Zona Arqueologica de Palenque

Zona Arqueologica de Palenque

Zona Arqueologica de Palenque
5
Ancient RuinsPoints of Interest & Landmarks
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
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  • MHBSoDak
    Sioux Falls, South Dakota1,057 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Incredible
    Absolutely stunning. We had decided to forgo a guide as I have limited mobility and knew we wouldn’t stay long. At the entrance a guide offered to take us for 200 pesos. We couldn’t refuse! Absolutely interesting presentation. It was a bit of a challenge at times for my mobility scooter but we made it. Also, even though I’m a foreigner they gave me a free ticket. I was grateful and impressed. Highly recommended.
    Visited March 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 10 March 2024
  • Andy F
    Devizes, United Kingdom1,298 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Stunning
    One of the most spectaculat archaeological sites that we visited on our Mexico tour. It's a large complex of buildings in various states of repair and restoration, although I understand there's a lot more still to be recovered from the jungle. Plenty of interpretation boards in various languages. LOts of space to move around and to see whatever you want. Rather too many vendors/ hawkers actually inside the site for my liking. The buildings are very impressive and extremely photogenic. A must-see.
    Visited March 2024
    Travelled with friends
    Written 21 March 2024
  • Ani C
    468 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Zone archaeological palenque, Palenque Mexico
    Went with a group. We hired a private guide prior to going. Was worthwhile for mainly historical information and extended general knowledge of era and times. Plus able to show photos and information of archaeology etc. There's a large area of grass and paths. Only really about 7 mainly buildings exposed and the rest of this huge site is still covered and overgrown by surrounding jungle edge. It's well worth a visit. 2-3 hours sufficient but I sat under a tree and had my lunch. What was nice no vendors bothered me. Get there early enough and you can have it before the vendors set up along the paths. It's a nice space and you can find quiet spaces. I went early so before tour buses arrive. You buy your ticket down the road before the site not actually at sight. Again lots of vendors at entrance for food drinks and souvenirs
    Visited April 2024
    Travelled with friends
    Written 3 April 2024
  • Bevwrigley
    Hyde, United Kingdom65 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great trip with cautionary ending!!!
    We had our tour organised through our tour company, our guides name was Natchos, we really enjoyed the 1.5hr trip round the ruins, guide was very knowledgeable and made it really interesting, before setting off he did mention an optional Jungle trek at the end. The 4 of us in our party decided to take him up on this, this is where we incurred the problem!! Obviously we didn’t think he was doing this without some cost but our error was not confirmed the price first. The jungle trek was great and we all enjoyed it, when we got back to our taxi he then asked for 500pesos per person 2,000 (£100) in total, bearing in mind our admission and ruins tour cost had already been paid! We had no idea that the cost would be so high and felt very disappointed that the guide had taken advantage of our not confirming a price first to fleece us!! Moral of the story is, if you do decide to do the jungle trek, confirm and agree a price BEFORE you set off
    Visited April 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 17 April 2024
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5.0
5.0 of 5 bubbles3,737 reviews
Excellent
3,211
Very good
454
Average
48
Poor
8
Terrible
16

Michelo M
Mas, Indonesia18 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
June 2021 • Solo
It’s awesome, a must see if you like Mayan ruins, and there is also evidence of ancient megalithic high technology.

A very peaceful place with not many tourists so you can take your time and enjoy.

As of now you cannot climb and enter the ruins unfortunately.

WARNING: Do not pay for the extremely expensive ($1800 pesos) tour guide at the entrance. It is extremely overpriced and the information given by the guide is nothing that you can’t just look up on internet. They oversell their product and it’s just not worth it.

Look for the massive limestone blocks for evidence of lost ancient technology. ;)
Written 2 June 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Kevin P
Waihi Beach, New Zealand480 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2022 • Couples
So Senor, you say you learned your English at the school of hard knocks? Who succeeded Kan B'alam II?

Patan, senor.

No, who was his successor, who came after, not before.

The lack of a correct answer to that rather basic question from a so called "official" guide made the decision to use the LP and Wiki to self-guide. We were not disappointed.

If you're going to have an official English speaking guide, please make sure they are qualified in the basics, duh!

Between that, and the museum being open only 3d/w, and the racked up entry fee make this a typical, less than reasonable value, Mexican attraction.

If you're getting 1M visitors per year, and charging US$5 each, that's $5M/y of spend you'd expect to see. At best I don't even see 10% of that.
Written 15 February 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Rowan H
Cairns, Australia1,692 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2022 • Couples
Visited the Palenque archeological site today as part of a larger tour from San Cristobal to Palenque (which stopped at Agua Azul, Misol-Ha and Palenque archeological site). It’s certainly a stunning area and worthy of a visit.

Here are a few tips/thoughts for those considering a visit here.
* The ruins displayed actually only represent about 2% of the ancient city of palenque. The other 98% has been reclaimed by the jungle and the Mexicans have no current plans to excavate it all (Although you will notice a couple of buildings being worked on).

* It is worth wild getting a guide but make sure you agree on a price before you go. They offer a one hour or two hour tour. We did a one hour tour but rather than going around the main site this took us through the jungle behind the temples. This area is not open to tourists. Therefore, it can only be viewed with a tour guide. The big advantage of this tour is that it demonstrates what the site would’ve looked like prior to it being excavated. These tours are quoted as 1300 mexican peso but confusingly our guide charged us 1800 mexican peso, claiming it is actually 95USD and that the conversion has changed. I was fairly confident he was scamming s so I would encourage you to really clarify that cost before you begin to follow the guide. Once you’ve engaged their services it’s a bit late to try to negotiate terms. Despite this, I still really enjoyed the tour and didnt regret getting it.

* The area was very hot in the afternoon when we visited. I would bring a hat, sunscreen and plenty of water.

* This site is very popular and for good reason. Consider coming here early in the morning if you don’t want people in your photos.

* It takes about 2 hours to explore the site, possibly a big longer if you do the jungle tour I’ve discussed above.

* There are a lot of vendors both outside and inside the site selling souvenirs and drinks.

Overall an amazing site and well worth the travel to Chiapas to see.
Written 1 August 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

MIKE
Warsaw, Poland87 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2021 • Friends
This was one of the most amazing experiences in Mexico. Mayan ruins in Palenque were fantastic. Take a guide (quite expensive but worth), prepare some 2hours at least, add time for buying regional souvenirs available also on the way through ruins, also go into the jungle to see not renovated ruins, huge trees and animals if your are lucky.
Written 10 January 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Granzi
Miami Beach, FL181 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2021 • Family
I visited the archeological zone on January 2nd, 2021. The site is beautiful and impressive. I would like to explain what you have to do to visit during Covid. The site is open from 10 am till the afternoon, yet because of the pandemics it only allows 600 visitors per day: 300 are let in at 10 am, other 300 at 11:30 am. We didnt know it and so we arrived at 9:50 am. The first 300 visitors were already let in, so we had to wait in line for 1,5 hour to be let in. Some people who were behind us didnt make it in the 600, so they were sent home and told to come back the day after. So, my first tip: ARRIVE EARLY, possibly around 9:15-9:30 am to make it in the first batch. After we made it into the "lucky" 600 we were immensely helped to cut the lines and the red tape by a local guide, Fidel Cruz, who got us right away into the park. Fidel is very knowledgeable, speaks english and italian and gave us some very interesting information on the whole site as well as the Maya people. As I said the site is impressive, bc of Covid you cant climb the pyramids and the Queen chamber is closed. All the rest is really beautiful. If I were to do it again I would call Fidel the night before, get to the site at 9:00 am and enjoy the tour. The story of King Pakal and the local people is impressive. I leave here Fidel's number in case somebody needs him +52 916 1195933. Whether you do it with Fidel, with another guide or on your own, this site is impressive and leaves you with many questions and mysteries: what happened to the Mayas, how could they have such an advanced technology many years ago?
Written 3 January 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Mitchell F
Chacmuchuch, Mexico22 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2020 • Couples
These ruins are stunning !
My wife and I have visited chichen itza and this ruin was way better with the lush jungle surrounding the entire site.
Covid restrictions were on when we visited so we did not get to climb anything or see the view points.
But we still enjoyed the site.
Written 19 November 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Juan C
Toulouse, France305 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2019 • Couples
The zone of palenque has a lot of buildings, a lot of them are not visibles take a guide inside (is cheaper) to go inside the jungle to see them. The main buildings are really beautiful. You need at least 3 hours to visit all. Or 1h30 for the main area.
Written 6 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

SVLondonuk
London, UK72 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2022 • Couples
Wonderful experience and not too busy. Since covid the Mexican government have closed off much of the site so people can on longer climb nor visit inside the temples. Apparently it may stay that way due to the massive number of tourists and tour groups. Still a spectacular place but go early due to the hot weather. Also managed to view the new exhibit at the museum and that was a my highlight. Currently museum is only open on Thursday and Fridays. Going back tomorrow!

Massive Downside - disrespectful British tourist egged on by a local guide to collect stones from a protected national archeological monument. Wish they would respect local culture and the environment but no only out for themselves. Shame as will be nothing left for future generations.
Written 28 April 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

MJS1966
Surfers Paradise, Australia547 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2020 • Solo
Taxi 100 peso - carded rate. Collectivo from Palenque just as easy and circa 25 peso. Google Maps states 8am opening but It seems Park opens at 9.30am (37 peso) and actual ticket office at 10.00am (80 peso). You are not let through before these times. You currently need to be out of the architectural site by 12.30. There is then a second session. Both limited to 300 people. I suspect the tours from San Cristóbal arrive after 12.30pm but not sure how many tickets they take. From the ticket office it would be a reasonable uphill walk to the entrance if you don’t have transport - I managed to get a lift with others. I had read about starting at the top and finishing at a lower entrance but start and finish places were the same today - the lower entrance was flooded so perhaps it was not fully open. Easy enough to grab a collectivo back into town.
Written 6 November 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Oleg B
Lisbon, Portugal12 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2022
Impressive piece of mesoamerican history and well worth a half-day visit. Early morning start guarantees maximally cool temperatures, fewer crowds, but also a chance to enjoy the structures in different lighting conditions. Parts of the park seemed untended and some paths completely fenced off.

This being said, the unexpected national park surcharge of MX$ 97 in addition to the MX$ 85 ruins entry fee was indeed a negative touch that was harder to shrug off psychologically than financially :) Transparency would indeed go a long way...

The jungle hike is probably only worth is seasonally as when I was there (early March, before lunch) the path was muddy and untended (probably none of the entry fee money makes it to where it belongs), there were no signs except dirty paper printouts pasted to the trees, ugly yellow band blocking access to the waterfalls flanks, both the temple and the aqueduct were underwhelming and I have not seen any fauna or interesting flora (neither butterflies, not birds or monkeys).
Written 6 March 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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