A week in Yucatán: ruins, cenotes and the drive between them

The shape of the week

A workable route starts in Cancún or Mérida, then runs to Valladolid, Chichén Itzá, a cenote day, Mérida and Uxmal before heading back. Nothing on that list is more than about two and a half hours from the stop before it, and most legs are closer to ninety minutes.

• Days 1–2: arrive in Cancún and drive to Valladolid; an evening in its main square.
• Day 3: Chichén Itzá at opening time, a cenote in the afternoon.
• Day 4: on to Mérida by way of Izamal, the yellow town.
• Day 5: Mérida on foot.
• Day 6: Uxmal and the Puuc hills.
• Day 7: back to the airport, or on to the coast.

Chichén Itzá, and the case for the early start

The site opens early in the morning, and the coach tours from the resorts on the coast tend to arrive from mid-morning. Those two facts shape the whole visit: the difference between arriving at opening and arriving at half past ten is the difference between a quiet archaeological site and a crowd.

Staying in Valladolid, under an hour away, makes the early start realistic. Staying on the coast does not. Take water, a hat and sun protection: there is little shade on the main plaza.

Cenotes: the right counterweight

A day among ruins in Yucatán heat needs a cenote at the end of it, and the peninsula has thousands of these water-filled sinkholes. The ones signposted from the main roads are busy and fine; quieter ones are found by asking locally. Take a towel and expect the water to be cool, which after a morning at a Maya site is the entire point.

Many cenotes ask you to shower before you swim and to keep sunscreen and repellent out of the water, to protect it. A life jacket is often offered or required; take it if you are not a strong swimmer.

Mérida deserves more than a night

Most itineraries treat Mérida as a stopover. It is the liveliest city on the peninsula: a large colonial centre, a serious food culture, and evening streets that fill with people rather than emptying. Two nights is the minimum that makes sense, and three is not a waste.

Eat the Yucatecan dishes you will not find done the same way elsewhere in Mexico: cochinita pibil, pork slow-cooked with achiote and bitter orange, and sopa de lima.

When to go

The dry months from November to April are the most comfortable, with warm days and few storms. Late spring is the hottest time inland. From June the rains arrive, usually as afternoon storms, and the Caribbean hurricane season runs to the end of November.

If you want the coast as well, add it at the end of the week. Tulum and the beaches are worth their own days, but threading them between the inland sites turns a relaxed week into a driving one.

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