Palenque is in Chiapas, Mexico famous for the ruins of a Mayan city dating from about 600 AD to 800 AD. Set amidst thick trees, Palenque still evokes some of the wonder that the early Spanish visitors must have felt when they first came across the ruins.

Culture and History

Travel to Palenque - Visa Requirements

By air

The closest airport is Villahermosa, about two hours away by road. Tuxtla Gutierrez, the airport for San Cristobal de las Casas is five to six hours away by bus. Both airports are well serviced with flights from Mexico City and other points in Mexico.

By road

The easiest way to get to Palenque is by bus. There are many buses daily from San Cristobal de las Casas (five hours), Tuxtla Gutierrez (six hours), Villahermosa (2.5 hours), Merida (10 hours), Campeche (5 hours), Cancun (13 hours). Daily (one or two buses) also ply from Mexico City (16 hours), Oaxaca (15 hours), Playa del Carmen (12 hours), and Tulum (12 hours).

It is also possible to get to Palenque from Flores in Guatemala by bus (6h, leaving Flores daily at 5am, USD 35.00).

Tours and Getting around Palenque

The ruins are about 6 km from the town of Palenque and minibuses run between the town and ruins every 10 to 15 minutes during the day. Combis - shared taxis - are also available. Just wait at the park gate at El Panchan. A colectivo will pick you up.

Palenque tourist attractions and sightseeing

  • Archeological ruins
  • Falls

Palenque city tours

Palenque souvenirs and shopping

You can get some Maya-style artwork from outdoor vendors who set up unobtrusively at the ruins.

Palenque cheap and luxurious hotels, youth hostels and lodging

El Panchan, [1]. It is relatively near the ruins and has cabanas and small cabins and common sleeping areas with hammocks. A cabana with access to a common showers and bathrooms facility is 80 pesos, approximately 8 USD. The little Otulum river runs through the location.

  • Margarita and Ed Cabañas In El Panchan. Very friendly, clean, but not super cheap. They have icey cold airconditioned rooms, a bare necessity after hiking through the ruins at Palenque during rainy (and pretty much all other) season(s). Pink theme A/C room was US$30,- per night, but they have quite a few options, also without A/C.

Palenque Restaurants: cheap, moderate and expensive

Don Muchos is a great restaurant at El Panchan as well. Great stone-oven pizza's and live music. The stone-oven pizza's cost 60 pesos and are very good.

Palenque nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs

Get out

Other ruins in the general area are Yaxchilán and Bonampak. These can be arranged by day trip or overnighter with any agency in town.

This page was last edited by Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel. Based on work by Wandering, Julian Quattlebaum and Dwayne Shreve, Wikitravel user(s) Jonboy and Brendio and Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel. - Content on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0 license

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