A Budget Guide to Chichen Itza from Valladolid
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Chichen Itza is a collection of ancient Mayan ruins that are now considered one of the new 7 Wonders of the World. With the most recognised structure being the El Castillo or the Pyramid of Kukulkan there is plenty more to see over the 4 square miles of this ancient city.
As with much of the Mayan history, historical facts are disputed, but it’s commonly thought Chichen Itza is about 1500 years old.
A lot of backpackers hadn’t spoken that highly of visiting Chichen Itza, but we felt we couldn’t skip a wonder of the world. I am extremely glad we went, obviously, it’s a massive tourist attraction, not a hidden gem so expect plenty of other people. But there was so much more to the site than snapping a picture in front of El Castillo.
Tour companies charge an arm and a leg for a tour from Valladolid, not too sure why as it seemed so much cheaper if you were in Cancun. But as a backpacker I’m here to provide you with the cheapest possible way, our total cost to visit was just £30.44 per person.
So if you want to know how to explore Chichen Itza from Valladolid on a budget keep reading.
Did you know? The iconic Pyramid of Kukulkan has 91 steps on each side each representing a different season. And with 4 sides, meaning there are 365 steps, a step for each day of the year.
How to Get To Chichen Itza from Valladolid
As I mentioned before if you are willing to splash the cash and go all out there are plenty of tour companies willing to pick you up at your hotel/hostel and whisk you away for a full tour to Chichen Itza, some include other sites like cenotes and even lunch.
But this option wasn’t in our budget, instead, we opted to take a collective from Valladolid to Chichen Itza. It costs 80 pesos (£3.50ish) for a return ticket and the buses run from 7 am till about 5:30 pm, it takes around 45 minutes. The collectivo stop is located just down from the Ado bus station, find the exact location on Google Maps.
It’s worth noting this isn’t the most glamorous way to travel, the collectives our often overcrowded, stop a lot for drop-offs/pickups and also won’t have air-con. That being said our journeys were simple and I even lucked out and got the breezy front seat on the way back all to myself.
The collectivo’s run about every 20/30 minutes so once you're ready to leave Chichen Itza, head back outside to the front and close to where you were dropped off you will see a massive tree, that’s where you will find the collectivo stop. If you can’t find it one of the lovely tour guides outside will point it out to you or ask the driver before you get off.
Alternative options to get there on your own are a taxi (expect to pay 500-600 pesos each way), rent a car or take the Ado bus, but this doesn’t run very frequently.
Entrance Fees for Chichen Itza
The entrance ticket will cost you 571 pesos (£24ish) and you can pay this with cash or by card. The ticket office is open from 8 am until 4:30 pm. The fees can change regularly so for the most up-to-date information, check the official website. (Link here)
To Tour Guide or Not To Tour Guide?
This is the debate Josh and I had when deciding whether to visit Chichen Itza, like I mentioned earlier a lot of backpackers had said Chichen Itza wasn’t worth it. But most of those people had gone without any sort of guide, therefore they just walked around looking at all the ruins without much context.
This brings us to another dilemma we already mentioned all the arranged tours (including transportation etc) were way too much and also included things we didn’t need nor want. So after a lot of internet research, we found an audio tour guide for £5.88 for both of us, it worked off-line, so we just popped in our headphones and explored our way around Chichen Itza.
For us, this worked really well as we still got to learn about the history of the site and take it all in at our own pace.
However, there are plenty of tour guides just outside the entrance willing to show you the best-hidden secrets of Chichen Itza. 6 people on our collectivo actually grouped together to pay for a tour guide and it cost them all 200 pesos (£8.55) per person. I think getting a local tour guide would be much more informative and interactive not to mention better for the local people than the audio guide.
To conclude I believe having a tour guide/audio guide is much better than having no guide at all. It’s such a big site that you might accidentally skip over a section. And secondly, without the stories behind the structures, it would be a very crowded day out staring at crumbled buildings.
Must See Sights of Chichen Itza
Pyramid of Kukulkan/El Castillo
This is easily the most recognised structure within Chichen Itza, the name El Castillo came from Spanish conquistadors. And it was also discovered that the Mayans dedicated this structure to their serpent-deity Kukulkan.
The Great Ball Court
This is the largest and most well-preserved ball court in all of Mesoamerica, the Mayans used this court for their symbolic game known as Pok-a-Tok. The object of that game was to get a rubber ball through a hoop without the use of hands. Be sure to check out the carvings on the walls of the Great Ball Court that depict the game.
Temple of the Warriors
As one of the largest structures in Chichen Itza, you for sure won’t miss this. The large stepped pyramid was named after the nearby carved columns showing warriors.
Cenote Sagrado
The Mayans believed that this sacred cenote was home to their rain god named Chaac and it’s believed to have been a point of pilgrimage for the Mayans. Gold, silver, jade, shell, wood, obsidian and also signs of human sacrificial remains have all been found within this cenote.
Tzompantli
As one of the more gruesome structures in Chichen Itza, it’s thought to have been a sacrificial platform where the skulls of the decapitated were displayed and carved into the walls.
Caracol
This was one of my favourite structures in Chichen Itza, at the top of the temple you will see a slightly crumbled circular building that was believed to be an Observatory. The Mayans succeeded in calculating solar and lunar eclipses, the rising and setting of Venus and the movements of stars and planets, as well as the solar year, with great accuracy.
Did you know? Mayans were so advanced in their findings in terms of astrology that some people believed they were visited by aliens.
The Ossuary
This structure is very similar to the Pyramid of Kukulkan, with 4 staircases and an upper temple. It was built above a cavern where all sorts of offerings were discovered. This is also known as the High Priest Tomb but from my understanding, there were never any tombs discovered within this structure.
Top Tips for Visiting Chichen Itza
Get there early. This is the advantage of visiting Chichen from Valladolid, you can beat all the tourist buses from Cancun. We got on the collectivo at 7 and arrived at about 7:40. There were still many people around but it was much quieter and easier to see everything than when we left around 10:30.
Another reason to go early is the heat, you do not want to be there through the heat of the midday sun. So if you’re not an early riser you could go for about 3 pm, leaving you 2 hours to explore.
No food or hot drinks are allowed in Chichen Itza, so leave the snacks at home. They do have food stalls within the site in case you get peckish. You are allowed to take in water/fizzy drinks.
When buying your entrance tickets it’s important to note that you need to buy two types of entrance tickets. One is a local and one is governmental, it’s a common mistake, but try to avoid it as you don’t want to queue twice.
Drones and tripods are banned at Chichen Itza, I also heard about someone being made to pay to take a GoPro in.
There are so many market stalls selling souvenirs throughout Chichen Itza. If you want to purchase something you’ll need to use your best bartering skills.
Don’t forget sunscreen and mosquito repellant, you’re in the jungle after all.
There is good reason this was chosen as a wonder of the world, the stunning architecture, fascinating history and beautiful atmosphere. It’s most definitely worth a visit when you're in Valladolid, especially now you know how to see it for less than £31 per person!
