Palenque

Palenque tickets and tours: which one to book

Palenque is straightforward to visit on your own. The ruins lie inside a national park about 8 km from the modern town of Palenque, and colectivo minibuses run along the road all day. At the entrance you pay two separate fees, one for the national park and one for the archaeological zone itself, in pesos, so carry cash. Licensed guides wait at the entrance and can be hired on the spot; they are worth it if you want the history behind the carvings, and some lead short walks into the surrounding rainforest to see unexcavated buildings. Most organised tours combine the ruins with the waterfalls of the region.

The classic day trip from Palenque town, or from San Cristobal de las Casas on a very long day, adds the turquoise cascades of Agua Azul and the tall single fall of Misol-Ha. One- and two-day trips go deep into the Lacandon forest to the Maya sites of Yaxchilan, reached by boat on the Usumacinta River, and Bonampak with its painted murals. Other options include jungle walks, horseback rides, cacao ceremonies, the Roberto Barrios falls and shuttles across the border to Flores and Tikal in Guatemala. For the ruins alone, go independently and hire a guide at the gate. If you want to see the waterfalls too, a shared tour is the easiest way, but check how long it spends at the site: two hours is too little.

Visiting Palenque: what to see and how to behave

Palenque was a Maya city-state that flourished in the Classic period and was abandoned in the ninth century, after which the forest swallowed it. It is smaller than Tikal or Chichen Itza, but its architecture, stucco reliefs and hieroglyphic inscriptions are among the finest the Maya produced, and only a small fraction of the city has been uncovered. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The great builder was K'inich Janaab' Pakal, known as Pakal the Great, who ruled for almost 70 years in the seventh century. His funerary pyramid, the Temple of the Inscriptions, is the first thing you see on the right as you enter. In 1952 the archaeologist Alberto Ruz found a hidden stairway inside leading down to the king's tomb, with a carved sarcophagus lid and a jade mask.

The tomb is closed to visitors, but a full-size replica of the burial chamber and its carved lid can be seen in the site museum, and climbing the pyramid is no longer allowed. Opposite stands the Palace, a maze of courtyards, galleries and stucco portraits, crowned by an unusual four-storey tower thought to have served as an observatory. Beyond a stream channelled through a stone aqueduct, the Group of the Cross holds three temples raised by Pakal's son Kan Bahlam, with tall roof combs and carved panels inside. Paths lead down past small waterfalls and pools to the museum. Stay on the marked trails, do not touch the stucco, and expect howler monkeys and heavy humidity.

Palenque: opening hours, ceremonies and the best time to go

The archaeological zone opens at 8 am and closes in the late afternoon; the site museum keeps shorter hours and may close one day a week, so check before you go. Be at the gate at opening time. The mist often lingers over the temples in the first hour, the howler monkeys are still calling, and the coach groups from San Cristobal and the waterfall tours do not arrive until late morning.

The heat and humidity build quickly, and afternoon showers are common. Palenque has a wet tropical climate, with the heaviest rain from about June to October. The drier months from December to April are the easiest, though March and April are hot. Mexican holidays, especially Easter week, bring large crowds. Allow three to four hours for the main groups and the museum, more if you take a guided walk into the forest. Combine the ruins with Misol-Ha and Agua Azul, or spend an extra day for Yaxchilan and Bonampak.