The Best Mayan Sites to Visit Near Mérida, Mexico

An hour and half from Mérida, the mighty pyramid-shaped Temple of Kukulcán, also known as El Castillo, at Chichén Itzá is the most recognizable of all Mayan structures, thanks to its impressive size, extraordinary details and painstaking restoration. This sophisticated spiritual and urban center also boasts a particularly fine Mayan ball court, as well as a series of plazas and an observatory. During spring and fall equinoxes, the northwest corner of El Castillo casts a shadow that mimics a snake slithering down the pyramid. Nightly light and sound shows also tell the story of the ancient Maya.

There’s little doubt that the star of the show at this site is the Temple of the Magician, a relatively smooth and unnervingly steep pyramid that soars to 115ft (35m). The complex also stands out for some of the finest architectural carvings ever uncovered in the Maya world, best displayed in the strikingly detailed Palace of the Governor. It takes little over an hour to get here from Mérida and doesn’t suffer from the same crowds as Chichén Itzá.

Deep in the Mayan jungle, Cobá is the best Mayan destination for travelers looking to feel like Indiana Jones for the day. Once a thriving Mayan metropolis, Cobá was a rival to Chichén Itzá, around 130mi (215km) to the east. Surrounding two lagoons, Cobá is famed for its network of elevated paved roads, or sacbeob, that connect the main temple to its smaller sites. Some tours of Cobá include a visit to a contemporary Mayan village, where you can support the local community by purchasing food or handicrafts.

Once the seat of the Mayan kingdom, today Ek Balam is one of the least visited sites – all the more reason to go. Only the center of this previously extensive Maya metropolis has been excavated, revealing some real archeological gems. Climb the main Acropolis Temple and you’ll be treated to wonderfully elaborate restored stone carvings, not to mention fabulous views across the jungle surroundings. It’s a couple hours’ drive from Mérida, but in off season there’s a chance you’ll get the place practically to yourself.

The once-ceremonial center of Labna can be found in the Puuc Hills and is one of several smaller sites you can fit into a day-trip dubbed the Puuc Route. It’s still certainly worth a visit on its own merits, however, with its intimate and uncrowded (sometimes empty) setting that really helps you to step back in time. The site is best known for the Labna Arch, a handsomely symmetrical structure with an ornately carved frieze. The El Mirador pyramid, topped with a precarious-looking temple structure, has also miraculously defied the passing centuries.

Close to Labna and another stop on the Puuc Route, Xlapak is a modest-sized archeological site set among a pretty sylvan setting. Meaning “old walls”, the complex features wonderful examples of carved stone facades and stacked representations of Chaac, the Mayan god of rain. It’s more a lovely walk dotted with impressive, though low-key, Mayan ruins, so most won’t do the four-hour round trip for this site alone. Better to tag it on to a visit to Uxmal or Labna – both a 40-minute hop from here.

The second-largest site in the Puuc region after Uxmal, Kabah is most remarkable for its 11mi (18km) ceremonial causeway with stone arches at either end. Also mightily impressive is the Palace of the Masks, with a long lengthy façade decorated with hundreds of ornate stone masks referencing rain god, Chaac. Incense has even been discovered in some of the long stone noses of the rain god’s masks.

To complete the Puuc Route, a trip to the ruins of Sayil is a must. This Classic Maya site peaked in the 10th century, and left behind up to 10,000 structures over several square miles. The Great Palace is its most complete and impressive, stretching almost 300ft (85m) across three levels. Jungle trails connect the various areas, and an absence of crowds means you can really lose yourself in it all.