Mexico - Need itinerary advice to the Yucatan!

Hello there!

I need some travel advice from folks that have been to the Yucatan before. My boyfriend and I are planning a trip in late May this year for about 7 days but have no idea where to stay.

We would like to avoid the all inclusive resorts, and prefer to stay at quaint places, possibly BnBs and preferably walking distance to the beach.

For activities we'd like to do a mix of relaxation and exploring: enjoy the clear waters and white sands and explore the ruins, possibly Chichen Itza, since a lot of info I read seems that Tulum gets very crowded, also historic towns to do some shopping (minus tourist traps), museums and get a feel of non-Westernized towns.

We've tossed around staying at Tulum or Merida, but don't know what the best is. It seems that if we stay at one of these places, we have to end up driving to either the towns or ruins. We're hoping we don't have to drive too much, since we do enough of that in LA! We havent consulted w/ a travel agent and feel they're lure us in an all inclusive package.

Can anyone provide any advice?

The Cancun area down to Playa del Carmen is all pretty touristy. If you are wanting to see ruins you will need to drive or take an organized tour. Take a look at this website. They have been around for at least 15-20 years and are very knowledgeable about the area. http://www.cancunmx.com/

Most likely you'll want to avoid the Cancun Hotel zone and head toward Playa del Carmen or Tulum area. Try these sites for some ideas http://playadelcarmen.com/
http://www.tulum.com/

We love Merida and Valladolid. You could stay for a couple of days in Merida at Luz en Yucatan or Las Cascadas, the former is a small hotel in a renovated convent only a few blocks from city center in the old part of this colonial city. Many restaurants and sites within an easy walk. Las Cascadas is a smaller B&B farther from the center with also wonderful atmosphere and the owners are amazing people. (both have small pools) You can also walk to city center, but a longer walk. Explore markets, churches, museums. Use one these two hotels as a base to explore famous Chichen Itza, but don't miss Uxmal, (south of Merida - best ruins in the Yucatan!), swim in secret cenotes, explore some caves. A site to learn about all there is in central Yucatan is http://yucatantoday.com/ Also a great site run by expats is http://www.yucatanliving.com/

If you head south from Cancun to get your beach fix, you could rent a condo or stay in a small hotel or B&B for a few days in Akumal. Relax, fish, snorkel with the sea turtles, or if you want even more adventure, take the Selvatica zipline adventure tour. Check out locogringo.com for lots of info on points south of Cancun.

For our last two trips we have bought amazing maps from Mapchick, http://www.cancunmap.com/ which are chock full of ideas, real reviews, restaurants, shopping info, etc. Really helped us enjoy ourselves, and folks kept asking..."How do you know all this stuff?"

We rented from EasyWay car rental and never had a problem driving all over the Yucatan.

TripAdvisor.com is also a great resource for finding smaller hotels and B&B like you are seeking.

Get out of Cancun and have a wonderful vacation!

get a feel of non-Westernized towns. Mexico is a Western country... you mean 'non-touristy' towns.

Are you aware of how hot it is going to be? Frommer's calls May in the Yucatan "stiffling".

At least you shouldn't have any problem getting a hotel room.
;)

Are you aware of how hot it is going to be? Frommer's calls May in the Yucatan "stiffling".

At least you shouldn't have any problem getting a hotel room.
;)

Rubbish. May is perfectly fine. You'll not get to stifling until July or August.

Thank you everyone for all these helpful tips!

We're now leaning more towards splitting our trip between 2 spots as many of you have suggested. We're also thinking of renting a car. But with the recent safety conditions in Mexico, we're thinking it might not be the safest time to travel there unless we stay at an all inclusive resort or more touristy areas.

Any thoughts on this? Any folks who live there heard anything on the news?

Thank you everyone for all these helpful tips!

We're now leaning more towards splitting our trip between 2 spots as many of you have suggested. We're also thinking of renting a car. But with the recent safety conditions in Mexico, we're thinking it might not be the safest time to travel there unless we stay at an all inclusive resort or more touristy areas.

Any thoughts on this? Any folks who live there heard anything on the news?

In the words of my esteemed FT MoreMilesPlease. in regards to my weather comment....rubbish.

There is little danger to American tourists in Mexico, especially when you are visiting any place other that Nueva Laredo or Tiajuana.( border towns) There has been so much publicity (damn CNN) on the violence/drug issues none of which impact the safety of your stay or visit unless you choose to be reckless and play in areas you know you should not.

You are not alone in feeling concerned...tourism is way down because of the publicity... go where you want and enjoy!

Chichen Itza:

Bad way to do it: Stay in Cancun, take a day trip on a coach (bus). You will be in a hectic group, arrive in the heat of the day, Chichen Itza will be packed out with 1000s of people, you will be disappointed.

Better way to do it: Hire a car and stay 2 nights in an hotel at Chichen Itza. We stayed in a lovely little a/c bungalow villa at the Mayaland hotel www.mayaland.com They have regular rooms in the main block, and little villas in the flower filled gardens too. This hotel is directly attached to C. Itza, and has a private gate into the ruins. It means you can enter when it opens (8.30am I think) - the ruins were completely empty - literally about 30 tourists in the whole place. My about 11am the buses started packing the place out - horrible - 1000s of sweating hordes from the Cancun hotels. At 11am we went back to the hotel, had a swim and a sleep, and then went back to the ruins about 3pm until they shut at around 5.30pm. Peace and quiet.

Also went to the Son & Lumiere show which is (obviously) at night in the ruins - you pay extra for that. Not a must-see, but quite good.

Mayaland hotel also has 2 or 3 swimming pools, reasonable restaurants and friendly staff.

Just to make it clear that I have nothing against Cancun, we had a few nights in Cancun at the start of our trip and really enjoyed the beach & Cancun activities, but that doesn't mean I wanted to see C Itza with 1000s of other people on buses in the heat of the day.

It was July - stiffling, but nothing that we couldn't handle!

winzer, we took our 8 and 5 year olds all over the Yucatan for 2 weeks in February, and never felt unsafe. If you aren't buying, selling or using drugs, and you take normal safety precautions (as we all do when we travel) you will be fine. The "real" Mexico is outside Cancun.

you can also check out: http://www.thetruthaboutmexico.com/ for perspectives from some expats who live there...

Thank you so much everyone for all your helpful tips. We have quite decided exactly, but all of these tips will help a great deal plan our trip.

Thank you again