Things to do around Chichén Itzá and Valladolid: 11 ideas

2 hours, ending after darkFree

A colonial street leads to Valladolid's Franciscan convent, whose façade becomes a screen for the town's history at night.

About 1.5 hoursNo booking needed

A restored colonial house a few steps from the main square, filled with more than 3,000 pieces of Mexican folk art.

A breakfast and an eveningFree

Valladolid gave its name to a smoked sausage and a pork dish served all over Yucatán, and here they are breakfast.

Half a day with the cenoteGo alone or with a tour

A walled Maya city north of Valladolid, where a king's tomb hides behind a stucco doorway shaped like a monster's mouth.

Half a day by bicycleNo booking needed

Two cave cenotes under one ticket, a flat bicycle ride from Valladolid, each lit by a hole in its rocky roof.

A full day from ValladolidGo alone or with a tour

On Yucatán's north coast a long lagoon of mangroves and salt flats feeds American flamingos, seen from small local boats.

1 to 2 hours, with Río LagartosNo booking needed

Working salt pans on the Gulf coast, tinted pink by microorganisms, that became famous through phone photos.

1 to 1.5 hours inside the siteNo booking needed

Past the Osario, the older southern half of Chichén Itzá holds a round tower the Maya used to watch the sky.

2.5 to 3 hoursGo alone or with a tour

Walk in at 8:00 and have El Castillo, the Sacred Cenote and the Great Ball Court before the day-trip coaches arrive.

An afternoon on the equinox daysNo booking needed

Around the equinoxes, the late sun throws seven triangles of light down El Castillo's north stairway, joining the carved serpent head at its foot.

1 to 2 hours per cenoteGo alone or with a tour

Swim inside the Yucatán limestone, in sinkholes like Suytun, where a shaft of light falls on a stone platform.