Site guide

Yucatán, Mexico

Chichén Itzá

The most famous Maya archaeological site in the world, building by building

KukulcánVenusTzompantliEagles & JaguarsBall gameWarriorsObservatorySacred cenote

Chichén Itzá is the most famous Maya archaeological site in the world — a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the 7 Wonders of the World. Sitting beside the village of Pisté, in the municipality of Tinum, about 180 km from Playa del Carmen, the city brings together several buildings linked by Maya roads, the sacbés.

✓ Visited in October 2022

✎ what we paid in October 2022 — prices have risen sharply since; the current figures are just below.

Entry ticket / adult571 MXN

Entry ticket / child 3-1285 MXN

Official guide (Spanish)900 MXN

Official guide (other language)1,200 MXN

Parking80 MXN

Video camera fee50 MXN

Highway 180 toll450 MXN

Total for a couple, in 20222,922 MXN

2026 entry / foreign adult≈ 697 MXN

2026 entry / child 3-12105 MXN

2026 parking≈ 120 MXN

✎ why two ticket windows at the entrance? The ticket combines two separate charges: one federal, paid to INAH, and one to the state of Yucatán through the Cultur agency. So you pay twice, at two different counters — bring cash for each.

✎ open 8am to 5pm. Arrive at opening: the crowds and the heat climb together, and by midday the site is baking with barely a scrap of shade.

✎ you can no longer climb the pyramids, and haven't been able to since 2006 — not El Castillo, not any of the others. It isn't an option, whatever photo you may have seen.

✎ the site has had its own station since our visit — the Tren Maya has served Chichén Itzá since February 2024, and the Gran Museo de Chichén Itzá has opened next to the site. You can now come by train from Cancún, Valladolid or Mérida without hiring a car.

01La Gran Plaza

The natural starting point of the visit — the city's main square, around which all the other buildings are arranged.

02The Kukulcán Pyramid

The building everyone knows, the most photographed spot of any Mexican trip. Also called El Castillo, this temple was dedicated to Kukulcán, the feathered serpent. It rises across 9 terraces, some 24 metres, with a further 6 metres for the temple crowning it — around thirty metres in all.

Its four staircases have 91 steps each. Added together that makes 364, plus the upper platform: 365 steps, one for each day of the year. Nothing here is left to chance; the whole structure was conceived as a calendar.

✎ the equinox phenomenon. Twice a year, at the spring and autumn equinoxes, the setting sun casts a run of shadow triangles down the northern staircase, tracing the undulating body of a serpent that reaches the carved stone head at the foot of the pyramid. It's the site's most famous spectacle — and by some distance its busiest day.

✎ clap your hands in front of the Kukulcán staircase. The echo returned by the steps produces a sharp, chirping sound that resembles the call of the quetzal, the sacred bird of the Maya. Whether the effect was intentional is unknown, but it's striking.

03The Platform of Venus

Designed as a public stage, dedicated to ceremonies, rituals, dances and important speeches.

04The Tzompantli

The "wall of skulls" — an altar where the Maya impaled the heads of enemy warriors as offerings to the gods. No human remains survive, but the many skulls carved in relief are still visible along the whole length of the platform.

05The Temple of the Eagles and Jaguars

A building named for its bas-reliefs depicting eagles and jaguars devouring human hearts.

06The Maya Ball Game

Pok Ta Pok in Maya — a ceremonial game in which players had to get a rubber ball weighing 2 to 3 kg, struck only with hips, elbows and knees, through a stone ring 30 cm across set 8 metres up.

The court at Chichén Itzá is the largest ball court in all of Mesoamerica: 168 metres long. Its reliefs show a decapitation scene, which has fed the idea that the game ended in human sacrifice — scholars still debate whether it was the winning captain or the loser who was put to death.

✎ the court's acoustics are astonishing: two people standing at either end, 168 metres apart, can speak quietly and hear each other perfectly. Ask your guide to let you try it.

07The Temple of the Warriors and the Thousand Columns

Human sacrifices took place at the heart of this building. The forest of carved columns surrounding it once supported a vast roof, long since gone.

08The Observatory (El Caracol)

Nicknamed "the snail" for the spiral staircase that climbs inside it, this astronomical observatory allowed the Maya to study the heavens. Its openings align with the extreme positions of Venus, whose cycle structured their calendar.

09Akab Dzib

"The house of the mysterious writing" in Maya — residence of Kokom Yahawal Cho'K'ak, administrator of Chichén Itzá.

10The Sacred Cenote

A site for ceremonies dedicated to Chaac, the rain god. Archaeological digs uncovered numerous offerings in gold, jade and copper, as well as human remains — some objects originating from as far away as Colombia, evidence of how far Maya trade networks reached.

✎ you can't swim in this one: it's an archaeological site. For a swim, the Yokdzonot or Ik Kil cenotes are a few minutes' drive away.

11The Ossuary (High Priest's Grave)

Connected to a natural cavity where bones, shell objects and carvings were found.

12La Casa del Venado

Literally the "House of the Deer" — a building unfortunately in an advanced state of deterioration.

13The Nunnery Quadrangle

With no religious function, this building is thought to have served as the residence of an important figure. Its name comes from the Spanish conquistadors, to whom its shape resembled a convent.

14Casa Colorada and Chichan Chob

The "Red House", named after traces of red paint found inside, and Chichan Chob — "small holes" in Maya, referring to the many slits in its upper section. One of the best-preserved buildings on the site.