Getting there & around

Uxmal sits about 80 km south of Mérida, and Mérida is how almost everyone reaches it.

Getting there

• Fly in: The nearest airport is Mérida (MID), well connected to Mexico City, Cancún and a growing list of US routes. From the airport you are still an hour and a half from the site.
• Drive: The easiest option. From Mérida it is roughly 90 minutes on Highway 261, a straightforward paved road through small Puuc towns. A rental car also unlocks the nearby Puuc-route sites in a single day.
• Bus: ATS runs buses from Mérida’s second-class terminal toward Uxmal and Campeche; figure on roughly 90 minutes to two hours. Confirm current times at the terminal, as departures are limited and not frequent. Buy the return leg early or plan around the schedule so you are not stranded.
• Tour or colectivo: Organized day tours from Mérida are common and take the logistics off your plate, often bundling a couple of Puuc sites and lunch.

Getting around

Once you are at Uxmal there is nothing to get around, the site is a compact walking loop and you cover it on foot in two to three hours. There is no town at the gate, just the archaeological zone, a handful of hotels and a visitor building with parking.

What a local would tell you: without a car you are tied to the bus timetable, so either commit to an early departure or take a tour. Doing Uxmal as a slow half-day and driving back to Mérida for the evening is the comfortable play.