2018 Winter Yucatan Itinerary

We got back last week from our family trip to the Yucatan, this post is an overview of our itinerary with more specific posts to come. If you are interested in the whole breakdown of our budget 2018 New Years Mexico – Sheet1. It’s quite fascinating I think – keep in mind this was for 5 people and the house was at no cost because my aunt owns it.

Thursday

We had a 10:45 flight out of Miami and landed around noon. We had a now-funny snafu with our rental car. In short, we had a made a reservation with Hertz and when we arrived there was magically no cars available. Luckily my aba is well-connected and in 20 minutes we had a car from her friends ready for us at the airport. We drove about an hour to my aunts beach house and settled in.

Friday

We went to see our first Mayan temple complex at Uxmal. Walking up to the first pyramid was so impressive! We had a great time eavesdropping on tour guides, climbing to the top of terrifying staircases, and looking at the incredible decorative detail on the facade of the temples. After visiting the temples, we popped into the Chocolate Museum right across the way. It was a really well done museum and ecological park with yummy samples to boot!

Saturday

The weather was fabulous sunny and warm so we hung around the house reading in hammocks, walking along the beach, and taking dips in the pool and beach. The best surprise of all was coming upon a small fishing boat with a fresh catch. We bought 5 Yellow Tail for 100 pesos (equal to about $1 per fish!) and we had a delicious fish fry for lunch. In the evening we went pueblo-hopping and drove around the area for a few hours.

Read more: A Day at the Beach House

Sunday-New Year’s Eve

We had dinner plans with some of aba’s friends in Merida so we decided to make it a whole afternoon In Merida but boy was it hot and breezeless! We walked around the shade provided by the merchant stalls in the main plaza and I bought myself a lovely Mayan-style dress. Because it was Sunday the church was continuously packed for mass, we had the chance to walk in and sit down for a bit during the readings.

After exploring the main plaza, we walked over to Santa Lucia plaza for lunch and to visit the Fundación de Artistas, a restored 19th century mansion with exhibit space.in the evening we drove over to our friend’s place to welcome the New Year.

Read more: Favorite New Year’s Eve Memories

Monday

We had planned on sleeping in and relaxing at the beach on this day but the weather was awful, rainy, windy and cold. We spent most of the day inside reading, napping and playing games, not bad for a New Year’s Day. With no inclination to go out, we made do with the “leftovers” in the fridge and it was delicious.

Tuesday

We left the house today to go to Rio Lagartos to go out on a boat ride to Los Colorades and mudflats for a rural face mask. The ride was chilly because a cold front moved through but still sunny enough to make it a great day. After Rio Lagartos we went to Valladolid to spend the night to make our drive tomorrow to Chichen Itza easier. I actually really liked this little city and we had a great time walking around, eating street churros, and enjoying the night atmosphere.

Wednesday

We woke up and went straight to Chichen Itza, it was about a 45-minute ride but we hoped to beat the big tourist rush. Well we didn’t miss it but the entrance was way better than it was a few hours in to the day. Chichen Itza is one of the new Seven Wonders of the World but quite honestly I liked Uxmal much better probably because there were fewer people and I had some more quiet time looking at the ruins.

Thursday

After a leisurely morning and breakfast we went off to Merida to visit the Mayan Museum and the colonial history of Merida including Casa Montejo, the palace of the founder of Merida, Palace of the Governor, and some pretty churches. After dinner, we went to watch the Serenata at 9pm in Santa Lucia Park. Man that place was packed with people!

Read more: Travel Style: Yucatan, Mexico