Let’s get right into it. Can you get to Chichen Itza without an organized tour? Yes. Is it easy? Yes.
Pretty much anywhere in the Yucatan you can take a bus to Chichen Itza. The major bus line is ADO and you can look at their site to find bus schedules and if your location has a direct line to Chichen Itza. This is pretty straightforward and no more explanation is really needed. You can buy your tickets online.
You can hire a private taxi or rent a car as well if you want to some more exploring in the region.
As well, the new Maya Train actually has a stop at Chichen Itza. This could be an option if you are coming from Cancun airport or anywhere in the Yucatan in fact.
How to get to Chichen Itza From Valladolid?
If you made your way to Valladolid, which is well worth a couple nights if you’ve got the time — it’s a charming town, and the closest one to the ancient Mayan ruins — you can save a few bucks by taking the local vans that run back and forth between Chichen Itza and Valladolid. I say local but it’s full of foreign tourists.
These vans run all day, starting around 7am according to when I was most recently there. They don’t have scheduled departure times, but rather they leave once the van is full of passengers. Filling the van is usually never a problem but you might have to wait 30 minutes or so for another van to return.
Where do the vans leave for Chichen Itza?
It’s a fairly unassuming place, located here on Google maps. It’s just a parking lot, nothing fancy.
You have to buy your ticket when you get there. There is a little makeshift ticket booth on the left-hand side when you enter the parking lot. Tickets to Chichen Itza are 40 pesos, or 80 pesos with a return ticket. You also have the option of visiting a cenote (Ik Kil) afterwards. It’s an extra 20 pesos for transport to the cenote. If you choose this option, it will be 100 pesos to go from Valladolid to Chichen Itza, then to the cenote, and then back to Valladolid. The entrance to the cenote is 180 pesos and you pay this at the same ticket booth where you pay for your transportation.
If you don’t know what a cenote is, it’s basically a huge circular hole in the ground that has water that you can swim in way down at the bottom. Do yourself a favour and run an image search for cenotes.
If you’ve never been to a cenote before, and don’t have immediate plans to go to one, I’d say yes the cenote option here is absolutely worth it. It’s a one of a kind experience that will wow you.
If you have been to cenotes before, I would say you can skip this option. It really is nice, but it is very crowded. Think about the amount of traffic this place gets being located right next to one of the world wonders. It’s beautiful, but if you’ve already experienced something similar you can probably do without the crowds.
How to get back to Valladolid from Chichen Itza
That’s pretty much it. Ah, one thing I should mention. When leaving Chichen Itza, you can just stand at the bottom of the stairs to the left-hand side and the van will swing around there to pick you up and return you to Valladolid, or take you to the cenote (it’s on the way back to town). This will make sense once you are there.
We thought that by getting out of the parking lot and back towards the main road it would help us get a van quicker, but they all come into the parking lot to pick people up anyway, so it doesn’t really matter. In fact, the parking lot is the preferred place for pickups.
There you have it. I hope this helps you get to Chichen Itza without any trouble. Enjoy the sites and happy travels!
Looking for your next Mexican adventure? Check out my favourite city, Guadalajara, or try mezcal in Oaxaca. Whatever you do, you'll love Mexico. And it is safer than the media makes it sound.
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