What You Must See In A Colonial Valladolid

Valladolid, a beautiful colonial town that will touch your heart not only with its atmosphere. Valladolid was built by Spanish settlers and its architecture is truly breathtaking. Just walk around the town and enjoy its beauty.

In the city, be sure to visit Parque Principal Franciso Cantón Rosado and the Calz de Los Frailes, where you’ll probably find the best coffee around. But you don’t have to come here just for the coffee, the street is really beautiful and at the end of it you can admire the historic Convento de San Bernardino de Siena.

Valladolid is also an easy and inexpensive way to reach Chichen Itza, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Find out how to get here and more about visiting this wonder of the world below.

HOW TO GET TO VALLADOLID

It’s very easy to get to Valladolid. You can get there from all the major cities in the Yucatán by bus, which runs several times a day. Before you travel, you can check their availability at www.ado.com.mx, where you can also buy tickets. If you go to Valladolid directly from Cancún, the journey will cost you 344 MXN and take approximately 2.5 hours.

ACCOMMODATION

There are plenty of hotels of different categories in the city centre. We chose accommodation 2 km from the centre, which was much cheaper than in the centre. The apartment was fully equipped with a kitchen and included bike rental, which was a big plus. The apartment is called Casa Lili and the price was 280 MXN per night for the whole apartment. The contact number is +529 851 116 606. There is also accommodation at www.booking.com. The Wi-Fi works pretty well here. The downside is the distance from town.

Another lovely accommodation that we can recommend is Hotel San Clemente. A double room per night is 584 MXN. The accommodation is centrally located just off the park and square. The square is a nice place to stop and relax for a while. Sit down and just enjoy the atmosphere. There are also various food stalls in the evening and it’s a very nice lively place.

FOOD

In the city, you can eat deliciously and cheaply at the food court right on the square. Put Bazar Municipal on your map. The food court is great in that you can find multiple cuisines. There is just something for everyone. The vegan restaurant Casa Maca is excellent, but a bit more expensive. Here you will pay about 130 MXN for a portion.

Breakfast

If you would like to have a great breakfast or just a coffee or a drink, we recommend the great Carolin Cacao Cafe Boutique. It is located a short walk from the Cenote Zací.

SWIMMING IN CENOTES

Cenotes are flooded caves where underground water collects. There are more than 6,000 of them in the Yucatán. You can visit many of them and also swim in them. 

Most of them are also quite expensive to enter. However, we have discovered a cheap one.

Right in town there is a very cheap and at the same time really beautiful cenote. This admirable cenote is called Cenote Zací and you can find it only a 5 minute by walk from the city centre. The entrance fee is only 60 MXN and it is definitely worth a visit. We were very surprised how beautiful the cenote is. You can spend one hour here, swimming and jumping off the rocks around the cenote’s perimeter. 

If you’re tempted by the more famous cenotes, there’s probably the most photographed cenote in the Yucatán a short distance away, which you may know from Instagram. The cenote is called Suytun and the entrance fee is 200 MXN.

LAS COLORADAS

From Valladolid you can also take a relatively cheap trip to the pink water lakes of Las Coloradas. Just take the ADO bus to Tizimín and from there continue with Noreste to the lakes. There is only one bus from Tizimín that leaves directly to the lakes at 10:30 in the morning. The bus will take you back at 15:00.

TIPS for visiting VALLADOLID

There are many beautiful cenotes and Mayan monuments around the city, you can find information about them on the internet for example by typing the phrase “Cenotes Valladolid”. You can reached some of them from the same point from which the Colectivo to Chichen Itzá departs. It’s definitely a cheaper option than taking a taxi everywhere. The big buses don’t usually go to these places and local transport is cheap and often an experience in itself.

WATCH OUT in VALLADOLID

During our stay in the city, we had a problem with withdrawing money from the ATM. The locals had the same problem. We don’t know if this was a normal situation or not, but we prefer to recommend having enough cash already when you arrive in town. In larger shops and restaurants you can normally pay by card though. Likewise, you can pay entrance fees in Chichen Itza by card. 

So how do you like Valladolid? What else would you recommend in the city if you have already been there?