Oct 14, 2024
Fantastic Day Out - We visited Chichén Itzá, Valladolid and a Cenote organised by Mexico Highlights. We were picked up at our hotel at 06:15am and headed on a long drive to Chichen Itza with our guides Julio and Alan. On the journey we were made to feel welcome and valued by both guides and were given some information and background on the sites we would be visiting.
We arrived to Chichen Itza for opening time meaning it wasn’t too busy, Julio accompanied us around the sites and provided some history and information as well as taking photos.
We made our way to Valladolid for a spot of lunch and then given some time to explore the centre of town, it was great to see a different part of Mexico. We had lunch within El Meson del Marques, it was a lovely setting with great food.
Finally we made our way to a small Cenote which was an amazing experience. We were accompanied with guide Alan who took plenty of pictures and gave us some of his own experiences of Cenotes. The water was nice and cool and the facilities were kept well and very clean.
We then made our way back to our hotel.
I feel we made a great decision to take a private tour as we could be flexible as well as enjoy the journey in a comfortable car with A/C.
Would highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Oct 12, 2024
Amazing cultural experience! - Review
Amazing private tour with Mexico Highlights. Great communication from the start. Our tour guide, Eduardo, arrived 15 minutes early to picked us up at a private residence. He was super professional, friendly, and very knowledgeable.
At the start of our drive, he gave us a run down of the activities awaiting for us. He stopped at clean facilities for us to use the restrooms. The stop had a convenience store, restaurant and coffee shop.
First tour stop, Chichen Itzá … absolutely impressive!!
Second stop, Valladolid, a beautiful picturesque town. Eduardo gave us a a tour around town and made us lunch reservations at Meson de Marquez. Per Eduardo’s recommendation, we tried a traditional dish, cochinita pibil (shredded pork) … delicious!
Third & last stopped, a swim at a Cenote. Perfect place to end the tour. Beautiful cave with bright blue waters. Gorgeous!
We highly recommend this Mexico Highlights.
Thank you Eduardo and Team!
Review provided by Viator
Oct 9, 2024
Book this! - Ulyses was an excellent guide! Very passionate about the rich history of the Mayan culture and people. My friend had visited before but mentioned she learned so much more during our tour with Ulyses. We were also able to experience a near private experience at a non-crowded cenote. Great driver, always felt taken care of and safe. Being able to skip the line and do chichen-itza early was worth it. Thank you Ulyses for an unforgettable day!
Review provided by Viator
Sep 30, 2024
Amazing experience just like previous reviewers described - Perfect day. We went on a Monday. Alan showed up on time and was a great host for the day that lasted 10 hours from Playa del Carmen round trip, with plenty of places along the way to use the bathroom. Then we met Joel at Chichen Itza who gave us the tour of the ruins and we learned so much! After the tour we went to Valladolid to walk through town and have lunch. We ate at Meson del Marques which was excellent and had great atmosphere. Then we went to the Cenote Xux Ha which was magical. It was very peaceful and refreshing. 10/10 experience.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sep 24, 2024
So glad I decided to go for a Private tour - avoid crowds, tour at our own pace, can add spots as wish at a reasonable $ - My friend and I booked a private tour with Mexico Highlights (Chichen Itza, Cenote Ik Kil, Valladolid, Ik Balam) and honestly, I am really happy that I decided to pay a little more for the private tour - it saved SO much of our time from the group pick up, and that extra time allowed us to go to more places in a day, and also avoid big crowds in the tourist spots to really enjoy the experiences fully. We arrived at Chichen Itza the time it opened at 8:30 am, and it was a great time to visit with way less people and heat. By the time we left at 10 ish am, we saw tons of big tour buses and crowds flooding in and was honestly very happy that we were leaving already.
Alan, our guide, was both our driver and guide who was super accommodating and flexible to meet our needs, bringing us to all the places we wanted to see in a day without rushing us. He gave us a lot of details about the history, the traditional practices of Mayan people, the stories behind the spots that make our tour experience a lot more informed. He also recommended us a local restaurant at Valladolid which was both a pretty place and served delicious food. Alan was also our photographer which was amazing.
For the part of Chichen Itza, Alan brought us to another local guide (Joel?) who is so knowledgeable about the history, walked through us information with graphics on an tablet and answered my many questions and filled my curiosity about this mystical wonder in the World. Throughout the tour we weren’t pressured to buy anything at high prices and was even assisted when we were buying from the local vendors at our own choice. I love to be able to give back to the local community.
They also allowed me to change to another Cenote and Ik Kil was really the highlight for me - such a fairytale Cenote I got to visit with little people for me to enjoy the peace there.
All in all, we were able to enjoy all the spots at the pace we wanted and at the overall price that was still reasonable. I highly recommend them for your visit in Cancun!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sep 18, 2024
Amazing experience!! - Edward "Lalo" was an amazing guide for our Chichen Itza tour. Lalo was extremely knowledgeable, kind, friendly and trustworthy. He shared so much history of the Mayan culture and Mexico. My family and I were very intrigued and he made our day trip memorable and fun! We had a fantastic experience with Lalo from Mexico Highlights. I definitely recommend Lalo and look forward to booking our next excursion with him.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sep 15, 2024
BEST DAY EVER!!! - INCREDIBLE! I’d been to Chichén Itzá once before without a guide long before I met my husband. He’s a bit of a nervous traveler so we booked Mexico Highlights for a private trip. I can’t believe I ever spent the money to do this before without them. JULIO was our driver & guide for the day. He is like an encyclopedia of knowledge about Chichén Itzá. The history lesson he gave us on the way there was so fun and engaging that it made a 2+ hour drive go by in a flash!
He came prepared with an iPad full of photos, diagrams, maps, etc. for us to look through and understand before we arrived. He fully explained in advance how the day would go and what our options were. His car was clean and nice and he’s a very safe driver. I get motion sickness easily and I’m very sensitive to other people’s driving. We both felt so safe and comfortable.
The Cenote on this trip is different than the one most tours bring you to and my God it is STUNNING. I know most reviews say this tour was the highlight of their trip, but it’s so true! We can’t stop talking about what an incredible day we had. You can tell Julio is genuinely passionate about what he does. He’s also a pretty damn good photographer and thinks about recording memories so you don’t have to.
You should bring pesos for the tolls, Chichén Itzá state tax (they cover the small actual ticket fee) & any souvenirs you might want inside Chichén Itzá. Some reviews complain about paying tolls, but I could tell this was a smaller company, which allowed them to be flexible and give us a tailored experience. So I really didn’t mind paying the tolls. They offer a completely private tour cheaper than anyone else we were able to find and it was all SO worth it.
If this tour is within your budget, it’s a no-brainer. We plan on booking Julio for years to come anytime we’re able to come back.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sep 15, 2024
INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE! - Julio was our guide and he was absolutely fantastic! He was very knowledgeable on all things Mayan and just México in general. We can’t say enough good things about our experience!! This tour is a must for anyone wanting to learn and explore while having excellent adventure. Can’t recommend enough!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sep 10, 2024
Must do excursion - Private tour guide Hiisa was THE best. Super knowledgeable and from the area!! The denote he took us to had a rope swing, so much fun. Took us to eat at the most amazing place. A 500 year old home converted into a restaurant. Highly recommended!
Review provided by Viator
Sep 6, 2024
Great full day tour! - Alan was a great tour guide, full of information on the history of all the places we visited. We learned a lot and enjoyed the day. It was an early start, but worth it to be some of the first people at Chichén Itzá. Beautiful and incredible historic site. The city stop and cenote were nice as well. A full day of adventure made much easier with a guide who knows the area/can drive you to all of the sites and back.
Review provided by Tripadvisor