Jungle temples and waterfalls

If you have time to combine the Palenque ruins tour with the highlands of the Chiapas region, you'll first head towards San Cristobal de las Casas before you begin this trip. Otherwise, you'll leave Campeche and head south through a number of coastal fishing villages before joining the 'quota' highway (approx US$3) for a 5-hour drive to Palenque village, 7km from Palenque ruins.

Palenque is in the heart of the steamy jungle where it's hot and sticky, which is why we've arranged accommodation for you outside the village in bungalows surrounded by tropical gardens and with a large pool. The ruins are 10 mins drive away.
 

Today you'll be visiting one the most awe-inspiring Mayan ruins on the continent so don't forget your camera, but also lots of water. It's usually very hot here so you'll be sweating buckets, though the spectacular views across the emerald jungle and the temples will soon make you forget the heat.

Palenque is one of the few Mayan cities where archaeologists were able to learn a lot about Mayan history thanks to well-preserved hieroglyphs that were found here. They tell stories of dynasties, conquests, wealth and destruction. Plan your Palenque tour early so you can explore the complex before the real heat arrives and then cool off in one of the nearby waterfalls. There are several hidden in jungle, but Agua Azul (blue water), an hour from the ruins are undoubtedly the most spectacular.
 

From the Palenque tour you can delve deeper into the junge, over land and water to the remote Mayan ruins Yaxchilan and Bonampak with our Mayan jungle exploration tour.
 

The road from Palenque to the Caribbean coast is dotted with Mayan ruins. From Palenque it's roughly a 5 hour drive along flat roads to your hotel. About 30 minutes from your final destination you'll pass the turn off to the Mayan city Calakmul, approx an hour's drive from the main road. Unlike many of the other major sites Calakmul draws relatively few visitors, mainly because it wasn't discovered until 1931 when most of the other Mayan ruins had already been made public to the outside world.

Still, covering 25km² Calakmul certainly competes with the Tikal and Palenque ruins in terms of size and boasts several high pyramids with dizzying steps, royal tombs with jade masks are rare vases. As there will be only a handful of visitors here, you'll notice the silence and serenity as you wander round the ruins.

 

Once you're templed-out, drive back to the main road for the last leg of your journey to your accommodation. For tonight we've booked a night in an eco-village close to the Mayan cities Chicanna and Xpujil. The two-storey wooden bungalows are built around a swimming pool in beautiful surroundings. The downstairs bungalow has a veranda with rocking chairs, on the first floor you'll find a large balcony. The rooms are spacious and have a modern bathroom.

The eco-village is largely environmentally suistainable; electricity is generated by solar energy and the restaurant uses mainly home-grown ingredients to produce some delicious meals. Treat yourself to a home-made fresh fruit juices, chill out by the pool and enjoy some hard-earned time out after a long day of driving and climbing Mayan ruins.

If your appetite for Mayan ruins still hasn't been satisfied with this Palenque tour then there plenty more close by, some of which were discovered as late as 2004. Kohunlich comes highly recommended by our temple-savvy local agents. Plan about an hour to visit the site. From your hotel it's a 6-hour drive to Tulum, 7 if you want to stop at Kohunlich and 8 if you also include lunch at a great little fish restaurant on Lake Bacalar.

If you want to travel on to Belize then you'll drive to Chetumal from Chicanna (2 hours from Chetumal, 3 hours incl. Kohunlich) where you can drop off your rental car and spend one night in a centrally located hotel with pool. If you picked up your car in Cancun or Playa del Carmen, you'll need to pay a US$160 drop-off fee.