Chichen Itza is one of the seven new wonders of the world. Over two million people visit this sight every year, but is Chichen Itza worth visiting?
Where is it located?
Chichen Itza is located in the Mexican State of Yucatan, near the city of Valladolid. Also from Merida, the biggest city in Yucatan, it is possible to easily reach.
Most people drive there by bus, which isn’t much. Also a lot of people drive there by car and even hitchhiking could be possible, but not recommended, when wanting to avoid a crowded sight.
How much does the entry cost?
Good to know, non locals are paying way more and this is the only price I am going to mention.
$613 MXN for the normal entry, that is a bit more than 32 Euros,
The thing is, you can’t get in with just paying the entry fee, you also need to pay General Admission is $708 MXN so a bit more than 37 Euros, almost 24 Euros it would be on a sunday.
Adding to this, many are booking a tour, to learn more about it, it is possible to listen a bit to other tours, but it is of course not the same. There you need to negotiate at the entrance, because they of course try to make as much money as possible.
What is good to know?
Chichen Itza opens at 8 am. Be there at this time or earlier if possible. The place was crowded from the beginning on! We got off the bus to walk the last distance, there was such a traffic jam and we were there only a few minutes after the opening.
It is also possible to book some early entry, which is combined in a tour, there is one starting in Cancun. With that it is possible to access the place earlier, I found only one Click here (I don’t get money for promotion, just want to help) but that is also again 60 Euros per person adding to the price.
You can tell, it is not going to be a cheap trip for Chichen Itza. That was by far the most expensive exploring done for us in Mexico!
When you have seen other places from the Mayans, Aztecs or similar ones, then it won’t be such a “wow” factor anymore, at least for us it was like that. If this will be your first and maybe only visit in your trip in the region, then sure, why not visit?
Also it is helpful being there early, due to the normally hot midday sun in Mexico. You will have shadow, but you won’t fully enjoy it, because the heat can be really rough.
Annoying, besides the tourists?
Besides the masses of tourists, which is expected by a world wonder, there are more things really annoying. Probably the worst of all were the people trying to sell you things. Same as mentioned in the articles about the pyramids in Egypt. People just want your money and are rough to you, when you don’t want to anymore. They use tricks for example having two things in the hand and showing you one more expensive one but telling the price from the cheap one, which would be a cheap price. Also they try to confuse you with Dollars and Pesos. Also it is in general better to pay in Pesos, because the exchange rate is usually bad.
You can’t really enjoy it fully, there is no quiet place over there. Also a lot of things are under construction, which is sad, but it is good that they are keeping it in a good condition of course.
What can you see over there?
You can see a big town of the old mayan civilization and see beautiful ancient architecture with beautiful patterns.
The most known one would be of course the Temple of Kukulcan. This is the one building, which you have in mind, when thinking of it. It looks like a big pyramid and is basically the picture of this place.
The Great Ball Court
The place where the famous ballgame was taking place, which is being found in most of the ancient towns.
The Temple of the Warriors
Which was built basically for the warriors of the Mayans and many more buildings in general, which are in the same style, they basically have similarities with each other!
Besides the buildings, you can also see some cenotes (basically sinkholes with water in some of them you can swim), there and in basically the whole state of Yucatan, for cenotes it is not necessary going to Chichen Itza.
Was it worth it?
When comparing the price with any other place similar to this one in Mexico, then it is not worth it! That is a fact, it is not more beautiful or impressive than others, but there is a big point, which explains everything. It is one of the new seven world wonders and that is probably the only reason why to spend so much money.
I expected to be disappointed, when going, but still I wanted to see for myself, if it is worth it, because it shouldn’t be a world wonder for no reason, sadly it is. There could have been many others, for example Tikal in Guatemala.
The government knows how big a thing is and that it doesn’t matter how much they ask for, the people will come in big masses. They are rising and the prices for the entry are rising and it is likely to rise even more in the future.
It is also expected that many people are there to rip you off and try to get the most out of you as a running atm, which destroys a lot of things, but that is normal for those kinds of things. I am going to visit all, to just see where it is good or not good when it comes to ripping people off. The Colosseum is when thinking about it not bad, when it comes to ripping people off, but it is also located in Italy, a country which is following
Summary
Chichen Itza is in my opinion a highly expensive sight of Mexico. What you are seeing on the internet is basically what you see in reality, just with more people. It is impressive, that for sure, but it is not more impressive than other important places of the Mayans.
It is one of the new seven wonders of the world but if it is really worth visiting that is up to you at the end!
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