2 week itinerary
For context and me chatting away, check out Backpacking Mexico – Isla Holbox Day 1-4.!
Mexico is huge and I was somewhat limited on time so stuck to two weeks backpacking the Yucatan Peninsula. There are so many places you could visit outside of the Yucatan and this is by no means the only route you could take, it is however the route I did and loved!
Isla Holbox(4 days)
Stop 1 was a tiny island north of the peninsula. A lot of people typically chose between Isla Holbox and Isla Mujeres, I chose to go to Holbox as it it meant to be a bit more quiet due to Mujeres being closer to Cancun/Tulumn.
How to get there – I opted to get a shuttle direct from Cancun airport which was the more expensive option but a relatively quick (3 hours) and safe way. To do this trip cheaper, you can get an ADO bus from any of the main terminals to the ferry port but as I was getting to the airport late, I didn’t want to be travelling alone in the night to find the ADO. Once you get to the ferry port, either get a one way or return to ticket to Holbox. It’s a popular trip so you shouldn’t encounter many issues. Just ensure you’re buying your ticket from the main ticket office.
Things to do:
- Kayaking around the island – this is really fun and you can rent by the hour from many hostels on the island.
- Walk/cycle to the right side of the island where you can find the lagoon and flamingos! Please respect the flamingos and don’t get too close just for a perfect insta shot.
- Taste all the food! Are you in Mexico if you don’t eat endless amounts of tacos, guac and burritos?
- Get lost watching the beach sunsets
- Visit the beach bars
- Checkout the street art and popular ‘Holbox’ sign
Valladolid (2/3 days)
It took me forever to be able to pronounce the name of this place and I am still not convinced I was saying it correctly. If I am honest, I didn’t love Valladolid but I think it’s mainly because I was still on an emotional roller-coaster processing the fact I was actually solo travelling and we stayed in the worst hostel! They told me and a girl I travelled with that we had been upgraded to a double bed when really they meant moved in to a double bed dorm of about 26 really unsocial people. I’d only just met the girl… it’s funny to look back on but at the time we hated the place and cut our stay short to just two nights.
What to do:
- Find a better hostel than I did I think should be number 1 on the list.
- Get an early colectivo (cheap shared taxi/bus) from the main town to Chichen Itza for the day. It’s best to get there early and a colectivo is the cheapest mode of transport. Tours are optional and more expensive – I decided to do some research before and was a tour guide for the people I travelled with (met in Holbox) and just realed off a load of facts.
- Explore the cenotes! There are SO many cenotes (underground pools) along the coast of all different shapes and sizes. The best thing to do I google when you’re there or speak to locals for recommendations of less popular ones! Then you get them to yourself.
- Visit the food hall in the middle of town. It’s a little daunting with so many vendors fighting for your attention but they offer good quality and cheap food.
Tulum (4 days)
I decided to skip Cancun, you hear a lot of mixed reviews but it’s a very big tourist desitantion which means ramped up prices, westernised and lots of people selling tours on the street. It’s still go it’s positives but for my timescale, I just got the ADO bus down to Tulum.
The majority of hotels I booked were through hostelworld.com and I won’t do many recommendations of hostels through the series of blogs unless they made an impression. In Tulum we stayed at mayanmonkey.com. It was affordable, super clean, had a rooftop pool and bar, good Wi-Fi for people to work from and such comfy beds. I honestly couldn’t believe the quality for the price and although it’s not too central to town, you can cycle or share a cost of a taxi quite quickly.
Things to do in Tulum:
- Never stop visiting cenotes. Tulum has loads!
- Visit the Mayan Ruins and national park.
- Rent bikes and explore the town
- Enjoy the nightlife
- Try out the many street food vendors and restaurants
- Visit the beaches
Bacalar (1-2 days)
Bacalar is most commonly known for Lake Bacalar (Laguana de Bacalar) which is a long thin lake that has 7 tones of blue. It truly is a beautiful lake but if you’re wanting to explore, you do not need to spend a lot of time here. For those on a budget, the area tends to be more on the expensive side for accommodation and activites.
- Kayak on the lake
- Walk through the town square and try different lunch spots
- Chill on platoons looking across the lake
After this, I headed to a boarder town called Chetumal for one night ready to cross to Guatemala, you can also cross from here to Belize which one of the girls I travelled there with did. There really isn’t much to do in this town as people just use it as a stop over point if needed but Anna and I had a goodbye dinner (only people in the restaurant) and a few drinks before the early start and goodbye – even if it was only for two weeks.
And concludes my two weeks in Mexico! I met a good bunch of people that I travelled on and off with throughout Mexico as a lot of you are doing similar route. But as I have mentioned before, there is so much more to discover in Mexico and I will return one day to explore more!
Extra trip: try to learn at least basic Spanish before your trip! You can get by in Mexico without it on the Yucatan but once you’re in Central and south America – you’ll need it!
Lucy’s Travel Diary 