Hotels near Palenque International Airport (PQM), Palenque

This is a review of the ruins, not the town. Pros: The archeological ruins are outstanding. It's good in a way that you can still climb some of the ruins- but shouldn't they really be closed to preserve them for future generations, because a lot of people visit and will be degrading the ruins. Cons: You have to buy 2 tickets from 2 different windows. You have to take another bus from the ticket office to the ruins or walk the 3kms. The museum is closed (when I visited on 5th April 26) and no known date of when it will reopen.

I hired a guide to take me on the jungle walk which was excellent although expensive. It's easy to get lost without a guide. This guide helped my buy the two tickets needed to get into the park to see the Palenque ruins. It costs 220 pesos each for two required entrance fees per person (foreigners) and half that for residents. I did not use a guide to explore Palenque ruins. I wanted to explore at my own pace and I loved it. The day I went there were not many people at all (in Feb. 2026). You can hear the howler monkeys from the ruins! It was amazing.

It is a great site but difficult to get to and from. We wasted two whole days to arrive ( by plane from Oaxaca to Mexico City and then M City to Villahermosa and bus to Palenque). Then a whole 8 hrs journey to Merida. Would only recommend doing if you stay three weeks in Mexico or do just Palenque and another site.