Tulum is on the Yucatan Peninsula, in Mexico. The tropical beach backdrop is the main attraction of this picturesque, much-visited small ruin on the shore of the Caribbean Sea.

Be prepared for LOTS of people and tour groups at the archaeological site. To avoid the crowds, it is best to stay overnight and visit the ruins early in the morning before the buses arrive, or later in the afternoon. Morning is recommended as you can catch spectacular vistas as the sun is rising over the Carribean.

Get in

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By bus
Buses from Cancun run quite regularly.

Buses from Playa Del Carmen run hourly or so. Bus station is at southern end of Fifth Avenue near Playacar. ADO Bus stops at Xcaret and Xel-ha enroute to Tulum. Mayab bus stops more frequently enroute to Tulum from Playa Del Carmen.

To visit the ruins, get off the bus at the first Tulum stop at the intersection with the access road to the ruins. It's an easy one mile or so flat walk to the ruins from the intersection.

An alternative to the buses is to catch a "collectivo" van. In Playa Del Carmen you can find these on Calle 2 towards Avenida 20.

By car
If you drive yourself to the ruins before opening time, it may be a bit confusing as to where to go and what to do. As soon as you park, a man on a bicycle should find you and charge you for parking (30 pesos). You must go through a sort of half open-air mall (which is empty before 8am). From there you can either sign up with a tour guide (US$20 per person?), pay for a shuttle ride to the ruins (20 pesos), or walk a mile along a road to the ruins. The guides are reported to be better story tellers than actual experts on Mayan culture. The walk is on level ground and passes quickly as you admire the jungle and abandoned shops along the way. If you can walk it, do it and save a few bucks! As you approach a stone wall, to the left will be a brown wooden building where you can purchase your ticket into the ruins (45 pesos, an additional 35 pesos if they see that you have a video camera). From there, head along a stone path through the jungle and into the ruins...

Three Tulums

What most folks really need to know, and only manage to figure out once there, is the fact that there are really THREE different areas all refered to as TULUM only minutes away from eachother, not close enough though to walk to and from.

Tulum Pueblo sits split by highway 307 running South-North. "El Pueblo", as referred to by locals, is home to most workers of the tourist industry and where many of the stores, supermarkets, two bus stations, inns, hostels and small hotels are found. This section of town has a definite feel of existing mostly to cater to the Tulum ruins. Tulum peublo is indeed a destinatin for shopping,...