My 5 Top Tips For Visiting Chichen Itza, Mexico With Kids (Learn From Our Mistakes!)

You really can’t go to Mexico without visiting Chichen Itza. It’s one of the New 7 Wonders Of The World as well as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

When we planned our trip to the Riviera Maya we knew a day trip to see Chichen Itza was an absolute must. We visited in May and we loved the site: our guide was fascinating, and really knew how to appeal to the kids (with loads of historic blood and gore which my boys couldn’t get enough of).

We booked our trip with Klook, and i’m linking it here because I would recommend it. It included a cenote stop, lunch, and all of our entrance fees and tour guide in Chichen Itza. Use Code THATMUMTRAVEL5 to get 5% off this (and any other) trip via Klook.

The first thing we noticed about Chichen Itza? It was hot! Hotter than i’ve ever been, and i’ve been in Cairo in August!

And there were definitely things we could have done that would have made the whole experience, especially the heat, so much easier for all of us.

1. Take Water And Buy Water As Soon As You Arrive

You can’t take single-use plastic water bottles onto the site. All single-use plastics are banned in Chichen Itza. But you can take refillable bottles or water in a can. This is supposedly for environmental reasons, but in reality makes a fortune for the archaeological site! (I say this because surely canned drinks create as much waste as water bottles?)

We had one large refillable water bottle with us (we’d tried to pack light!) but given the insanely high temperatures and the amount of walking we were doing this wasn’t nearly enough.

Which brings me to my first top tip: Buy water as soon as you see it, and wherever you see it! Once you go beyond the main temple, there is nowhere else to buy water and we were all feeling quite dizzy and uncomfortable with dehydration after a while. We thought we had enough water, but we didn’t!

The water here may be more expensive than you would find elsewhere, but buy it when you see it, and make sure you’re carrying plenty of it! By the time we got back to the cafe by the main pyramid we were guzzling water and ice lollies, but it was too late – the headaches had already kicked in!

2. Pack Wisely

On the subject of carrying plenty of water, you’ll need to think carefully about what else you pack in your backpack, and pack it wisely! Sun lotion, an umbrella, and drinks are all essential. And make sure you bring an industrial strength mosquito repellent.

The mosquitos here were bigger than I have ever seen before or since. Our youngest was bitten and it was so painful that he screamed (just what everyone else on the tour wanted to hear!) despite wearing repellent.

We didn’t bring anything to sooth the bite, and the swelling was pretty significant. Learn from our lesson – pack everything you might need for insect bite care and treatment!

I also packed a small first aid kit and was glad I did: the ground was very uneven (as you would expect) and one of the boys took a small tumble, leading to a bloody knee. An antiseptic wipe and a plaster saved the day!

3. Dress In Layers And Cover Up!

If you’re used to being in hot and humid environments you’ll probably already know this (feel free to skip by) but if you’re not then make sure you’re dressed appropriately.

Chichen Itza is inland so much hotter than by the coast and with little breeze. It was 40 degrees C on the day we visited. Which might make you want to shed your clothes, but the number of sore red people we saw tells me that would be a big mistake! Especially for kids!

Cover your shoulders in a baggy t shirts (these are more breathable than tight fitting ones), then wear a hat and sunglasses too. If you have one carry an umbrella. Then pack sunscreen and reapply it regularly – more regularly than you might usually.

This is a place where you will burn – do what you can to prevent it from happening to you and your kids.

4. The Vendors Can Be Pushy

Everyone’s got to make a living, and we don’t mind paying a little extra for our tourist tat in big sites like Chichen Itza. But the vendors can be pushy here (shouting after you and following after you if you look at something and walk away)

For this reason, I recommend not letting your kids look at the stalls unless you want to buy something! We told our kids we would buy souvenirs at the end of our trip, so we explored the whole site first and then bought mini pyramid statues, magnets, jaguar whistles, and had our photos taken with the ‘warriors’ on the way back to the coach.

This worked well for us, and not looking at our touching things you don’t intend to buy was a good rule of thumb for the boys to follow.

5. Arrive Early!

Finally, if you’re not taking a tour bus excursion (perhaps your hiring a car) and you have the flexibility then try to arrive at Chichen Itza as early as possible. If you arrive at around 8am then you will avoid the heat of the day (and the problems associated with it) and also avoid the crowds of the tour buses.

If you’re taking a tour (like we did) then avoid visiting on Sundays and National Holidays. This is by far the busiest day of the week apparently. We were advised to visit on a Tuesday or Wednesday, because many people from the states will visit for long weekends, and we took our trip on a Tuesday.

This worked for us! As you can see from the photos, we had lots of space to ourselves, and there weren’t hundreds of people milling around in the backdrops of our snaps!

We made the most of our day, embraced the fact that Chichen Itza is a tourist trap, but still got the chance to see the incredible scale and beauty of what is a truly fascinating place.

We stayed at the Bahia Principe Grand Coba Resort during our time in Mexico. You can read my full review of this resort here.