| Animals | Scenery | Culture | Shopping | Food |
| * | * | **** | * | * |
| Highlights | |
| Chichén Itzá |
the most famous and best restored Mayan site containing the El Castillo, the observatory, the group of the Thousand Columns and a ball court. You can to go inside the pyramid El Castillo to discover yet another pyramid. |
| Uxmal |
the pyramid of the Magician has an unusual oval base and is very steep; you can just imagine the impression that a priest shouting from the temple above must have made on the common people below |
| Palenque | surrounded by jungle, this site contains the famous palace, the temple of inscription and other temples with nice tablet carvings; close by are the beautiful cascades Agua Azul |
| Calacmul |
a bit off the main path, near the Guatemala border lies this site in the middle of a nature reserve with probably the highest pyramid in Mexico; most of the temples here are not restored. |
| Restaurants / Hotels | |
| hotel Las Palapas, Playa del Carmen | quiet and peaceful hotel a bit outside but in walking distance of Playa del Carmen; the rooms lie in two storey palm thatch huts |
| hotel El Mesón del Marques, Valladolid | an old town house with two beautiful colonial yards that has been converted into the best hotel in town, the rooms give you the feeling that you are visiting a monastery, best local food that we had in Mexico (try the chicken cooked in a banana leaf) |
| hotel Hacienda Uxmal, Uxmal | this hacienda originally housed the archaeologists who explored and restored Uxmal, a tasteful place with colonial high rooms and a big swimming pool |
| hotel Ramada Chicanna Ecovillage Resort, Chicanna |
four star resort in the middle of nowhere; a good base for exploring Calacmul and the Rio Bec region. (Also a great place to arrive on the 31st of december at 9 in the evening when you have given up all hope to find a hotel this year.) |
| Tips | |
| hacienda | try to stay a night at a hacienda, for example in Uxmal or Chichén Itzá |
| transportation | most of the ruins lie far from the major cities, therefore we recommend renting a car |
| Cancun | you can have a great holiday in Yucatán without seeing more than the airport of Cancun |