This is a complete itinerary for 2 weeks in Yucatan and Quintana Roo regions of Mexico.
I really enjoyed this trip between the beauty of the ocean, the warm soul of cities and the magic of the cenotes.
Must do, locations, hotels, restaurants, cenotes. Everything to enjoy a nice trip effortlessly in this guide!
All the pictures are mine and the hotel links I put are the ones I really enjoyed, so it's completely normal if there are cities without hotels since I will only recommend what I enjoyed!
If you have any questions, please let me know, I will be happy to help!
🇲🇽 15 days of Road trip in the Yucatan and Quintana Roo in January! (as a couple)
We started in Cancun then drived 1200 miles, doing a loop back to Cancun (direct flights to Europe)
‼️ Quick overview to important things to know:
- Language: Spanish but everyone speaks English
- Currency: Mexican Peso (MXN) but you can pay in $ easily
- Main airport in the region: Cancun international airport (CUN)
- Safety: This region is generally considered safe for tourists; You will have many check points on the road and policeman everywhere.
- LGBTQ+ index: 78/100
✅ To prepare before the trip :
- Rent a car (we used Hertz and it was fine). Just be ready to wait because car renting companies are not in the terminal, you have to take a bus and there are a lof of people.
- Book hotels
- Check the best time to go (we went in January)
The itinerary
- First night in Playa del Carmen, since our flight arrived late in the afternoon.
Breakfast at Capitan Sandwich for huge pancakes, avocado toast & juices!
The ruins are amazing 🤩
The beach is large, the sea crazy blue.
There are a lot of nice restaurants: expensive at the hotels by the beach but very beautiful at least to have a drink or restaurant in the city (cheap) very good also! We did both (as we always try to mix during our travels to not blow our budget)
You can park quite easily in the city, but not at the hotels by the beach.
My favorite stop during the trip!
It's so beautiful, so chill (way less tourist than Tulum)
The restaurants and bars by the lagoon are so so nice, go for the sunset, you won't regret it. 😍
Super hotel! Not in Bacalar but close by by car. It's peaceful, the room is big, with private hotel access to the lagoon.
The road is not a piece of cake but we did it with our small car, so no problem.
Super fun cenote, you have to pay the entrance and there could be a lot of people but it’s cool and if you swim to the other side there is small lagoon, beautiful!
Between Bacalar and Merida, stop at Noh Mozon cenote in the village of Pixya!
This cenote is just incredible, it's lost in the middle of nowhere.
From the first “tope” (speed bump), you have a good chance of coming across Ernesto and his bike!
He will ask you where you want to go (there are several cenotes in the area) and offer to follow him. It's quite practical because to access this cenote you have to cross a lot of "private" land and there are about 4 barriers to open and close! He will do it for you, with the so-called "propina" tip of your choice. Before arriving at the cenote, two men on hammocks see us pass and ask 30 pesos per person to access the site. It changes from the 180 pesos of the cenotes of Tulum!
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- Merida: 1 night (more than enough, maybe skip if you want to shorten your trip)
Merida is not the most beautiful city, if you want to go elsewhere go there, in my opinion little interest compared to:
Chichen Itza, one of the 7 seven wonders is between Bacalar and Merida. I recommend to go very early in the morning.
It's a nice city but if you run short time or you want to spent more days in an other city, go for it.
Although I really like it but just not as beautiful as the other cities of the trip.
On the way there we stopped at Chichen Itza (one of the 7 seven wonders). The ruins are exceptional. Go there very early in the morning! Around 10:30 a.m. the tourist buses arrive. Allow 2 hours to see everything, taking an approved guide is worth it to understand everything but long. Maybe take an audio guide or a travel book guides.
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- Valladolid: 2 nights
In Valladolid we stayed in a very nice hotel: Le Muuch
This town is just adorable, full of little cafes and shops, great restaurants.
Just walk by Calzada de los Frailes or Calle 41A , the street with these colorful houses and enjoy a coffee at Kuxta and buy something made in Mexico.
We also did the Suytun (very touristic, go early) and Maya cenotes.
Second favorite place of the trip. This city is wonderful, many colors, old houses, monuments.
Take a walk on the color street and have a coffee while shopping local 🤩
I loved this hotel, so many colors, places to relax, 2 pools, rooftop to have a drink. The room was nice!
In the city center!
Breakfast was really good too.
✈️ Next travels:
- Lapland DECEMBER 2024 ❄️
- Vienna and Prague DECEMBER- JANUARY 2025 🇦🇹
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📍Lausanne, Switzerland based travel addict & AvGeek! ✈️
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