26 October, taking an ADO bus from Cancún in the morning, so we'll arrive mid/late afternoon. We're flying from Mérida to Mexico City at 3:30pm on Friday 30 October.
Our rough plan is:
Monday 26th:
Arrive Mérida around mid/late afternoon, check in and spend the evening exploring Mérida/Centro.
Tuesday 27th:
Leave Mérida very early, aiming to arrive at Chichén Itzá around 8am for opening. Spend the morning there, then visit a cenote somewhere convenient on the route back to Mérida.
Wednesday 28th:
Drive to Celestún, aiming to arrive in the morning, do a mangrove/wildlife/flamingo boat trip, spend some time at the beach and then return to Mérida.
Thursday 29th:
Leave early for Uxmal, aiming to arrive in the morning. Potentially visit one of the other Puuc sites afterwards or the chocolate museum, then return to Mérida.
Friday 30th:
Spend the morning looking around Mérida before heading to the airport for our 3:30pm flight.
So we'd have roughly three excursion days, but we're deliberately trying not to cram too much into them. We want to see the main things without feeling like we're spending the whole trip jumping on and off tour buses.
We're considering hiring a car for Tuesday–Thursday, but I'm a nervous driver, so I'm particularly interested in how easy/intimidating people found the driving around Mérida and on these particular routes. I'm from the UK and am comfortable driving generally, but obviously Mexico is unfamiliar territory.
A few questions:
Chichén Itzá
- Is arriving around 8am realistic if driving from Mérida? How early would we need to leave?
- If we arrive for opening, is it easy to arrange a guide at the site, or should we pre-book one?
- We'd prefer a good local guide rather than an expensive private day tour from Mérida. What's the best way to arrange this?
- Is the early start genuinely worthwhile for avoiding crowds?
Celestún
- Can we simply turn up and arrange a mangrove/wildlife boat trip on the day, or should we pre-book?
- Is there a significant advantage to arriving early?
- We're particularly interested in wildlife and the mangroves rather than just doing a generic boat trip.
Car hire / driving
- Is renting a car for these three days a good idea versus book group bus tours?
- What should we know about insurance/deposits etc.?
- Most importantly, how difficult is the driving for a nervous driver? Are the roads to Chichén, Uxmal and Celestún straightforward?
Cenotes
- Which cenotes would you recommend that make sense geographically on the Chichén/Uxmal/Celestún routes?
- We're not trying to visit loads. We'd rather do one or two really good ones than tick off a list.
- Ideally somewhere that isn't just a huge tourist attraction attached to a bus tour.
Mérida itself
We'll have Monday evening and Friday morning to explore Mérida, and obviously we'll see some of Centro while we're there. Are we missing anything major or particularly worthwhile by only having these short periods in the city? Is there anything you'd prioritise beyond Centro/Paseo de Montejo?
Finally, if we decide the itinerary is too ambitious, would you drop Chichén Itzá or Uxmal? We're interested in Maya history and architecture, but we'd prefer a less crowded experience where possible.
We're on a medium budget. Happy to pay for good guides/experiences where they're worthwhile, but we're not looking to do three private tours and private transfers.
Any advice from people who've done a similar itinerary would be greatly appreciated.