Wondering what the best day trips from Valladolid are?
Valladolid is the perfect base in central Yucatan to use for exploring more of this region. Over the recent Christmas holidays, I spent five days staying here and exploring the surrounding region.
Valladolid is more affordable to stay in than the larger city of Merida and is closer to big and small Mayan ruins and magical cenotes.
It has incredible food similar to what you will find at restaurants in Merida including rich and succulent cochinita pibil, sour sopa de lima, and crispy panuchos.
I have a full article about the best hotels, restaurants, bars, and things to do in Valladolid so that you can plan your adventures around the city. But in this article, we’ll focus on getting out and about to explore more of this region with Valladolid as your base.
Renting a Car for Day Trips from Valladolid
The best way to get around to all of these Valladolid day trips is to rent a car. If you can find a good deal from the airport in Cancun or Merida, then that is the most convenient way to get a rental car.
If you are visiting during peak periods like Christmas or Spring Break, then car rental prices around Cancun skyrocket. So instead of renting from the airport, take the ADO bus from Cancun Airport directly to Valladolid.
Once you are in Valladolid you can rent from a local place like Sisu or Vallarent.
1. Chichen Itza
One of the biggest day trips from Valladolid and indeed why most people use this Pueblo Magico as a base is because it is less than an hour from Chichen Itza.
There is a free road (as opposed to the toll road that you take from Cancun or Merida) that gets you from Valladolid to Chichen Itza in about 45 minutes. Along the way, you’ll pass a few small villages with restaurants and souvenir shops.
I highly recommend stopping at Kaua for lunch either before or after your time at Chichen Itza, depending on what time you plan to start. There are a ton of restaurants there making Poc Chuc, a local pork chop dish served with handmade tortillas and spicy salsa. La Tia de Kaua is the most famous.
If you don’t want to rent a car during your trip, you can take a group tour from Valladolid to Chichen Itza with a guide.
Coba is an enormous place to explore, so make sure you give yourself enough time and wear comfortable shoes.
2. Coba
Coba is a large Maya ruins site located about an hour from Valladolid. Whether you want to drive yourself to these ruins or take a tour, you’ll want to make sure you give yourself enough time to explore them thoroughly.
The ruins are so large that most people either rent a bike to explore them or pay for bike-taxis to take them to and from some of the main sites. If you enjoy walking, the paths are completely flat and you’ll definitely get your 10,000 steps in!
There aren’t a ton of options for tours from Valladolid to Coba, so driving is the best option from here. If you don’t want to drive, you can use Tulum as a base and then there are several tour options to Coba from there.
3. Ek Balam
Ek Balam is a short 35-minute drive from Valladolid and is one of my favorite day trips. When you turn off of the main road towards the ruins, there is a small hut where you need to stop in and register with the government. They are essentially just learning about where all of the travelers who are visiting are coming from.
If you are planning to visit a nearby cenote, you can also save a few dollars by purchasing entry tickets to the cenotes at this outpost rather than at the cenotes themselves. You do not purchase tickets for Ek Balam here.
Ek Balam is a popular tourist destination, although nowhere near as popular as Chichen Itza. It’s one of the few ruins in the area that you can still climb up (as of January 2025). It’s a steep, sweaty climb in the humidity of the Yucatan jungle, but the views from the top are spectacular. Wear sturdy shoes, wear a hat and sunscreen, and bring plenty of water.
Ek Balam is a magical place surrounded by jungle. Don’t forget your bug spray!
4. Temozon
Temozon is a good place to stop for lunch during your day trip to Ek Balam. Alternatively, you can simply head here for lunch from Valladolid since it’s only about 20 minutes away from the city center.
The town of Temozon is known for its smoked meats and pork sausage that is similar to Mexican chorizo.
The best restaurant in town to have this local specialty is Restaurant Temozon. The staff are friendly and they have a great on the platter of different meats which is more than enough for two people to share. The meat comes with salsas, handmade tortillas, and pickled onions.
The meat platter at Restaurant Temozon is absolutely delectable.
5. Yaxuna
For those who love getting off the beaten path, it doesn’t get much better than a day trip to Yaxuna (also sometimes spelled Yaxunah).
If you have the energy after a day trip to Chichen Itza, it’s only about 20 minutes further down the road to Yaxuna. Otherwise, you can head here on a separate day. It takes about and hour and 15 minutes to get here from Valladolid.
There are two things to do in the town of Yaxuna; visit the Mayan ruins here and swim in the cenote in the center of town.
Both of these activities will likely be done with few if any other people around. The ruins are incredibly well preserved, including a section of stone that still has nearly perfect carvings in it in the Puuc style. There are no plaques or information at the site. You can have a guide explore the site with you, but most of them only speak Spanish. We used this Mayan Ruins website to learn about the different structures as we walked around.
If you are planning to visit the cenote in town, use the bathrooms at the Mayan ruins to change into your bathing suit before you leave. The cenote is stunning with a ladder from the top down to the entrance of the water, but there are no bathrooms or other facilities around.
The ruins in Yaxuna are unlike any I have seen elsewhere in this region and hardly anyone comes here!
6. Rio Lagartos
Valladolid is a landlocked city, but you’re not too far from the coast. It takes just under an hour and a half to get from Valladolid to Rio Lagartos, but the drive is very simple. There is only one road that connects the two locations so you don’t have to worry too much about getting long.
Rio Lagartos is a stunning bioreserve where you can see flamingos, take a boat trip around a lagoon, and lather yourself up in healing clay.
If you have more time, the nearby town of San Felipe also has some beautiful views of the lagoon as it opens up into the Gulf of Mexico.
7. Cenotes to Explore Nearby
If you want to explore the many cenotes in this region of Mexico, there is no better place to base yourself than in Valladolid. Drive 15 minutes in almost any direction from the city and you’ll find yourself around several different spots. There’s even a cenote right in the middle of Valladolid!
These are great things to add to a day trip to any of the above places. After exploring Mayan Ruins, it feels so magical to cool off in one of these freshwater sinkholes and many of them are in caves or shielded from the sun, so they are very refreshing indeed.
I have a full article about the different cenotes in Yucatan if you are exploring more of the region. Otherwise, these are some of the best to add to your Valladolid itinerary.
Cenote Hibuku is close to Ek Balam and is one of the slightly more affordable options.