Yucatan Peninsula Travel Menu
Isla Blanca
Escape to Cancun's last coastal wilderness, the wetlands of
Laguna Chacmochuk on one side of the peninsula and the crystalline Caribbean
Sea on the other. I love it for the birdlife: occasional flamingoes
and roseate spoonbills, often vultures, eagles,
orioles, jays, herons, egrets, pelicans and magnificent frigates.
Chichen Itza
Visit one of the seven Modern Wonders of the World, one of the largest
and best-preserved archaeological sites in the world.
It's particularly noteworthy for being the point where there is a fusion of Mayan and Toltec civilisations architecture and construction techniques.
El Rey
These Mayan ruins in Cancun's hotel zone are among the
last constructed before the Spanish conquest. This was a fishing village and trading post where the vestiges of 47 buildings have been unearthed.
Ek Balam
This is one of our favourite three Mayan sites, particularly for the varied architectural elements of the excavated and reconstructed buildings, as well as several which are only partially uncovered from the jungle.
Valladolid
One of Mexico's 'pueblos magicos' (magic towns), the nearest colonial town to Cancun. In neighbouring Yucatan state it's a great place to try some of Mexico's finest foods and local artesanal crafts and clothing.
Izamal
Our favourite of Mexico's pueblos magicos, in Yucatan state. The whole town was painted a standard shade of yellow since a 1993 visit by Pope John Paul II. The town has several pyramids within it, and perhaps the largest courtyard in Catholicism outside Europe.