Final Up to date
The Maya Prepare is the best infrastructure venture to have been launched in Mexico in years. Touring on a loop across the Yucatan Peninsula and as far southwest as Palenque, it has vastly improved connectivity between a few of the nation’s prime vacationer websites since its launch final December.
These embrace Cancun, the bustling resort zone on the Caribbean coast, get together capital and archaeological zone, all-in-one Tulum, and even charming lesser-known spots like Bacalar, greatest recognized for its multicolored lake, and Merida, a massively historic metropolis with preserved colonial structure.
![View Of A Colonial Cathedral In Campeche, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico](https://www.traveloffpath.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/View-Of-A-Colonial-Cathedral-In-Campeche-Yucatan-Peninsula-Mexico.jpg)
Sadly, not all the Maya Prepare’s deliberate traces are up and operating, and a few vacationers have been noticeably disillusioned when touchdown in Cancun, hoping to catch a scenic practice all the way down to the closest seaside city, solely to search out out some stations usually are not open but.
The venture is simply anticipated to be completed this upcoming March on the earliest – figuring out Mexico, there’ll in all probability be further delays – so in the event you’re flying to the Mexican Caribbean this winter and also you’re eager on testing out this model new railway, the place precisely are you able to go?
Tulum, Playa Del Carmen, and far of the Riviera Maya are not obtainable as Maya Prepare locations proper now, however you may nonetheless journey to those 5 unimaginable spots (on this actual order):
![Maya Train Tracks In Mexico, Latin America](https://www.traveloffpath.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/maya-train-tracks-1.jpg)
![Maya Train Tracks In Mexico, Latin America](https://www.traveloffpath.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/maya-train-tracks-1.jpg.webp)
Chichen Itza
Formally essentially the most visited vacationer attraction in all of Mexico, Chichen Itza is now extra accessible than ever, internet hosting its very personal Maya Prepare station.
This implies it’s now not needed for vacationers to ebook costly day excursions or pay exorbitant switch charges when visiting the archaeological complicated.
That’s nice information already, however in the event you’re not accustomed to the historic web site, you might be questioning what it’s about Chichen Itza that makes it so particular: to place it merely, it stands among the many best-preserved and most spectacular historic cities recognized to mankind.
With a towering step pyramid, richly-decorated temples depicting distinctive carvings, and numerous sacred cenotes – sinkholes crammed with the bluest of waters beforehand used as sacrificial chambers – it’s certainly one of 7 New Wonders of the World, and a surviving image of the erstwhile Mayan civilization.
![Kukulkan pyramid in Chichen Itza, Mexico.](https://www.traveloffpath.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Kukulkan-pyramid-in-Chichen-Itza-Mexico.jpg)
![Kukulkan pyramid in Chichen Itza, Mexico.](https://www.traveloffpath.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Kukulkan-pyramid-in-Chichen-Itza-Mexico.jpg.webp)
Izamal
Competing for the title of most Instagrammable small city in Mexico, if not your complete world, Izamal is a captivating cobbled settlement a stone’s throw away from the bigger metropolis of Merida, simply distinguished by its countless rows of bright-yellow-painted homes.
The Maya Prepare additionally calls right here, and in the event you do select to hop off for the day, a few of the most important sights which will curiosity you aside from the picturesque streets embrace the lesser-known Mayan pyramid of Kinich Kak Moo and the large Convent of San Antonio de Padua.
This yellow-washed gem – in step with the town’s general theme – was one of many first constructed by the Spanish within the New World, at a time when most of Mexico was nonetheless a colony, and its central Atrium is second in dimension solely to the Vatican’s.
![Girl tourist in a hat in the yellow Mexican city of Izamal, Mexico](https://www.traveloffpath.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Girl-tourist-in-a-hat-in-the-yellow-Mexican-city-of-Izamal-Mexico.jpg)
![Girl tourist in a hat in the yellow Mexican city of Izamal, Mexico](https://www.traveloffpath.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Girl-tourist-in-a-hat-in-the-yellow-Mexican-city-of-Izamal-Mexico.jpg.webp)
Merida
Subsequent on the Maya Prepare line, you’ll discover Merida, the capital of the state of Yucatan (named after the peninsula), and probably one of many prettiest cities within the nation, well-known for its beautiful Spanish-era structure and multicultural heritage.
It’s a metropolis of two conflicting cultures, Mayan and Spanish, with most of the historic buildings you see standing immediately being, in actual fact, constructed out of disassembled, far older pre-Columbian constructions, together with the imposing cathedral and colonial palaces that dominate the skyline.
Moreover, Merida has been dubbed the most secure main state capital in Mexico on account of its low charges of pickpocketing and different types of petty crime: based mostly on the U.S. State Division’s personal definition, security ranges are on a par with European nations like Iceland, Finland and Norway.
![Merida, Mexico. Hispanic colonial plaza and church in Parque Hidalgo](https://www.traveloffpath.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Merida-Mexico.-Hispanic-colonial-plaza-and-church-in-Parque-Hidalgo.jpg)
![Merida, Mexico. Hispanic colonial plaza and church in Parque Hidalgo](https://www.traveloffpath.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Merida-Mexico.-Hispanic-colonial-plaza-and-church-in-Parque-Hidalgo.jpg)
Maxcanu
The primary cease on the Merida-Campeche line, Maxcanu is a quaint, laid-back pueblo that has largely thwarted the toxic overdevelopment plaguing most of Yucatan: costs nonetheless replicate dwelling requirements in Mexico, eating places are sometimes family-owned, and gentrification just isn’t a standard concern.
It’s onerous to know whether or not it’ll keep this manner for lengthy with the arrival of the practice, and thus extra vacationers, however in the event you’re searching for an opportunity to expertise ‘deep Mexico’, away from the luxurious resorts and Americanized coast, this can be a great time to go to Maxcanu whereas it’s nonetheless a ‘secret’.
On prime of its unspoiled Mexicanness, it has numerous Mayan ruins in its neighborhood, similar to Oxkintok, the place a one-of-a-kind Mayan labyrinth has been unearthed, the ruined Chunchucmil, and the otherwordly Calcehtok caves.
![Charming Colonial Town In Mexico, Unspecified Location, Latin America](https://www.traveloffpath.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Charming-Colonial-Town-In-Mexico-Unspecified-Location-Latin-America.jpg)
![Charming Colonial Town In Mexico, Unspecified Location, Latin America](https://www.traveloffpath.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Charming-Colonial-Town-In-Mexico-Unspecified-Location-Latin-America.jpg)
Campeche
The final entry on this listing and the final cease on the Merida-Campeche line, San Francisco de Campeche, is one more beautiful colonial treasure constructed atop a conquered Mayan metropolis, although in contrast to Merida, only a few traces of the earlier settlement stay.
Campeche is particular for having most of its Spanish-built metropolis partitions intact: it’s certainly one of two cities in North America, alongside Quebec Metropolis in Canada, to have retained them, and its historic worth is actually unimaginable to measure.
Whereas Spaniards lived inside the partitions, the native Mayans have been pushed out to the outskirts, and this heart-wrenching, but inherently fascinating Historical past is in all places to be seen immediately, be it in native-dominated barrios with a distinctly Mayan character, or 500-year-old, ornate colonial church buildings.
![Colorful Buildings In Campeche, Mexico, Latin America](https://www.traveloffpath.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Colorful-buildings-in-Campeche-Mexico.jpg)
![Colorful Buildings In Campeche, Mexico, Latin America](https://www.traveloffpath.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Colorful-buildings-in-Campeche-Mexico.jpg.webp)
Discover out extra in regards to the Maya Prepare and all of the unimaginable locations it is possible for you to to go to as soon as it totally launches right here.
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