Best Mayan Ruins for Kids: Chichen Itza, Tulum & Coba

Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula is an incredible place to introduce kids to ancient Maya history, but choosing the best Mayan ruins for kids isn’t as simple as picking the most famous one. Chichen Itza, Tulum and Coba are all very different experiences, especially when you’re visiting with young children.

Playa del Carmen is one of our favourite family-friendly destinations in Mexico. We spent a month there with our kids when they were 2 and 4 years old, which gave us enough time to visit all three of these Mayan ruins as a family. We quickly learned that what makes a ruin impressive to an adult isn’t necessarily what makes it fun or manageable with kids.

At Chichen Itza, our kids could walk around the enormous El Castillo pyramid and we were able to see the highlights in under two hours. At Tulum, they were just as interested in spotting coatis, iguanas and a highway of ants as they were in the ruins themselves. At Coba, riding through the jungle in a cycle rickshaw became part of the adventure.

If you’re trying to decide which Mayan ruins to visit from Cancun, Playa del Carmen or elsewhere in the Riviera Maya, we’ll help you choose the one that works best for your family. We’ll compare Chichen Itza, Tulum and Coba based on the things that matter when travelling with kids, including walking distances, heat, shade, crowds, how long you’ll need and what there is to keep kids interested.

We’ll also share our tips from visiting these Mayan ruins with kids, what we would do differently, and how to combine each archaeological site with a cenote, eco-park or another family-friendly activity.

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Are Mayan Ruins Worth Visiting with Kids?

Yes, we think visiting Mayan ruins with kids is well worth it, even if your children are too young to understand much about Maya history.

Our kids were only 2 and 4 years old when we visited Chichen Itza, Tulum and Coba. We certainly weren’t expecting them to appreciate the history or architecture the way we did. Instead, we found ways to let them experience each archaeological site at their own level.

Sometimes that meant looking for animals instead of studying a building. At Coba, riding in a cycle rickshaw through the jungle was just as exciting for our kids as seeing the ruins. At Chichen Itza, the sheer size of El Castillo was something they could appreciate even without understanding its significance.

The key is keeping your expectations realistic. Young kids probably won’t want to listen to a lengthy explanation at every structure, and spending hours trying to see every corner of a Mayan archaeological site can quickly turn an interesting family outing into a long, hot day.

We found shorter visits worked very well with our kids. We focused on the highlights, let them walk and explore where appropriate, and moved on when they had reached their limit.

Pairing the ruins with something fun afterwards also worked really well for us. Swimming in a cenote after Chichen Itza or Coba gave our kids something completely different to look forward to, while Tulum can easily be combined with an afternoon at the Xel-Há eco park.

If you’re visiting the Riviera Maya with kids, I wouldn’t skip the Mayan ruins simply because your children are young. Choose the right ruins for your family, keep the visit manageable and let your kids experience them in their own way.

Which Mayan Ruins Are Best for Kids?

If you only have time to visit one set of Mayan ruins, there isn’t a single best choice for every family. Chichen Itza, Tulum and Coba each have advantages when visiting with kids.

Chichen Itza is best for families who want the biggest wow factor. If seeing one of Mexico’s most famous Mayan ruins is high on your list, this would be our choice.

El Castillo is immediately impressive, even to young kids, and we found the relatively flat archaeological site manageable with our 2- and 4-year-olds. The trade-off is the longer drive from the Riviera Maya and the heat and crowds you’ll need to plan around.

Tulum is best for families who want an easier ruins visit. The archaeological site is more compact, so you don’t need to spend hours walking around to feel like you’ve seen the highlights. The Caribbean setting and wildlife also gave our young kids plenty to look at. Tulum works especially well if you want to visit Mayan ruins in the morning and spend the afternoon doing something more kid-focused, such as Xel-Há.

Coba is best for adventurous families. The ruins are spread through the jungle, making the experience feel completely different from Chichen Itza and Tulum. There is considerably more distance to cover, but bikes and cycle rickshaws can make getting around part of the fun. Our kids loved the rickshaw ride, and we enjoyed walking back through the jungle and stopping at smaller ruins along the way.

For families with toddlers or preschoolers, I’d lean towards Tulum if you want the easiest visit, Chichen Itza if seeing an iconic Maya pyramid is most important, and Coba if your family enjoys a little more adventure.

If your kids are older and genuinely interested in Maya history, you’ll have more flexibility. You may want to spend longer at Chichen Itza, explore more of Coba or even combine Tulum and Coba in one day.

Don’t worry if you can’t visit all three. They are different enough that there is no wrong choice. The best Mayan ruins to visit with kids are the ones that fit your children’s ages, interests and tolerance for walking, heat and a full day of sightseeing.

Visiting Chichen Itza with Kids

Of the three Mayan ruins we visited in Mexico with our kids, Chichen Itza delivered the biggest wow factor. Seeing El Castillo, the enormous pyramid that you recognize from pictures, is impressive even if your kids are far too young to understand its history.

We visited Chichen Itza with our kids when they were just 2 and 4 years old, and despite their young ages, we found Chichen Itza quite manageable. The main areas are relatively easy to walk around, and we were able to keep our visit short enough that everyone was still enjoying themselves when we left.

If your family only has time to visit one Mayan ruin and you want to see the most iconic one, Chichen Itza would be a great option.

Why Families Should Visit Chichen Itza

The biggest reason to visit Chichen Itza with kids is simply to see El Castillo. You don’t need to know much about Maya history to appreciate the scale of the pyramid when you first walk into the archaeological site.

This worked especially well for us with young kids. At ages 2 and 4, our children weren’t going to stand around listening to a long explanation about every building. Having something so large and impressive right in front of them made the ruins much more interesting.

There is also enough to see beyond El Castillo to keep the visit interesting without needing to turn it into a full-day history lesson. We could wander between the different structures, look at the carvings and let our kids explore at a pace that worked for them.

That’s one of the things we liked most about visiting Mayan ruins with young kids. We didn’t feel like they needed to understand everything for the experience to be worthwhile. They could simply enjoy being somewhere completely different from anything they had seen before.

What Our Kids Thought of Chichen Itza

Our kids were very young when we visited Chichen Itza, so their experience was very different from ours. They obviously weren’t interested in the historical significance of every structure, but they were happy walking around and looking at the enormous buildings.

At this age, we found it worked best to keep moving rather than trying to stop for long explanations at every point of interest. We would look at something, talk briefly about what we were seeing and then move on when the kids were ready.

The large open spaces around El Castillo also made the visit easier with young children. Our kids could walk much of the way themselves rather than being confined to narrow paths for the entire visit.

We visited Chichen Itza with kids in under two hours. We saw the main attractions without pushing our kids past the point where visiting ancient ruins stopped being fun.

Parent Tip: With toddlers and preschoolers, don’t feel like you need to see every corner of Chichen Itza to make the trip worthwhile. Seeing the highlights and leaving while everyone is still happy can be a much better family experience.

Walking, Heat, Shade & Practical Considerations

One of our biggest concerns when visiting Chichen Itza with kids was how much walking they would manage. Thankfully, our kids were able to walk most of the way themselves.

You’ll still want comfortable walking shoes for everyone, and families travelling with toddlers should be prepared to carry them at some point. Even kids who normally walk well can run out of energy much faster when you add heat and a busy day of sightseeing.

The sun is another important consideration when visiting Chichen Itza with kids. There are large open areas around some of the most famous structures, so be sure to bring large sun hats, sunscreen and plenty of water. We recommend arriving as early as you can, both for more comfortable temperatures and to enjoy the ruins before the site becomes busier.

Keep in mind that food is not permitted inside the archaeological zone, so plan snacks and meals around your visit rather than counting on handing out snacks as you walk around.

For families with very young children, I would also think about your child’s normal nap schedule before planning the day. This is not somewhere I’d want to arrive with an already tired toddler in the hottest part of the afternoon.

Tips for Visiting Chichen Itza with Kids

Arrive early. This is probably our most important tip for families. An early start gives you a chance to explore before the biggest crowds arrive and before the middle-of-the-day heat makes walking around with kids more tiring.

Don’t plan an overly long visit with young kids. We spent less than two hours at Chichen Itza with our kids and felt that was enough time for our family. Older kids who are interested in history may want much longer.

Let your kids experience the ruins at their level. Young children don’t need a detailed history lesson at every structure. Point out the enormous pyramid, look for interesting carvings and let them enjoy walking through such an unusual place.

Bring sun protection and water. Sun hats, sunscreen and water are especially important when visiting Mayan ruins with kids. There are exposed areas where you’ll be walking in full sun.

Use the bathroom before you start exploring. There are bathrooms at Chichen Itza, and with younger kids we always prefer to take advantage of facilities when we know where they are rather than waiting for an urgent request later.

If you’re driving yourself, keep going until you reach the official visitor area. When we drove to Chichen Itza, we encountered people along the road trying to convince visitors to stop and purchase tickets. We simply continued to the archaeological site.

Expect plenty of souvenir shopping opportunities. There were a surprising number of souvenir vendors inside Chichen Itza when we visited. Depending on your kids, this may either be exciting or something you’ll spend much of the visit trying to walk past!

How to Visit Chichen Itza with Kids

Chichen Itza is an easy day trip from the Riviera Maya, but it is far enough from Cancun and Playa del Carmen that you’ll want to think about how your family prefers to travel before choosing between a tour and driving yourself.

We chose to drive to Chichen Itza in a rental car, which worked very well for us with a 2-year-old and 4-year-old. Having our own car gave us complete control over when we left, how long we stayed at the ruins and what we did afterwards. With young kids, we really appreciated being able to work around their energy levels rather than following a fixed tour schedule.

If you’re comfortable renting a car in Mexico, self-driving is a great option for families. Be sure to read our tips for driving in the Yucatan Peninsula before your trip, especially if this will be your first time driving in Mexico.

If you would rather not drive, there are plenty of Chichen Itza tours from Cancun and the Riviera Maya. A tour takes care of the transportation and often combines Chichen Itza with another family-friendly stop, such as a cenote or Valladolid.

One popular Chichen Itza tour includes time at the ruins, a swim at a cenote and a stop in Valladolid. This can be a convenient way to fit several highlights into one day without having to plan all the transportation yourself.

The main downside of a group tour with younger kids is the fixed schedule. Your family may spend longer at Chichen Itza than we did, and you won’t have the same flexibility to leave when your kids have had enough. Before booking, check the total tour length, transportation time and how much free time you’ll actually have at the ruins.

For families who want the convenience of a tour without being tied to a large group, a private Chichen Itza tour or private driver to Chichen Itza can be well worth considering. You’ll have much more control over the pace of your day, which is especially helpful when travelling with toddlers or younger children.

You can also browse Chichen Itza tours to find different combinations of ruins, cenotes and stops in Valladolid. There are plenty of options, so I recommend choosing the tour based on how much time your kids will realistically enjoy sightseeing rather than trying to squeeze the maximum number of attractions into one day.

What to Do After Chichen Itza with Kids

After a morning of walking around Chichen Itza, adding a swim is a great way to make the day more fun for kids. There are several cenotes in the area, making it easy to combine the ruins with something completely different in the afternoon.

We visited X-keken eco-park after Chichen Itza and swam in Dzitnup, one of the cavern cenotes at the park. This was a fun change of pace after spending the morning sightseeing, especially with young kids.

Our kids also got a kick out of the little fish hanging around near the stairs at Dzitnup. If you left your feet in the water, the fish would nibble at them, which resulted in a very ticklish foot cleaning!

Another popular option near Chichen Itza is Ik-Kil Cenote. If swimming in a cenote is high on your family’s Mexico wish list, pairing one with Chichen Itza works really well because the kids get something fun and active after the ruins.

If time permits, Valladolid is also well worth a stop on your way back toward the Riviera Maya. We enjoyed walking past its colourful buildings and stopping for some light snacks in the garden atrium at Restaurante El Atrio del Mayab.

With young kids, I wouldn’t try to cram Chichen Itza, a cenote and a long visit to Valladolid into the day just because they’re all nearby. Choose the combination that works best for your family. For us, having something relaxed and fun after the ruins made for a much better family day.

Visiting Tulum with Kids

The Tulum ruins are a great option for families who want to see Mayan ruins without committing to a long day of exploring a huge archaeological site. The ruins are relatively compact, and their location on cliffs overlooking the Caribbean Sea makes Tulum very different from Chichen Itza and Coba.

Our to Tulum visit didn’t need to be particularly long, there was plenty for the kids to look at along the way, and some unexpected wildlife sightings ended up being one of their favourite parts.

Tulum is also easy to combine with another family-friendly activity. For us, this makes it one of the best Mayan ruins for families who want to experience some history in the morning but still leave plenty of time for swimming and playing later in the day.

Why Families Should Visit Tulum

Tulum’s biggest advantage for families is that you can see an impressive Mayan site in a relatively short period of time.

The setting also helps keep the visit interesting for kids. Rather than seeing only ancient buildings, you’re walking through a beautiful coastal area with views of the Caribbean Sea, jungle vegetation and plenty happening around you.

For younger kids who may not understand much about Maya history yet, having different things to look at makes a big difference. We didn’t need our kids to be fascinated by every structure for them to enjoy being there.

Tulum is especially worth considering if your family wants to visit Mayan ruins but isn’t sure how much sightseeing your kids will tolerate. You can see the highlights relatively quickly and then continue with the rest of your day.

What Our Kids Thought of Tulum

Our kids were much more interested in the animals we encountered than they were in learning the history of every building, which wasn’t exactly surprising at their age.

After entering the Tulum archaeological site, we walked through a short section of jungle where we spotted a coati, iguanas and what looked like a highway of ants crossing the path. The kids loved these little wildlife encounters and they gave us something fun to look for as we walked.

We found that this worked really well with young children. We could stop to look at the ruins, point out something interesting and then continue walking when their attention started to wander.

The coastal scenery also gave the visit plenty of variety. Even if your kids aren’t especially interested in ancient ruins, there is enough going on around Tulum to help keep them engaged.

Walking, Heat, Shade & Practical Considerations

One of the biggest things to plan for when visiting the Tulum ruins with kids is the heat. There is very little shade around much of the archaeological site, so sun hats, sunscreen and plenty of water are important.

As with Chichen Itza, we recommend visiting Tulum as early in the day as possible. An early visit can make walking around much more comfortable with kids and gives you a better chance of exploring before the site becomes extremely busy.

Tulum is much more compact than Chichen Itza, which makes the crowds more noticeable. Much of your visit to Tulum follows designated walking paths, so you don’t have the same amount of open space for kids to wander around.

The good news is that you don’t necessarily need a long time at the ruins. We found Tulum easy to explore at a pace that worked with our young kids without turning the visit into an endurance test.

Bathrooms were available in the commercial area outside the ruins when we visited. With young kids, I’d use them before heading toward the archaeological site rather than hoping everyone can wait until afterwards.

Tips for Visiting Tulum with Kids

Arrive early. This is our biggest recommendation for visiting Tulum with kids. The combination of heat and crowds can make the experience much harder later in the day.

Keep the visit reasonably short with young kids. You can see the main Tulum ruins without spending several hours at the site. We would rather have an enjoyable shorter visit than keep pushing until everyone is tired and hot.

Bring plenty of sun protection. There is limited shade, so hats, sunscreen and water should be near the top of your packing list.

Allow for the walk to the ruins. Don’t base your expectations only on how compact the archaeological site is. Younger kids may already have done a fair amount of walking by the time you reach the ruins.

Look for wildlife. Our kids loved spotting coatis, iguanas and even ants along the way. Turning the walk into a bit of a wildlife search is an easy way to keep younger kids interested.

Prepare kids for the crowds. Tulum can feel busy because visitors are concentrated into a fairly small area and follow many of the same paths. If your kids struggle with crowds, getting there early becomes even more worthwhile.

Don’t feel like you need to stop at every structure. With young kids, we focused on keeping the experience enjoyable rather than seeing absolutely everything.

How to Visit Tulum with Kids

Tulum is one of the easier Mayan ruins to visit from Cancun or Playa del Carmen, and families have several options depending on how much flexibility they want.

We had a rental car in Mexico, which made visiting Tulum with our kids much easier. Having our own vehicle meant we could arrive early, leave when our kids had seen enough and decide what we wanted to do afterwards.

If you’re comfortable driving in the Yucatan Peninsula, a rental car is a great option for families. It also works particularly well if you want to combine the Tulum ruins with the Xel-Há water park, Coba or another attraction without being tied to a tour schedule.

For families who don’t want to drive, there are plenty of Tulum tours from Cancun and Tulum tours from Playa del Carmen. If you mainly want to visit the ruins, a half-day Tulum tour can be a good option and avoids turning the outing into an extremely long sightseeing day.

You can also book combination tours that visit Tulum along with another major Riviera Maya attraction. An all-inclusive Tulum and Xel-Há tour is one of our favourite combinations for families because you can visit the ruins early and spend the rest of the day swimming and having fun in the water.

Another option is a Tulum and Coba tour. This makes more sense for families with older kids who will enjoy spending a larger portion of the day exploring Mayan ruins.

There are many different Tulum tours available, so take a close look at the itinerary before booking. With kids, I would pay particular attention to the total length of the day, how much time you’ll spend travelling and how many stops are included. More attractions don’t necessarily make for a better family day.

For our family, having the flexibility to visit the Tulum ruins early and then move on when our kids had enough worked extremely well.

What to Do After Tulum with Kids

One of the reasons Tulum works so well for families is that you can easily pair the ruins with something completely different afterwards.

Our favourite option is Xel-Há eco-park. Xel-Há is north of Tulum on the way back towards Playa del Carmen and Cancun, making the two attractions a natural combination for a family day. It’s one of the the best eco-parks in Mexico.

We recommend visiting the Tulum ruins first thing in the morning and then spending the rest of the day at Xel-Há. After walking around the ruins in the heat, switching to an afternoon of swimming and playing in the water is pretty appealing for both kids and parents.

Xel-Há is an all-inclusive water-based eco-park, so you can also relax over food and drinks rather than needing to plan another stop for lunch. We especially like this combination because the day doesn’t feel like endless sightseeing for the kids.

You can also combine Tulum with the Coba, which is a great option if your family is particularly interested in Mayan ruins. We visited both sites during our time in the Riviera Maya, although with very young kids I wouldn’t automatically try to squeeze both into the same day. Two archaeological sites can be a lot of walking and sightseeing for little ones.

If you’re travelling with older kids who are genuinely interested in Maya history, visiting both Tulum and Coba in one day may be much more appealing.

Visiting Coba with Kids

Of the three Mayan ruins we visited with our kids, Coba felt the most adventurous. Instead of walking around a relatively compact archaeological site, you follow old roads through the jungle with ruins scattered along the way.

The longer distances at Coba made it more challenging than Tulum or Chichen Itza with young kids, but there were also some fun ways to make the walking more manageable.

Coba is a great option for families who enjoy being active and want their visit to the Mayan ruins to feel like more of an adventure.

Why Families Should Visit Coba

What makes Coba especially interesting for families is its jungle setting. The different groups of ruins are spread out, so getting from one to another becomes part of the experience.

The highlight is Nohoch Mul, the enormous 42-metre-high pyramid at the far end of the main route. After being closed to climbing for six years, visitors can once again climb Nohoch Mul using a new wooden staircase installed to protect the archaeological structure.

For families with older kids who are comfortable with heights and stairs, reaching the top would certainly add another level of adventure to a visit to Coba. Access is currently limited, so don’t assume everyone will automatically be able to climb when they arrive.

Even without climbing the pyramid, we enjoyed the journey through the jungle. There are several smaller ruins along the way, and the setting made Coba feel completely different from the other Mayan ruins we visited.

What Our Kids Thought of Coba

As you kids were young when when we visited Coba, the distance to Nohoch Mul was our biggest consideration. Rather than making them walk the entire way, we hired a cycle rickshaw to take us to the pyramid first. This turned out to be a great strategy. Not only did the kids enjoy the ride, but it helped us get to Nohoch Mul quickly before more visitors arrived.

We arrived at Coba around 9 a.m. and had Nohoch Mul almost completely to ourselves. After spending some time there, we walked back through the jungle and stopped at some of the smaller ruins along the way.

By the time we reached the main entrance again, our kids were tired. There was another path leading to additional ruins, but we knew they weren’t going to happily walk much farther and we didn’t feel like carrying them. We chose to visit the closest structure and skipped the more distant one.

That decision probably sums up travelling with young kids pretty well. You don’t need to see every part of an archaeological site for the visit to be worthwhile.

Walking, Heat, Shade & Practical Considerations

Coba involves considerably more walking than Tulum, so this is one place where I’d think realistically about how far your kids are comfortable walking.

Nohoch Mul is roughly 1.6 km / 1 mile from the entrance, and there are additional archaeological groups beyond the main route. It is very easy to add several kilometres of walking if you try to see everything.

The good news is that much of the route passes through the jungle, which we found more pleasant than walking through completely exposed areas in the sun.

When we visited, bikes and cycle rickshaws were available inside Coba. We initially hoped to rent bikes, but there weren’t bikes small enough for our kids and we didn’t find child seats available. The cycle rickshaw ended up being a much better option for our family.

If you’re visiting with older children, bikes could make exploring Coba especially fun if rentals suitable for your family are available during your visit.

The current climb up Nohoch Mul is also something parents should consider separately from the walking. INAH now uses a wooden staircase for the ascent and limits access to small groups. If climbing is important to your family, check the current rules when you arrive rather than promising kids in advance that they’ll definitely get to go up.

Bathrooms are available near the entrance, so we recommend using them before setting out into the archaeological site with younger kids.

Tips for Visiting Coba with Kids

Arrive early. Getting there early worked extremely well for us. We reached Nohoch Mul before the crowds, and the cooler part of the morning was much more comfortable for exploring with young kids.

Consider taking a cycle rickshaw one way. This was one of the best decisions we made at Coba. Taking the rickshaw to Nohoch Mul saved our kids’ energy and allowed us to enjoy the walk back through the jungle.

Don’t underestimate the distances. Coba is much more spread out than Tulum. If you’re visiting with toddlers or preschoolers, decide in advance which areas matter most rather than trying to see everything.

Save some energy for the walk back. Young kids who happily walk away from the entrance aren’t always equally enthusiastic about walking the same distance back. Our kids were definitely tired by the end.

Check the current rules for climbing Nohoch Mul. The pyramid reopened for climbing in December 2025, but access is controlled and limited. If reaching the top is important to your family, confirm the current procedure when you arrive.

Let the transportation become part of the fun. Our kids enjoyed riding in the cycle rickshaw, and it turned what could have been a tiring walk into part of the Coba experience.

Know when you’ve seen enough. We skipped one of the more distant groups of ruins because our kids were done walking. With young children, we’d rather finish on a good note than see one more structure with unhappy kids.

Watch our Coba YouTube Video

If you’d like to get a sense for what visiting Coba with kids is like, watch our short YouTube video.

What to Do After Coba with Kids

After exploring Coba, we stopped at Choo-Ha Cenote, a nearby cavern cenote that worked really well as the second half of our family day. After a morning of walking through the jungle, going for a swim was exactly what we needed.

Choo-Ha is reached by descending a long, steep staircase into the cavern. Inside, there are impressive limestone formations and several sets of stairs leading into the clear water.

When we visited, there were changing rooms, showers and bathrooms, which made it easier to manage the transition from sightseeing to swimming with young kids. We really liked pairing the ruins with a cenote because it gave our kids something completely different to look forward to after all the walking.

You could also combine Tulum and Coba in one day. For families with older kids who are genuinely interested in Mayan ruins, that can be a great way to see two very different archaeological sites.

With toddlers or preschoolers, I’d be more cautious. Even though each ruin is manageable on its own, putting two archaeological sites together means a lot of walking, transportation and sightseeing in one day.

We also had lunch after visiting Coba at El Cocodrilo, where we enjoyed eating outside in the shade of a large tree overlooking the nearby lagoon. After a busy morning with young kids, having somewhere comfortable to sit down for lunch was very welcome.

How to Visit Coba with Kids

Coba is farther inland than Tulum, so families will generally need to choose between driving themselves or joining a Coba tour.

We visited Coba using our rental car in Mexico, which gave us the flexibility to arrive early and move through the archaeological site at our own pace.

For our family, having a rental car worked especially well because we could leave once our kids were tired rather than waiting for a group tour. It also made it easy to stop at Choo-Ha Cenote afterwards. If you’re comfortable driving in the Yucatan Peninsula, self-driving to Coba is a great option for families who value flexibility.

If you don’t want to drive, there are many Coba tours from Cancun and Coba tours from Playa del Carmen that include transportation.

A popular option is a Tulum and Coba tour, which allows you to see two very different Mayan ruins in one day. I think this combination is best for families with older kids who are comfortable with a full day of sightseeing.

You can also find Coba and cenote tours, which I think work especially well for families. Visiting the ruins first and then cooling off with a swim gives the day more variety for kids.

There are plenty of different Coba tours available, so look carefully at the itinerary before choosing one. With kids, pay attention to the total length of the day, transportation time and number of stops rather than simply choosing the tour that includes the most attractions.

For families with younger kids, I still like the flexibility of driving yourself. Being able to arrive early, use a cycle rickshaw if needed, skip some of the more distant ruins and head for a cenote when everyone has had enough made Coba very manageable for us.

Riviera Maya for Families

If you are currently in the Riviera Maya or are planning a trip there, don’t miss our blog post on things to do in Riviera Maya for families. It’s packed full of planning tips, exciting family activities and links to all of our Mayan Riviera blog posts. It’s sure to help make your family trip a memorable one!

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