Valladolid is a beautiful colonial city located in the heart of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula.
Even though Valladolid is only two hours away from both Cancún and Playa del Carmen – two hugely popular tourist destinations – the city remains relatively untouched by mass tourism. In fact, most travelers only visit Valladolid as part of an organized daytrip to Chichén Itzá, taking a quick look around its small colonial center before hopping back on a bus again.
They’re seriously missing out, though, because Valladolid has so much more to offer!
The city is on Mexico’s list of ‘Pueblos Magicos’ – towns and cities selected by the country’s Secretariat of Tourism for their natural beauty, cultural richness, and historical relevance. And let me tell you, Valladolid is home to all of those things, and more. It’s an incredibly charming city, full of beautiful Spanish colonial architecture, cobblestone streets lined with pastel-colored houses, and lively markets selling traditional Mayan handicrafts.
Oh, and don’t get me started on the food! One thing I love to do on my travels is try lots of local dishes, and believe me when I say: the food here is amazing. If you’re looking to sample some traditional Yucatecan cuisine, definitely head to Valladolid. You won’t regret it!
Valladolid also makes for a great base for exploring the interior of the Yucatán Peninsula. Because of its central location in the heart of the peninsula, the city is within an hour’s reach of several idyllic cenotes (swimming holes filled with freshwater), as well as ancient Mayan ruins such as Chichén Itzá and Ek Balam. You won’t even need to hire a car – most of the sites surrounding Valladolid are easily reached by bicycle or colectivo (shared taxi).
I spent more than a week in Valladolid while backpacking around Mexico and Central America, and wrote an extensive guide on things to do in and around the city. This guide also includes practical information about how to get there, where to stay and places to eat.
I hope this guide inspires you to add this charming historical city to your Mexican itinerary!
Things to do in Valladolid
Valladolid has a small colonial center that’s easily walkable, and you can see most of the highlights in less than a day.
That said, I recommend spending at least three days in Valladolid (if not more) to give yourself enough time to explore the city and its surroundings, and to sample some delicious regional cuisine. Valladolid is one of my favorite destinations on the Yucatán Peninsula – together with the island paradise of Isla Holbox – and I had a difficult time leaving even after a week!
Relax in Parque Francisco Canton Rosado
One of the most beautiful sites in Valladolid is the city’s main plaza, Parque Francisco Canton Rosado. It’s a charming park full of lush green trees, paved walkways, and wrought-iron benches perfect for people-watching or reading a book. Most days, you’ll also find lots of market stalls selling Mayan handicrafts and local delicacies in and around the park.
When you head to the center of the park, you’ll see an interesting monument: a fountain depicting a mestiza, a woman of both Mayan and Spanish descent. She’s wearing a traditional Mayan dress (which many local women still wear today!) while pouring water from a cask. The fountain is an important icon of the city, which is home to a unique blend of Spanish and Mayan culture.
If you have the time, I recommend visiting Parque Francisco Canton Rosado at least twice: once during the day, and again in the evening. While it’s a lovely place to go for an afternoon stroll, the park truly comes alive after dark, when the locals gather here to relax, have a chat, or enjoy some ice cream together.
You’ll also encounter less tourists in the evenings – most of them visit the park around midday, when their tour bus passes through the city and drops them off right here, in the center of the plaza. Needless to say, it’s best to avoid the park in the middle of the day if you’re not a fan of hordes of tourists.
Parque Francisco Canton Rosado is also the location of Valladolid’s most important colonial church, Catedral de San Gervasio. This gorgeous eighteenth-century building takes up most of the south side of the square. In the evenings, the church’s façade is beautifully lit, adding even more charm to the lively plaza.
Take a stroll down Valladolid’s most beautiful street
It wasn’t until my last day in the city that I finally decided to walk up and down Calzada de Los Frailes, which is known as Valladolid’s most beautiful street.
I can’t believe I almost missed out on this place!
Calzada de Los Frailes (‘Walkway of the Friars’) is a quiet colonial street lined with pretty pastel houses. Most of them are painted in colorful shades of pink, red, blue and yellow, and there’s even a house with a bright green color.
The street cuts diagonally through the traditional grid of the city, starting in central Valladolid and ending at the sixteenth-century convent of San Bernardino. Following Calzada de Los Frailes on my way to the convent was definitely a highlight of my stay in the city!
Calzada de Los Frailes is also home to lots of boutique shops selling high-end goods. Here you’ll find handwoven clothes and textiles, perfume, custom-made leather goods, jewelry, folk art, and even artisanal chocolate. If you’d like to shop for souvenirs in Valladolid, this is a great place to start!
Visit the charming convent of San Bernardino
At the end of Calzada de Los Frailes lies the charming little convent of San Bernardino. It’s an interesting historical site, a Franciscan building with rose-colored walls, sixteenth-century frescoes and a large wooden altarpiece.
The most fascinating thing about this convent, however, is the fact that it’s built directly above a large cenote. You can still see the stone waterwheel the monks used to extract water from the cenote for their kitchen. It’s located in the convent’s small, quiet garden.
Swim in cenote Zaci
Zaci is a small cenote located in the center of Valladolid. It’s a beautiful, open-air cave filled with clear blue water, and a good place to cool off after a couple of hours of exploring the colonial city. To be honest, I didn’t visit Zaci myself (even though I must’ve passed by it several times during my week in Valladolid) but other travelers told me it’s worth a visit.
Good to know: if you eat at the on-site restaurant first, you’ll get free admission to the cenote!
Things to do around Valladolid
Valladolid isn’t just a beautiful place to visit – the city also makes for a great base for exploring the Yucatán Peninsula! It’s surrounded by beautiful cenotes and impressive Mayan ruins, and they’re all very easy to get to by bicycle, colectivo or taxi.
Explore the ancient Mayan city of Chichén Itzá
In my opinion, a trip to the Yucatán Peninsula isn’t complete without a visit to Chichén Itzá. This ancient Mayan city and UNESCO World Heritage Site is one of the largest and most important archaeological sites in Mexico. It’s also extremely popular with tourists, but if you’re staying in Valladolid you’ll be able to arrive early, avoiding the worst of the crowds.
Chichén Itzá is by far one of the most impressive archaeological sites I’ve ever visited. It’s a huge complex consisting of several ancient structures, including temples in the form of pyramids, an astronomical observatory, and a large ball court used for playing sports.
Many of the structures are in excellent condition, either well-preserved or beautifully restored, and some of them are decorated with intricate stone carvings. It’s an incredibly fascinating place and definitely worth a visit – even if you’re not a history lover!
One of the highlights of Chichén Itzá is the Pyramid of Kukulkan, better known as ‘El Castillo’. This ancient temple was named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007. El Castillo is a great example of the Mayan’s fascination with astronomy. Each side of the pyramid consists of 91 stone steps, except the northern side which has 92. This adds up to 365, exactly the number of days in a year!
Another interesting structure is El Caracol, which was used as an astronomical observatory. The name El Caracol means “snail” and refers to the spiral staircase inside the structure’s round tower.
Other structures you can’t miss are the Great Ball Court, the Temple of the Warriors, and Las Monjas. And don’t forget to check out the Skull Platform, with its stone carvings depicting rows of skulls, symbolizing human sacrifice. You’ll find it near the Great Ball Court.
The best time to visit Chichén Itzá is very early in the morning, preferably when the site opens at 8 am. This way, you’ll avoid the worst of the crowds as well as the midday heat. Most of the tour groups from Cancún and Playa del Carmen won’t arrive until mid morning, which means you’ll have a couple of hours to explore the site before it becomes too crowded.
And believe me when I say: it will become too crowded.
Besides hordes of tourists, the site also attracts many local vendors who try to sell you souvenirs by aggressively shouting “One dollar, almost free!” all day. But if you manage to arrive early, you’ll find that many of them are still setting up their stalls, and won’t bother you as much.
There are several ways to get to Chichén Itzá, but the cheapest, most convenient way is by colectivo. If you’re staying in Valladolid, you’ll be able to catch a colectivo (a shared taxi) in the center of the city, which will take you to the site in about 45 minutes.
Colectivos travel back and forth between Valladolid and Chichén Itzá all day, but they don’t operate on a time schedule. They leave when they’re full, so you might have to wait a few minutes before you’re on your way. This usually doesn’t take longer than 15 minutes, though! To return to the city after your visit, just hop on one of the colectivos or buses going back to Valladolid.
Climb the jungle-fringed ruins of Ek Balam
Less than 30 minutes from Valladolid lies another Mayan archaeological site: Ek Balam. Even though Ek Balam isn’t nearly as famous or well-visited as Chichén Itzá, I can honestly say I had a lot more fun exploring these ruins. For one, I wasn’t surrounded by busloads of tourists and annoying vendors at Ek Balam, which meant my experience was much more quiet and relaxed!
What I also loved about Ek Balam is that the site is located in the middle of the dense jungle, giving it a wild feel – as if no one’s been here in hundreds of years. Parts of the site are still being excavated at this moment, and many of the ruins are covered in thick vegetation. In fact, some of them are now only visible as mounds of earth and rock, having been completely swallowed by the jungle after the city was abandoned by the Mayan population.
But you know what the best thing about Ek Balam is? You’re allowed to climb all of the ruins!
Unlike the ancient structures at Chichén Itzá, the ruins of Ek Balam aren’t fenced off to the public, and you can scramble over them as much as you like. If you’ve ever wanted to feel like Indiana Jones or Lara Croft, here’s your chance.
You’ll find several interesting structures at Ek Balam, but by far the most impressive is the Acropolis. This large, well-restored pyramid has a wide, stone staircase leading all the way to the top. If you’re brave enough to climb the steps – which are incredibly steep – you’ll be rewarded with spectacular views of Ek Balam and the surrounding jungle.
Can you believe this is less than 30 minutes from Valladolid? I felt like I was in the middle of absolute nowhere.
When you climb to the top of the Acropolis, you’ll notice thatched-roofed palapas on both sides of the staircase. They were placed there to protect original Mayan sculptures and carvings, including the tomb of King Ukit Kan Le’k Tok’, a former ruler of the city. The details on these sculptures are amazing, and well worth checking out on your way up!
Ek Balam isn’t as easily reached as Chichén Itzá, but you should be able to find a colectivo or taxi driver willing to take you there. I visited the site with four other backpackers I met at my hostel, and we shared a taxi together, which we found in the city center.
Getting back to Valladolid might prove a little more difficult, as you won’t find many taxi’s waiting at the site. To make sure you’ll be able to get back to the city, ask your taxi driver to wait for you until you’re done exploring the ruins or rent a car so you can drive to Ek Balam yourself.
Visit a beautiful cenote (or more than one!)
If you’re traveling to the Yucatán Peninsula, you can’t miss out on visiting a cenote. Cenotes are natural sinkholes filled with freshwater. Some of them are hidden inside dark caves, while others look like beautiful ponds surrounded by dense, green jungle. They’re magical places to visit, and I loved swimming in their pristine waters!
There are literally thousands of cenotes scattered across the Yucatán Peninsula, and many of them are open to the public, making it difficult to pick just one. My advice would be to choose at least two or three cenotes to visit, since they’re all so vastly different from each other. To help you make a decision, I’ll give you an overview of the cenotes I visited near Valladolid.
I ended up visiting four different cenotes in Yucatán. Three of them are located close to the city and within easy reach of each other (Oxman, Samula and Xkeken). The other one, Suytun, was situated about 7 km away. All of them can be easily reached by bicycle, which is the cheapest and most convenient way of getting there.
My absolute favorite cenote near Valladolid was San Lorenzo Oxman (or Oxman for short). This stunning, open-air cave is filled with deep blue water. Sunlight streams through the opening in the ceiling to reflect on the water’s surface, and tree roots and vines drop down from above. It truly feels like an otherworldly place.
I also loved how quiet Oxman was compared to the other cenotes I visited. When I arrived at the cenote – together with two guys from my hostel – we were the only people there except for two other visitors. And we weren’t even early; we went there in the afternoon!
By the way, if you’re feeling adventurous, there’s a rope swing you can use to launch yourself into the water. I personally didn’t try it (yes, I’m a wuss), but the guys from my hostel did, and it looked like a lot of fun!
Oxman lies very close to two other cenotes: Samula and Xkeken. You can easily visit all three cenotes in just one afternoon, which is exactly what I did!
Samula and Xkeken sit right next to each other, and you can buy a combo ticket for both cenotes. Unlike Oxman, which has an open ceiling, these cenotes are located inside deep, dark caves filled with stalactites and stalagmites. The difference between the two is that Samula is known for its bright blue water, whereas Xkeken has dark blue water and more stalactites.
In my opinion, both Samula and Xkeken are absolutely stunning and well worth a visit. Be warned, though: they can get vcrowded! If you prefer to have them to yourself, try to get there as early as possible, before the tour groups arrive.
Last but not least: Suytun!
Suytun is known as Mexico’s most “Instagram-worthy cenote” and it’s easy to see why: it’s a gorgeous cenote filled with incredibly blue water. It’s located inside an underground cave, but there’s a tiny hole in the ceiling, letting in a shaft of bright sunlight.
At some point, the Mexican government built a small platform directly beneath the hole in the ceiling, providing the perfect photo opportunity. You can now take a photo of yourself standing in the middle of the cave, surrounded by nothing but blue water and illuminated by sunlight streaming down from above.
Well… if you get there early, that is.
When I arrived at the cenote – sometime in the afternoon – there were at least two dozen tourists inside the cave, most of them wearing bright orange life vests. Many of them were hanging out on the platform or swimming in the water surrounding it.
There was no way I was going to get an Instagram-worthy shot of myself on that platform that day!
Practical information
How to get there
Valladolid is located about two hours from both Cancún and Playa del Carmen, and about two and a half hours from Mérida, the capital of Yucatán. For solo travelers, the ADO bus is the best way to travel between these destinations. If you’re traveling with a group, hiring a car might be more convenient.
Where to stay
Valladolid is home to one of my favorite hostels in the world: La Candelaria. It’s located in the center of Valladolid beside a quiet, leafy square. What I love about La Candelaria is that it’s a social hostel with a great atmosphere, but it’s still very quiet at night. Almost everyone goes to bed early (around 11 pm) so they can go out exploring in the morning.
La Candelaria also has a beautiful garden with an outdoor kitchen, several small tables and some hammocks to relax in. The free breakfast is amazing and the staff is really friendly and helpful!
Where to eat
If you’re looking to try some traditional Yucatecan dishes in Valladolid, Parque Francisco Canton Rosado is a great place to start. This is where you’ll find some of the best restaurants in the city, such as Hosteriá del Marqués, a charming Yucatecan restaurant located in the courtyard of a stunning colonial mansion.
Besides restaurants, the plaza is also home to a lively food court located in its northwest corner, with several stalls offering cheap (but delicious!) local food.
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