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Stay in Valladolid and drive-- or better yet stay in Piste- and walk to the ruins and get there when they open at 8am. On the Sunday morning we arrived at 830am, there were less than 25 people that we could see-- total-- and no vendors yet. Our photos of the main pyramids have literally zero other people in the background, and we saw lots of colorful birds and enjoyed the empty grounds. By the time we left at 11:30am, there were 3 or 4 thousand people there, mostly arriving on tour buses from Cancun, and the vendors were aggressive and noisy and it was less appealing of a destination. YES get there as early as possible.

Always impressive to visit but too crowded and touristy the last couple of times. The parking lot was only available for tour vans and buses so struggled outside to find a parking spot. Had to walk 600 meters to get to the ticket booth. Next time I'd go as early as they open to avoid crowds, heat and parking issues.

Chichen Itza is amazing! Well worth suffering the heat and bugsI (even in February) There are lots of vendors selling their wares. I've read that they are not usually handmade, which would explain why so many things were only ONE Dollar! Heard someone say not to buy wooden masks etc as they would not pass customs. Bring: hat, bug spray, sunblock, water. C.I. is very isolated. There are tour buses that take you from Cancun to CI. It's a full day and usually about $120 dollars. Be careful not to confuse dollars and mexican pesos. At this time the peso is about 20 cents so 100 pesos is $5 dollars. I recommend bringing a debit card and some mexican $. ( Can be purchased beforehand at AAA) Wear sturdy closed toe shoes as it is very dusty and rocky. No stairs, however. If you take a tour, they will feed you lunch about 2 pm. Bring snacks if you are accustomed to eating lunch earlier. Be on top of your email and messages as the tour originally said they would pick me up at my hotel, but changed to another hotel the day prior to the tour. If you don't take a tour, I would rent a car. Bus and taxi connections aren't the best. I took a taxi from Mayalands hotel to Valladodid for about $35. Then I took a bus to Cancun central bus station, then a taxi to the airport. I spent about $75 and it took the better part of the day. Taxi's from Mayalands to the airport run about $200 US. BTW, the tour takes you to a cenote where you can swim. Bring your suit and a towel, plus water shoes. The trek at ILKIL was about 100 stairs and slippery. One last thing, as of February 2022, one must wear a mask in Mexico ALL THE TIME.

It’s definitely worth it booking a tour guide as there’s so many details that need to be pointed out in order to appreciate the experience. Though most guides seemed to be asking for 900 pesos, which felt too steep. So we were actually very lucky to find a guide called Miguel who goes around in a little car (as he’s disabled), who charged us 500 pesos and gave us an amazing tour. Also, you’ll find there’s LOTS of art & souvenirs for sale, and they’ll quote you double the price if you can’t speak Spanish… so I’d suggest waiting until the end and buying whatever you like after you’ve seen all the stalls and haggle!

This ancient Mayan ruin is well preserved and maintained. Kukulcan is amazing but you cannot access or climb it. Doing this ruin with a guide was essential as the experience would have been much less without the knowledge a guide has.

An amazing site for those interested in history, archeology and cultures! Chichen Itza is the greatest ruins of the Maya empire. There are also other sites such as Yaxunah and several cenotes in the area.