Palenque is a small town situated in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. Visited for its UNESCO world heritage site, Zona Arqueologica ruins. Palenque was once a Maya city state in the 8th century. If visiting Palenque, expect a lot of greenery, trees and forests.
Things to know before going to Palenque
- Take a lot of mosquito repellent/deet spray
- It can get chilly in the evenings
- It’s common for the police to escort your bus whilst traveling through
- Police come onto the buses and check people’s passports
- The roads are windy for those of you that suffer from travel sickness, take tablets before getting on the bus
Where to stay in Palenque, Mexico
There are only a few options, in terms of hostels, to chose from while visiting Palenque, which keeps it simple. I’ll go through the choices and recommendations here.
Kin Balam Cabañas Palenque
Kin Balam Cabañas is one of the nicest hostels I’ve stayed in. It’s completely immersed in jungle with wooden bridges built over the natural river that flows through. It also boasts an outdoor swimming pool, hammocks, restaurant ,and has its own on site spa. If you plan on staying here, I highly recommend the restaurant that is opposite called El Panchan. They offer private rooms and dormitories, as well as a kitchen for guests to use.
Casa Janaab Palenque
Situated in the town of Palenque, Casa Janaab offer private room and dormitories. They have an outdoor area where you can relax and sunbathe, a pool table, and free wifi.
Top things to do in Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico
There are a couple of things to do whilst visiting Palenque, but i would still say 2 nights in Palenque is more than enough. You can either do all of the following yourself, and visit each place individually by taking a colectivo. Or you can book onto a tour and so it all on the same day. It depends on how you like to travel, your time frame, and budget.
Zona Arqueologica Ruins - Palenque
The main attraction in Palenque and not to be missed!
Entry: 110 MXN, 2 fees – one for tax and other other for actual entry to the site
You can catch a colectivo for around 20/30MXN pesos (depending on when you get on) that will take you up to the site. You will need to buy your ticket at the ticket office, and then drive up to the site, it is 2 seperate locations.
Misol-Ha
Misol – Ha, a beautiful waterfall that you can swim in and also walk underneath. If you walk to the end of the walkway that goes behind and underneath the waterfall there is a cave you can go into too.
Entrance fee: 30MXN Pesos
Aqua Azul
Aqua Azul is a layered blue waterfall with lots of shops and restaurants surrounding it. You can swim in the waterfall towards the bottom where there is less of a current and it’s safer.
Entrance fee: 30 MXN pesos
Palenque to San Cristobal tour
A lot of travelers are either going from Palenque to San Cristobal. Or from San Cristobal and coming to Palenque. There is around a 5 hour drive between the 2 locations. What a lot of tour companies offer is taking you from one place to the other, and stopping off at the key attractions along the way so you can do everything at once. This is brilliant if you want everything organised together. And saves you having to get to everything individually by yourself. You can book these tours directly with your hostel and it costs around 660MXN.
When we got off the ADO bus and arrived in Palenque, the taxi drivers all handed us leaflets with all the available tours, and they were the best price to we just booked with them.
Palenque to San Cristobal Tour:
We went with Transportadora Turistica Tulum, +52 916 120 1877
You can message them via wattsapp and book directly.
Price: 660 MXN per person, includes pick up from your hotel, entry to all 3 tourist attractions, and your transport to San Cristobal too. Doesn’t include any food or drinks so make sure you take your own or prepare
Pick up: Roughly 8am, arrive in San Cristobal roughly 9-10pm.
Stops:
Zona Arqueologica ruins
Misol- Ha
Aqua Azul
It’s a very long tour and i highly recommend not drinking alcohol the night before on the actual day. We learnt this the hard way ( check my youtube vlog for evidence haha!)
Don't miss!
Palenque is a small town situated in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. Visited for its UNESCO world heritage site, Zona Arqueologica ruins.
I’ve been so excited to write this one for you guys! And I know this is going to be controversial, but I
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