Visiting Chichen Itza is an essential stop on any Mexico itinerary, and the Mayan ruins can be easily visited from Tulum and most places in the Yucatan Peninsula such as Cancun and Playa del Carmen. In this post I’ll share the options for how to get from Tulum to Chichen Itza and the pros and cons of Chichen Itza tours from Tulum, driving to Chichen Itza from Tulum and going to Chichen Itza by bus.
If you are staying in Tulum, you could visit Chichen Itza on a day trip, or spend a couple of days near Chichen Itza to make the most of your visit. We’ve got all the information you’ll need to plan your Chichen Itza trip from Tulum, including details for up to date prices of Chichen Itza tickets, when to visit Chichen Itza and where to stay if you want to spend the night. Let’s get cracking!
Know Before You Go to Chichen Itza
Before travelling to Chichen Itza, make sure you book accommodation and tours ASAP as hotels and tickets can sell out.
🛌 MY FAVOURITE ACCOMMODATION AT CHICHEN ITZA:
$$ Mayaland Hotel – 4* Hotel onsite at Chichen Itza
$$ Villas Arqueologicas Chichen Itza – 3* with decent reviews
$ Casa de las Lunas – Lovely hotel where I stayed in Piste
⭐ TOP CHICHEN ITZA TOURS TO BOOK IN ADVANCE:
1. Chichen Itza, Cenote, and Valladolid All-Inclusive Tour – Top rated tour from Riviera Maya
2. VIP Chichen Itza Private Tour – Beat the crowds with a private tour from Tulum
3. Chichen Itza Entrance Tickets – Skip the Line Tickets
4. Chichen Itza: Guided Walking Tour – best for independent travellers, no transport
What is Chichen Itza?
I’m assuming that if you’re already planning to visit Chichen Itza you have at least a vague idea of what it is, but here’s a brief introduction for you.
Chichen Itza was one of the largest cities built by the Maya, indigenous people who lived in and around the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. It is estimated to have been built between750 and 900 AD and is now an archaeological site and tourist destination, where you can walk among the ruins of the city which includes pyramids, temples and other buildings.
El Castillo pyramid at Chichen Itza is the most famous Mayan pyramid and one that you will no doubt have seen in photographs when doing research for your trip to Mexico. Chichen Itza was named as one of the new Seven Wonders of the World and is one of the most popular destinations in Mexico for visitors.
Visiting Chichen Itza from Tulum
Tulum is a great choice for where to stay in the Riviera Maya, and while there are plenty of things to do in Tulum itself you can also easily visit other places in Yucatan and Quintana Roo (the regions which make up the Yucatan Peninsula) including Chichen Itza.
Understandably, Chichen Itza is a popular day trip from Tulum and is often included in any standard Tulum itinerary. However, don’t forget to enjoy the other activities in Tulum including diving or snorkelling in Cenotes, spending time on the beautiful beaches in Tulum and of course visiting the Mayan Ruins at Tulum as well.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Which is Better – Tulum or Chichen Itza Mayan Ruins?
How Far is Chichen Itza from Tulum
Chichen Itza is about 150 km from Tulum, just over 2 hours drive by car.
How to Get from Chichen Itza to Tulum
There are several options for how to get from Chichen Itza to Tulum, including hiring a car and driving to Chichen Itza, joining a tour or taking public transport.
Tours from Tulum to Chichen Itza
Tours are probably the easiest way to visit Chichen Itza, as you don’t need to hire a car or navigate the public transport system.
If you are in Tulum alone or travelling as a couple you can get some great value group tours to Chichen Itza from Tulum, and most include visits to other attractions along the way, such as Coba Mayan Ruins, the town of Valladolid and the chance to swim in a cenote, as well as lunch.
However, you don’t control the timings of the day, and you often arrive at Chichen Itza with lots of other tour groups at the same time.
Private tours are obviously more expensive than group tours but may give you more flexibility over your itinerary, and allow you to arrive at Chichen Itza before the crowds.
Remember that most tours do not include entry tickets to Chichen Itza, so you’ll have to pay extra for admission.
I’ve researched the best Chichen Itza tours from Tulum and found the following options which have excellent reviews:
Private Chichen Itza Tours from Tulum
If budget isn’t an issue for you, then a private tour to Chichen Itza will mean you can arrive earlier at Chichen Itza, before the crowds, and go there directly instead of picking up anyone else along the way.
This private tour to Chichen Itza offers pick up in Tulum at 7am, and includes all entry fees (including to Chichen Itza), lunch in Valladolid and an English speaking guide. You’ll visit Chichen Itza first thing in the morning, then go to a cenote and the colonial town of Valladolid for lunch. → BOOK NOW
Private Transfers to Chichen Itza
Getting a private transfer or taxi from Tulum to Chichen Itza is cheaper than a private tour, but it only includes transport and none of the other activities or guide services you would get with a tour.
You will have to provide your own lunch and pay extra for a tour guide at Chichen Itza if you want one, but it does mean you avoid the hassle involved with hiring a car.
This private transfer to Chichen Itza costs the same for up to 7 people, so is a great option for couples, families or a group of friends. Recommended pick-up is at 7am from Tulum, and you can add any stops you like along the way, returning to Tulum by 7pm. → BOOK NOW
Small-Group Tours to Chichen Itza from Tulum
There are small group tours from Tulum to Chichen Itza – some tours that run from Cancun and Playa del Carmen also offer pick-up from Tulum but ask them about the route the tour will take. If they pick you up in Tulum and then go to Cancun before going to Chichen Itza it adds a lot of time to your journey.
This tour departs from Tulum, and heads straight to Chichen Itza so you should get there relatively early if the tour leaves on time and there isn’t any traffic. Pick-up is only available from Tulum, so that should cut down on travel time. The tour also includes a visit to a cenote, lunch and a trip to Valladolid, and gets excellent reviews for the knowledgeable guides. → READ MORE
This tour offers a separate pick-up in Tulum but stops at Coba before going to Chichen Itza, so you arrive at Chichen Itza when it is very busy. While it is a cheaper tour, if Chichen Itza is your main priority (over Coba) then it may not be for you. → READ MORE
Group Tours from Tulum to Chichen Itza
Larger group tours are cheaper than smaller group or private tours, but they often take longer as a large part of the day involves picking up and dropping off people at their accommodation all around the Riviera Maya – often including Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Puerto Morelos and Tulum among others.
If you’re on a budget but don’t want the hassle of taking the bus this is probably the best option for you, although check how much the small group tours are to see if it is worth paying a little more for a smoother experience.
This tour includes a visit to Chichen Itza, Hubiku Cenote & Valladolid, and while it is a full-day tour (running at about 12 hours) it gets excellent reviews thanks to the informative guides and tasty buffet lunch which is included after the cenote visit. Some reviews mention that the pick up is done with smaller mini-buses which then join a larger tour bus to cut down on time, with central pick-up points in Tulum, Cancun, Puerto Morelos and Playa del Carmen. → BOOK NOW
Tulum to Chichen Itza by Car
Driving to Chichen Itza from Tulum takes about two hours, depending on traffic. Driving your own car gives you the freedom to choose your own itinerary, setting off at any time you like and stopping off wherever you want.
The Tulum to Chichen Itza drive is a fairly straightforward one, heading along the QROO 109, passing by Coba, Chemax and Valladolid before arriving at Chichen Itza. You will also pass by various cenotes so you can take your pick and stop off at any of those on the way back to Tulum.
Getting back to Tulum from Chichen Itza is easy going back along the route you followed in the morning, or you have the flexibility to stop off and explore more of the Yucatan Peninsula along the way.
Is it Safe to Drive from Tulum to Chichen Itza?
Hiring a car in Mexico is safe, but there have been numerous reports of tourists being pulled over by police and hassled into paying money. I haven’t hired a car in Tulum myself so I can’t share my personal experience but do look into it before you decide to go ahead.
Discover Car Hire offers price comparison of the car hire companies in Tulum so you can find the best deal for you. If you’re planning to drive to Chichen Itza it is probably best to pick up the car the day before so you can leave early in the morning. While you have the car you could consider driving to other places in the Yucatan Peninsula to explore more of the region, so consider keeping the car for a few days instead of just driving to Chichen Itza from Tulum.
CHECK PRICES FOR CAR HIRE
How to Get to Chichen Itza by Bus
The bus network around the Yucatan is really good, but the timings aren’t ideal for arriving early at Chichen Itza. The earliest bus I could find left Tulum after 9am and didn’t arrive until around noon, which is the busiest time at Chichen Itza.
Check the ADO bus website, as they have timetables available online, although it isn’t the easiest website to navigate. Better would be to pop to the bus station and enquire, as you can’t buy bus tickets online without a Mexican credit card, you will need to go to one of the ADO bus stations to buy your ticket anyway.
If the ADO website isn’t working (which happens frequently!) Busbud is a good alternative. Due to COVID travel restrictions, some services aren’t running or aren’t as frequent, so check timetables before you go.
Another (better) option would be to spend the night in Valladolid or Pisté before going to Chichen Itza the next day, so you could arrive at Chichen Itza first thing in the morning.
Pisté is the nearest small town to Chichen Itza, and has several accommodation options (such as the lovely Casa de las Lunas where I stayed) and plenty of restaurants for dinner. It is easy and cheap to get a taxi to take you the short distance to Chichen Itza in the morning.
Valladolid is a larger town and there are frequent bus services from Valladolid to Chichen Itza, included cheaper second-class Mayab buses that go to Chichen Itza from Valladolid, although they take longer as they stop along the way to pick people up. There are also collectivos (shared taxis) to Chichen Itza from Valladolid which set off as soon as the car or minibus is full.
When to go to Chichen Itza
Now we’ve covered how to get from Tulum to Chichen Itza, let’s look at the details of when to go and other tips to make the most of your Chichen Itza visit.
As Chichen Itza is such a popular attraction in Mexico, I highly recommend going there as early as you can, so you are waiting in the queue at 8am when the ticket booths open. It gets very crowded, so early birds can get photographs of the magnificent temples without other people in the shots.
Arriving early also means you beat the heat, as there is very little shade around the main pyramid in Chichen Itza. The souvenir sellers also arrive at 8am, so if you can get in early you can have some peace and quiet without being constantly hassled to buy something.
Alternatively, instead of the early morning, you may want to visit Chichen Itza in the afternoon, once all the tour groups leave around 3pm. However, Chichen Itza closes at 5pm so you may not have a chance to see everything before it closes.
On Sundays, Mexican nationals get free entry to Chichen Itza, so the site will be even busier than on other days of the week. Similarly, national holidays and peak times such as Christmas and Easter will be busier too, so try to plan your visit to avoid peak times, otherwise, you will have to battle through the crowds.
The most popular days of the year to visit Chichen Itza are during the spring and autumn equinox when thousands of people gather to see the snake slithering down the steps of El Castillo Pyramid. This would be an incredible sight to behold, but it is also incredibly busy.
Chichen Itza Opening Times
Normal opening hours of Chichen Itza is from Monday to Sunday, from 08:00 to 17:00.
The last entry is at 4 pm and the whole site closes at 5 pm. Don’t leave your visit till the last minute, as there is a lot to see!
Chichen Itza Entry Fee 2023
The entrance fee to Chichen Itza is more expensive than other Mayan ruins in Mexico, as you have to pay for two tickets. One is for the federal government agency that co-administers the sites (INAH) and the other is for the state agency (CULTUR) and they cost $85 pesos and $486 pesos respectively, so the total price for Chichen Itza tickets is $571 pesos per person in 2023 (about $30 USD).
When you arrive at the Chichen Itza ticket office, there are two separate windows next to each other, and you buy one ticket at each window. Keep both of your tickets as they will each be stamped on the way in.
Bring cash with you to buy your ticket as the card machine often doesn’t work. There is a cash machine at Chichen Itza, but I wouldn’t rely on it working! Also, the office won’t accept dollars, so make sure you have enough pesos with you to cover the entry fee, food and anything else you might need such as money to pay or tip a tour guide.
If you want to enter the archaeological site with video equipment other than a phone (that is a GoPro, video camera, selfie stick), you must pay an additional fee per device at the ticket sales office. I haven’t found anything official about the fee for that is, but I’ve found comments from other people that it is only a couple of dollars, (50 pesos) for a selfie stick. If you have a professional camera, video equipment or a tripod I expect it will be more than that. Drones are not allowed.
Discounted & Free Chichen Itza Admission
People over 60 years of age, retirees and pensioners, active teachers and students, and disabled people get free entry into Chichen Itza with valid identification.
Mexican nationals with official identification have a discounted price for the CULTUR state agency fee of $168.00 pesos plus the $85 pesos INAH fee, so $253 pesos in total. On Sundays, residents of Mexico get free tickets to Chichen Itza.
Discounts and free tickets only apply to the standard entrance and do not apply for the evening light shows or other special events.
Buying Skip the Line Chichen Itza Tickets in Advance
If you are visiting Chichen Itza with a tour, the tour company will arrange for you to buy tickets when you arrive at the site, or they will buy tickets for you and you pay your tour guide.
If you are visiting independently, it is possible to buy Chichen Itza tickets online in advance in the form of skip the line tickets, but reviews vary as to how useful they actually are. If you arrive early (close to opening time) there won’t be much of a queue anyway, but if you arrive mid-morning to lunchtime it is peak time so there may be a long queue in which case paying the extra fee to skip the line may be worth it.
These skip the line tickets are collected from a shop at the entrance to Chichen Itza, so you skip the queue to buy tickets. There may be another queue to actually enter the archaeological park, but that isn’t usually too long.
BUY CHICHEN ITZA TICKETS
Chichen Itza Light Show
On certain nights of the week (currently Tuesday to Sunday) you can buy an additional ticket to go back to Chichen Itza in the evening from 7pm for a night show, where lights are projected onto the El Castillo pyramid, accompanied by music and explanations in Spanish.
Also included is a 45-minute tour around the site (with a multi-lingual audio guide), followed by the light show. You can buy your tickets in advance online for the night show or buy them at Chichen Itza itself.
Chichen Itza light show tickets cost $630 pesos per person in 2022 but check the website for details of dates of available shows, seats and current pricing. I only found a website in Spanish, although you can use Google Translate to convert it to English.
What to See in Chichen Itza
The main ‘attraction’ at Chichen Itza is the spectacular Kukulkán or El Castillo Pyramid. If you arrive early, visit this first to get photographs while it’s still quiet. Then, take time to explore all of the other areas, including the ball court, El Caracol observatory, the Bonehouse, sacred cenote, and Temple of the Warriors.
What really makes Chichen Itza so special is the architectural design, and attention to detail. The design of the main pyramid, El Castillo, is so perfect that on the spring and autumn equinoxes, the sun casts a shadow on the pyramid in such a way that a snake appears to slither up or down the huge steps. The Mayans clearly knew a lot about astronomy and they planned every detail of Chichen Itza.
Beneath the pyramid, an underground cenote has recently been discovered, and hidden passageways remain unexplored. At its peak, Chichen Itza was home to an estimated 90,000 inhabitants, a thriving city that has only partially been excavated. Take time to appreciate all this, and you will realise why Chichen Itza earned its title as one of the seven new wonders of the world.
Chichen Itza FAQs
Can You Climb Chichen Itza Pyramid?
Unfortunately, no. Climbing Chichen Itza’s pyramid is forbidden, in part to protect the intricate carvings at the top, and in part for your safety, after a tourist died when they tripped and fell down the pyramid a few years ago.
Can You Swim in Chichen Itza Cenote?
The Sacred Cenote and other cenotes inside the complex are for viewing only, so no, you can’t swim in the Chichen Itza cenotes. They were used as a site for religious ceremonies and human sacrifices and are a murky green colour so not ideal for swimming anyway!
However, if you bring your swimsuit, you can visit other cenotes near Chichen Itza such as Ik Kil cenote.
What to Take to Chichen Itza
There isn’t much shade around the main temples in Chichen Itza, and the sun beats down mercilessly making it very hot indeed. Bring plenty of water with you, sunscreen, and a hat or umbrella to protect yourself from the sun. There is a shop at the entrance where you can buy drinks and snacks, but once you are inside there is nowhere to buy refreshments during your visit.
Be sure to wear comfortable shoes too as you’ll want to walk around and explore everywhere. If you decide not to take a Chichen Itza tour, a guidebook is useful to explain more about the ruins, there is very little signage to explain what is what.
Bring a swimsuit if you are planning to visit a cenote near Chichen Itza, even if you can’t swim in the cenotes in Chichen Itza itself.
Drones are not allowed at Chichen Itza so don’t bother bringing one.
Where to Stay at Chichen Itza
If you have time in your itinerary to spend a night or two close to Chichen Itza then you can arrive early to the archaeological site and can explore the ruins while it is relatively quiet. If you do decide to spend the night, here’s where to stay at Chichen Itza:
Chichen Itza Hotels
If you want to stay at Chichen Itza, there is the Mayaland Hotel onsite, which has a private entrance to Chichen Itza. Mayaland has some rooms with views of the Observatory inside Chichen Itza, and there is a shuttle to take you to the main entrance of Chichen Itza.
Other hotels in this area include Hacienda Chichen Resort and Yaxkin Spa and the cheaper Villas Arqueologicas Chichen Itza which both get decent reviews. While they are physically close to the ruins, you’ll have to walk or order a taxi from the hotel to take you the 3km or so to the main entrance of Chichen Itza.
Alternatively, staying in a hotel in Pisté gives you more choice of evening restaurants and activities, and maybe easier to find taxis or transport to Chichen Itza in the morning. I stayed at the lovely Casa de las Lunas which has bright, clean rooms and a swimming pool.
Nearby, CASA VICTORIA gets excellent reviews for its beautiful, clean rooms and friendly hosts.
Chichen Itza Hostels
There are no hostels actually at Chichen Itza but you can stay at Hostal y temazcal Guemez in the nearby town of Piste. There are plenty of hostels to choose from in the closest city Valladolid, like the fabulous Hostel Candelaria.
If you stay in Valladolid, you could arrange a tour from there or take a collectivo to Chichen Itza first thing in the morning. Buses from Valladolid to Chichen Itza won’t get you there for opening time so you could take the bus in the afternoon in preparation for the following day.
Apartments and Airbnbs at Chichen Itza
There are also some options for Airbnb near Chichen Itza, especially in the nearby towns of Pisté and Valladolid if you prefer to stay at an Airbnb.
I hope that’s covered everything you need to know about how to get from Tulum to Chichen Itza. You can also read my dedicated post with all of my tips about Chichen Itza, and comment below if you have any more questions!
Want More Mexico Travel Ideas for your Trip?
Check out these blog posts for your Mexico vacation inspiration, or click here to read all my Mexico blog posts.Like this post? Pin it to read later:
