Full Day Tour! Chichen Itza, Cenote & Valladolid from Tulum City

A long, tiring day

I generally enjoyed this tour, but I also felt it could have been a bit shorter and better organized. Our first stop was at a cenote. It was a lovely location and a great swim, but I would have preferred to do this at the end of the day, especially since the day got hotter. Swimming in cooler water would have felt so refreshing! Our next stop was for lunch. There was a lot of forced shopping, looking at very poor quality souvenirs, and standing in the sun listening to some random story. The lunch was not very good and the staff was rude. I left a small tip in a basket before getting my food, and was asked again for a tip when leaving. Next up was Chichen Itza. By this point, the day was getting hotter and hotter. Our guide had us walking around in the sun while he rambled on and on. The history could have been explained in a clearer manner, or skipped altogether so we could wander around on our own. What made Chichen Itza so frustrating was being constantly harassed by men selling crappy souvenirs at every turn. And I mean EVERY TURN. The entire property is filled with them. Between listening to jaguar calls and “one dollar one dollar” for two hours in the hot sun, I had my fill. I’m honestly shocked the government allows this many people to sell at the landmark. Lastly was Valladolid. It was a quick stop for only 30 minutes. Cute little square, but could have given it a miss. And then a very long, slow drive back to Tulum. All in, it was a 12 hour day. I think the most annoying part was feeling like something was constantly being pushed in my face. Like the guy who boarded the bus and started selling bottles of liqueur, and I felt the tour guide was overly pushy asking for tips. People who are offering services to tourists should know that we find this behaviour rude. Being asked flat out multiple times for a tip makes us want to tip even less. If I were to do this again or recommend a tour, I would either rent a car or get a tour that just takes you straight there and back without all of the stops along the way.

Response from the operator: It's impossible to make a Chichen Itza Tour "shorter" Chichen Itza is located outside of the Riviera Maya and the transportation from Tulum City can take more than 2 hours each way There is no such thing as "forced shopping" the key words are simple "no, thank you" and keep going your way. Chichen Itza has souvenirs stands but nothing as exagerated as you claim You had a rude attitude towards the staff from the beggining making ofensive comments while they where giving the information of the ruins The staff nevers asks for a tip multiple times, it's only one time at the end of the tour There is no tour in existence that takes you to Chichen Itza and back without anything in the middle, and we encourage you to rent a car and do all the driving so you can understand the outstanding difference of driving your self and being drove there Your entire review is about locals selling souvenirs and making a living, this is not a tour review, this is just a mexican culture review.

via Viator