Chichén Itzá, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, is estimated to have been built between 400 and 600 AD. It is the second most popular tourist destination in all of Mexico with over 2.6 million visitors per year! It’s not only an iconic destination for international travelers—domestic Mexican citizens make up the majority of its tourists.

So it’s no wonder Chichén Itzá can be a very challenging place to visit especially if you don’t love crowds or paying top dollar (like me!).

On my visit to meet up with Ellen and Tori in Playa Del Carmen, we decided that organizing a trip to Chichén Itzá ourselves was more our style. This option meant we experienced more freedom, less crowds, and more comfort overall. We ended up spending about the same amount as an organized tour—maybe even a little less!

In this post, I share the step-by-step planning and insider tips that went into visiting Chichén Itzá by our own design. I feel lucky and grateful that I had Ellen and Tori with whom to share the costs and this wonderful experience!

1. Conduct Your Cost-Benefit Analysis

Booked tours to Chichén Itzá will run you about $125 for all-inclusive, large group tours including food. To cut out the crowds, you’ll pay $250+ for private tours. Most of the cheaper options were advertised as such but don’t include hidden fees that put it over $100 anyway.

The problem with most major tours to Chichén Itzá that aren’t costly private ones is that you board a 60+ passenger the bus at the crack of dawn. Then, you end up sitting on the bus for hours as additional tourists are picked up from their accommodations all over the region. By the time you finally make your way to Chichén Itzá, it’s peak tourist hours there and the heat is also at its peak of the day.

We read so many poor reviews of the tour companies that take you there. We read reports of long bus rides with no a/c, long wait times, overcrowding, terrible food options, unnecessary stops at cenotes you can’t swim in, tour add-ons that try to strip every dollar out of you, and just a waste of money and time all around.

As a group of three, we decided our best option was to plan a road trip together to visit Chichén Itzá. We could fairly split the costs between us. Driving ourselves meant we were on our own timetable. Additionally, staying overnight near the site allowed us to visit Chichén Itzá at the optimal time.

Here are the costs of our trip:

$37.75 - The at the door fees to enter Chichén Itzá (Spring 2024)
$40 - Airbnb
$44 - 2-day Car Rental
$25 - Tolls, Parking, Gas
$15 - Meals/Food

The only part I paid for in full was my Chichén Itzá fees. The rest was split between Ellen, Tori, and I. For me, I paid about $100 total for the entire experience over 2 days. For $25 more, I also experienced 2 additional, awesome side activities (more on that below!).

2. Rent Your Own Ride

I booked our rental car using my Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal. I was the designated driver since it costs extra to add drivers. I was able to waive the insurance costs, too, since my credit card covers car rental insurance.

We shared the gas and toll expenses, so it was only about $70 total before splitting all the rental car costs between the three of us.

The drive to get to our accommodation from Playa Del Carmen was a little over 2 hours. We had the freedom to leave when we wanted to and visit any other sites we wanted to. This would never have been possible while stuck on a bus tour.

3. Spend The Night In Valladolid

We searched the area around Chichén Itzá for interesting and low cost places to stay. The city with the most options was Valladolid—just a 50-minute drive away from Chichén Itzá. This cut our morning commute down by over 2 hours.

Staying the night in Valladolid was the next best decision we made. This allowed us to explore this new city, and we didn’t have to get up earlier than necessary the next day to account for travel time to the Mayan Ruins.

The town of Valladolid is beautiful and very tourist friendly but not overrun with visitors. There’s great restaurants, shops, and urban parks to explore.

In the center of town, you’ll also find a really unique tour experience at the Casa de los Venados. This was a whole experience that we are so glad we stumbled upon.

Casa de los Venados is the private home of the Venators. John Venator is a retired executive from Chicago. He spent 35 years living there with his wife collecting amazing art from all across Mexico. Their over 3000 pieces make it the largest private collection of Mexican folk art. The mansion is packed with art and decorations. They give $5 tours every hour from morning through 4pm daily.

We got to walk with a small group through the various rooms, showcasing not just the art but the functional design of the place including its numerous bedrooms, bathrooms, an outdoor pool, dining area, kitchen, and more.

This was a surprise experience and so worth the detour the day before heading to Chichén Itzá.

After visiting this mansion, we were excited to check into our Airbnb stay. The stay seemed to also be mansion-like as week. We were staying in just one section of the home which included 2 bedrooms, a luxurious bath, a large open living space, and an outdoor pool.

I had to check out the pool before bed!

5. Park All The Way Forward

The next morning, we turned off of Route 180 (Carr. Costera del Golfo) about 15 minutes before the 8:00am opening time at Chichén Itzá.

We made the mistake of listening to the first person who directed us to park. We should have kept going down the road all the way to the main parking area. Since we were early enough, there was ample parking right near the main access point and where plenty of tour buses would be showing up later.

The price to park there is about $5 which is the same as what we paid in the first lot we came to. But then we had to walk in about 5 minutes. It was unnecessary to park that far out, so drive all the way in!

There wasn’t a line of cars yet, which also makes it well worth it to drive right in at that early hour. The line to park will be long if you get there later.

4. Get There Early

The absolute key to experiencing Chichén Itzá is being among the first to arrive before it opens. We arrived on a Tuesday. After parking, we got on a line among the first 20 people there.

As we waited, government tour guides approached us to offer tour guide packages. We declined all the offers. We wanted to explore independently and not pay the extra cost for a guide.

Instead, I found an online map with descriptions of each site. This gave me enough information to feel satisfied and happy with our decision to turn down a tour guide.

Our early arrive gave us full access to some of the most iconic photos in front of the ancient ruins with no tourists ruining the views!

Getting there early was also important for minimizing our time in the peak sunshine and heat of the day. It gets hot at Chichén Itzá. So make sure to stock up on water and maybe some light snacks before you go. Fruit is a great option for the extra hydration!

Walking around had little shade options. So sun protection was important, too. I was grateful to have sunglasses and a shirt to cover my shoulders. But eventually, I shed almost everything because I got so sweaty. My sunscreen was all I had to protect me.

6. Go To “El Castillo” Pyramid First

Once through the front gates, walk the main path until you can see the iconic El Castillo or “Temple of Kukulcán” pyramid ahead. It’s the most famous of all the structures. This is the one you want to prioritize for a photo before the crowds show up.

Set up your tripod and set your camera timer—it’s time to take your time at capturing the best photos of the day. You’ll only have to wait for a few people to move out of the way before taking your turn. But be polite and take your photos quickly.

More people will be arriving in a steady stream.

For comparison of crowds, here is a photo of El Castillo’s crowds just 30 minutes after opening:

7. Walk in a Clockwise Direction

When we finished taking all our photos at El Castillo, we could relax and take our time exploring the rest of this massive site.

The map of the site can be a little confusing. But I recommend heading northwest of El Castillo to Gran Juego de Pelota (the great ball court) as the first stop before following the map in a clockwise direction around to see everything thoroughly and efficiently. There are plenty of great guides online to follow and read about each specific site.

Below are some photo highlights in order of what I saw:

This Sacred Cenote is said to be the epicenter or source of the meteor the hit causing the dinosaurs extinction.

Temple of the Warrior + Temple of a Thousand Columns

8. Escape The Crowds

We were more than ready to leave after visiting every structure and cenote on the map! We were hot, thirsty, hungry, and quite tired from all the walking.

At the same time, we were so incredibly satisfied as we left. We took one look at the entry gate and, with wide eyes said, “Nope!” So glad we were not having to navigating inside through that mess!

As we exited, we noted all of the numerous buses parking in the lot, the chaotic process of tourists unloading and making their way to the line at the entrance, as well as the line of cars waiting to pull up as we walked to our car rental.

As we left, we felt very smug. Damn, we really had a great time and made all the right choices!

9. Don’t Miss The North Shore

Before leaving this part of the Yucatán, I highly recommend making a visit to the North Shore while visiting this part of the Yucatán. With a car rental, we had the freedom and time to make that visit the night before we checked into our Airbnb stay.

We went for a sunset tour to see the infamous flamingo population. The flamingos can be seen by boat tour from Rio Lagartos. We had just enough time to make the 1.5 hour drive to Rio Lagartos before sunset. Upon arrival into town, a man on a motortbike guided us to the docks.

There, we paid a sailor $20 each to board a small motor boat. The boat took us about 20 minutes out along a narrow channel to Las Coloradas Parque. Opposite this sand bar was a flock of bright pink flamingos.

Our guide took us over to Las Coloradas Parque so we could fully experience this unique stretch of land that separates the Gulf of Mexico from the Ria Lagartos lagoon. The sand here is known for its pink color in parts.

On the return trip back to the town, we caught more beautiful sunset views along the water.

We had a delicious, fish dinner to close out our day of driving and exploring new places before heading back to Vallalodid for the night.

This entire experience never would have been possible if we took a bus tour!

In Conclusion

Our self-guided road trip and overnight stay out to visit Chichén Itzá was the best part of my trip to Mexico back in April. I am so grateful that I had Ellen and Tori to experience it with and to share costs!

The whole experience would not have been possible had we decided to take a tour bus there. Instead, we had an independent adventure, saw amazing art work, stayed in a beautiful home, ate delicious food, and saw a north shore sunset and pink flamingos. We did all of that for about the same price as a bus tour and we still got to visit Chichén Itzá before the crowds and hottest part of the day arrived.

Win-win-win! Now that’s the best kind of deviation!

9 Steps for the Best Self-Guided Visit to Chichén Itzá