Valladolid with kids (including Chichen Itza!)

 

I'll be honest - I only booked four nights in Valladolid for us because a) I didn't fancy the long day trip to Chichen Itza from the Yucatan coast and b) it looked like a way cheaper place to hang out for a few days after a week in Playa del Carmen.

Turned out to be a pretty good bit of travel planning! We LOVED Valladolid; after the tourist hectic-ness of Playa del Carmen it was a welcome change to be in a small, beautiful little Mexican town. And it's gorgeous! Brightly coloured buildings, a lovely little central square and cathedral, all very walkable - it was a fab stop for all of us.

We stayed in a little budget place called Hotel San Clemente, right on the corner of the town square. It was a beautiful, crumbly old building set around an inner courtyard with a pool. I'd read very mixed reviews online and was a bit wary of what the place might be like in real life but I was really pleasantly surprised. Yes, the rooms were dated and the bathroom definitely needed a lick of paint, but everything worked, the beds were comfy and the pool/courtyard area was a lovely little spot to hang out/swim/homeschool.

It was also, however, extremely loud, thanks to the fiestas in the square that were on every single night of our stay. In many ways this was great - we all enjoyed hanging out watching the bands and the parade, eating churros and marquesitas. 

It did also however mean that we had the world's loudest fireworks (and I mean literally, the loudest bangs I have ever heard in my life) going off for several hours every evening and church bells ringing from 7am. There was even a marathon on the Sunday of our stay that started at 5am (including the bands and the commentary on the loudspeakers). 

It was definitely atmospheric!

Chichen Itza

One the the genuine reasons we opted for Valladolid was it's proximity to Chichen Itza, which I had earmarked as a pretty awesome bit of home/world schooling for the boys. Chichen Itza is only about an hour from Valladolid so is an easy round trip in a day.

We opted to take a collectivo (shared minibus/taxi) and made sure we got to the departure spot for 7am when they started in the morning. All the top tips for Chichen Itza involve getting there before the midday tour buses and the heat of the midday sun, and this was definitely the case. When we arrived there were only really a few dozen people there and the stall vendors were still setting up for the day, so it was a great chance to take a few pics at El Castillo (the main pyramid in all the famous shots of Chichen Itza) before the tour buses unloaded.

We didn't pay for a guided tour but there are plenty of private guides outside the entrance you can opt for if you want to do this. Our budget didn't stretch to this so we just took our time exploring the site by ourselves. 

It is amazing in-person - the structures, the carvings, the way that astrology and maths is woven in to everything...and the tales of human sacrifices. This was the bit that the boys were most interested in, particularly the giant Pok-ta-Pok stadium, where the losers of the ancient ballgame would apparently be sacrificed to the gods at the end. According to one of the tour guides (who I definitely WASN'T listening in on!) the game and the stadium inspired JK Rowling's creation of Quidditch (though I'm pretty sure there's less of the human sacrifices bit in Harry Potter). 

We spent about 3hours at Chichen Itza in total, which, with two kids, was plenty of time. This included a good half hour or so sitting in the shade just chatting about Mayan history, reading the self-guide notes I'd downloaded and writing down facts for their fact files when we got home.

The sun was blazing down by the time we left around 11am and I don't think the kids (or us!) could have lasted much longer. 

In total, the entry to Chichen Itza came to £67 (MX$1,408) for the four of us (£29 each for adults and just the National Park entry fee of £4.25 for the boys), plus £15 (MX$320) for the return trip in a collectivo. Not bad for a day at one of the New Seven Wonders of the World!

Cenotes

The other brilliant thing about Valladolid is it's proximity to cenotes - including one right in the middle of town. Cenote Zaci is a part-closed cenote that you go through a bit of a cave to reach, and is a wonderful spot for a few hours respite from the heat. Again, the boys loved this - there were a couple of little ledges to jump in from (so that was Angus sorted for about three hours) and a mighty high jump from higher up in the cave (that Steve braved once; the boys wisely turned this one down).

You did have to wear lifejackets at this cenote, which we were a bit wary of at first but actually was great as it made it much easily to float around.

The entry fee for Cenote Zaci was £8.50 (MX$180) in total for the four of us (including lifejackets).

We also spent the day at Cenote Samaal, which is inside the Hacienda Selva Maya, about ten minutes taxi ride out of town. This one is a favourite spot for tour buses so it did get a bit busy at times, but then there was a glorious 30mins or so when we had the place entirely to ourselves which was absolute heaven (see pic here >> of me absolutely living it up on my own in the water!). 

Again, there were platforms that the boys could chuck themselves in to the water from (at a couple of different heights - I managed the high one once!). The water here wasn't quite as clear as at some of the other cenotes but you could still snorkel and see lots of fairly big catfish swimming around. It was also FULL of blue dragonflies, buzzing around everywhere. Plus the (man-made) waterfall bit was lovely to swim through too.

Angus on one of his many jumps!

The hacienda offers a pass that includes a buffet lunch and we went for that option so spent a bit more time hanging out here during the afternoon. The food was fab and there was loads of choice, so a great options if you've got the time to spare.

The entry fee was £65 (MX$1,360) in total for the four of us, which included lifejackets, lockers, entry to the cenote and the unlimited buffet lunch. The taxi came in at £5.66 (MX$120) each way.

All in all, Valladolid was a great stop for a few days - chilled, easy with the kids, loads of options for food and things to do (if a bit loud in the evenings when we were there!).