Campeche, the capital of Campeche State is a small and friendly town that’s easy to explore and get to know. Whether you’re taking a trip from Mérida or are on a road trip around the region, I highly recommend you visit Campeche. Let’s dive right in and take a look at best things there are to do with your weekend in Campeche.

In this article you’ll learn all about what there is to do in the gorgeous and somewhat off-the-beaten- track destination that is Campeche City as well as look at some options for great excursions from Campeche to see ruins, beaches and small towns including Campeche’s Pueblos Magicos. 

I love Campeche and when I lived in nearby Mérida, there was nothing my family loved more than taking time for a weekend in Campeche.

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Highlights of a Weekend in Campeche

Since Campeche is a pretty compact town (comparable to Valladolid in Yucatán), you really only need 3 – 4 days to see everything and get the full experience.

The highlights of a weekend in Campeche include:

⭐️ The amazing free video mapping on the main square in the early evening or the amazing new Poesia de la Mar water and light show on the Malecon.

⭐️ Walking on the baluasrte (the city’s largely intact defensive walls) – Campeche is one of the only cities in the whole of north America to still have its walls intact.

⭐️ Walking the Malecon at dusk before stopping off to eat coconut prawns with apple sauce.

⭐️ Visiting the many excellent museums as you explore the UNESCO World Heritage Site that is the historic centre of Campeche.

➡️ Find a hotel for your long weekend in Campeche or, if you don’t have the energy, take my recommendations

✅ Book the well priced, well-located Casa Agua-azul

✅ Enjoy the luxurious but reasonably priced Hotel Plaza Campeche – we stayed here when we visited with my parents

✅ Splurge on some modern Luxury on the malecon with Hotel Gamma Campeche

When is the Best Time to Visit Campeche

Campeche is kinda perfect all year round. Sure, it’s hot, hot, hot in the summer months but it’s not *too* hot (ok yes, it’s really hot but I still think it’s visitable all year round) and there’s always an opportunity to stop for a refreshing drink or ice cream as you explore.

🔆 November – April are the coolest (yet still warm) months

☔️ June – September is the rainy season 

How to Get to Campeche

Campeche is located in the state of Campeche, the third and least known of the states of the Yucatán Peninsula.  It shares borders with the Mexican states of Yucatán, Quintana Roo (home to the famous cities of Cancun, Tulum and Playa del Carmen), Tabasco and Chiapas. It also has international borders with Belize and Guatemala. Campeche is really the only big city in the state of Campeche.

✈️ Campeche does have an airport, Campeche International Airport, the Ingeniero Alberto Acuña Ongay International Airport (CPE). All international flights, however, are routed via Mexico City so be prepared for a layover. 

🚌 Public transportation is offered by the ADO bus service with routes to/from Mérida, CDMX, Veracruz, Puebla, San Cristobal de las Casas, Cancun and more as well as various towns within Campeche state. There are also colectivos that run between Campeche and smaller towns. Check Bus Timetables Here

🚗 Campeche is located on the west coast of the Yucatán Peninsula and is reached by two main highways, the 180 and 186. Check out rental car options here

🚂 The Maya Train should be operational in early 2024, which offers yet more exciting experiences in this region and Campeche will be a main station on the route

Brief History of Campeche

📌 Sadly, there is almost nothing left of the original Maya town. San Francisco de Campeche was founded in 1540.

📌 Campeche, for the invading Spanish, was the most important seaport in the region and it played a large role in their conquest and evangelisation of the whole Yucatán Peninsula, Chiapas and even Guatemala. 

📌 Its importance as a port also led to it being systematically attacked by pirates in the pay of Spain’s enemies, hence the impressive and large-scale defensive system that still stands today. In the 1600s, the Spanish built walls around the city to keep out  the marauding pirates, however, the walls don’t appear to have been entirely successful, since, in 1663, pirates sacked the city so comprehensively that King Charles II of Great Britain actually banned English pirates from carrying out further raids.  

📌 Campeche is one of the only cities in North America with such complete historic old city walls remaining. Originally, the Spanish lived within the walls and the indigenous Maya lived in the areas outside the walls: San Francisco, Guadalupe and San Román.  

What to do in Campeche

Campeche, despite being a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is often overlooked as a place to visit by English speaking visitors to Mexico. I highly recommend that you give Campeche a chance and take the time to explore, maybe as part of a longer trip around the state or region.

Campeche is a beautiful city that is just perfect for a short visit. Some have taken to calling it, “Mexico’s Rainbow City” because of how colourful the buildings are. Personally, I’m not convinced by this appellation given that so many of Mexico’s cities are so colourful but there you go!

Take time to walk around this friendly city and try the local cuisine and street food while you’re there. 

Walk the Baluartes (Ramparts)

There are six sections of baluartes left around the city and while you can’t walk around the whole town up high, it’s a great experience to walk around these walls that formed part of the Spanish defensive systems against pirate attack.

See if you can visit all the Baluartes: San Pedro, San Juan, Santa Rosa, San Carlos, Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, San Francisco and the entrances at the Puerta de Mar Puerta de la Tierra. I don’t think you can climb all of them but I have ascended a Puerta de la Tierra, San Francisco and Baluarte de Nuestra Señora de la Soledad.

The views from the ramparts are really quite lovely. We particularly enjoyed seeing ruins of houses from above, where the front walls were beautifully maintained but there was nothing behind. The kids had a great time pirating up on the walls and everyone enjoyed ringing the two bells we found up there.

Museums In Campeche

Campeche is home to a surprising number of museums given the size of the city. All the museums are fairly interactive and cater for people with different needs – there are tables with replicas of important artefacts for people to interact with, descriptions of these are also given in sign language and in braille.

El Palacio 

This small museum on the plaza principal can be visited as either part of a guided tour (only in Spanish) or alone. If you visit alone you don’t get to experience the boat simulator (which is kind of fun for kids). There isn’t much else that you miss out on if you go alone, particularly if you don’t speak Spanish.

The displays are interesting and are based around the lives of early Campeche. The room with a  model of a galleon is well worth spending some time in, see if you can find the models of men having a poo!

MABS (Museo Arquitectura Maya Baluarte de Nuestra Señora de la Solidad)  

This museum of Maya architecture is my favourite in the city. Look out for the truly incredible jade mask that was found at Calakmul (photo above). The entry fee here also includes entry to the ramparts.

Casa No 6 

If you want to see how the rich lived in pre-revolution Campeche, this is the place to visit. It’s a small museum and worth sticking your head in.

Fuerte San José (including Museo de Arqueología Subacuática)  

Up on a hill above the city is the fort of San José. This is definitely a winner in my book. The views are great, the museum is interesting and the fort itself is incredibly photogenic. It gets very hot up here, there’s usually a guy selling popsicles but do come prepared with water.

Top Tip: Also, I am generally pro walking everywhere but I don’t think I’d walk from town to the fort, the hill is steep!

Walking Around Campeche

Much like Merida, Campeche’s historic center is full of brightly painted buildings, hence the Rainbow City moniker. Campeche’s local government apparently decreed that no two houses next to each other could be the same colour, leading to a wonderful array throughout the centre. It’s well worth having a walk around. I also recommend keeping your eyes open for sculptures as there are some lovely ones dotted throughout the city.

Great Places to Walk in Campeche

🧭 As noted above, be sure to walk around the edges of the historic centre, checking out as much of the baluarte walls as you can.

🧭 Thoroughly explore the historic centre, starting at the main plaza. I’m a fan of calles 57 and 59 when wandering around Campeche. The Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Inmaculada, on the plaza principal has a contemplation garden at the back as well as public bathrooms if you find yourself caught short while exploring.

🧭 Walk to the Iglesia de San Roman, in the San Roman barrio, just outside the city walls to see the famous 1.8m tall Black Jesus icon that has been housed in this church since 1565.

🧭 Leave the walled city and head to the Malecon (boardwalk) to find the city letters, the Angel Maya and to enjoy strolling next to the Gulf of Mexico.

🧭 Parque de Moch Couoh – a nice modern park on the Malecon that’s a great spot for an early evening stroll.

🧭 Botanical Garden Xmuch-Haltun – This small botanical garden in the centre of the city is well worth your time, particularly if you’re looking for somewhere calm to sit and relax. There are two swings, and a fish pond. It doesn’t take long to walk around but we definitely enjoyed it.

🧭 City Tourist Train – if you aren’t a big walker then the tourist train that leaves from the plaza principal every hour or so is a great alternative for you. The tour lasts around an hour, is available in English and Spanish and is extremely infomrative.

Sound and Light Shows in Campeche

Celebramos Campeche  – Video Mapping 

On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at 8 pm you need to find yourself on the plaza principal in order to watch the most wonderful (and free) video mapping show on the side of the central library. I recommend arriving at least fifteen minutes early to grab yourself a good spot. Note that the show will be cancelled if it rains and apparently during the vacations it’s shown every day.  

Fuentes Poesia del Mar

A new and spectacular show including water, light and music along the Bay of Campeche every Wednesday – Monday at 8pm.

Land Gate (Puerta de la Tierra) Sound and Light Show

Thurs, Fri, Sat and Sun at 7.30 pm at the Puerta de la Tierra

Hmmm. I include this because it wouldn’t be fair not to. I must admit that despite my kids being super excited to see this, we actually left about halfway through. The show is entirely in Spanish and although we speak good enough Spanish to not be put off by this, the distortion made it impossible for us to follow. Honestly, the kids were bored and so were we. The gist of the show when we went was that Mayan gods wanted hearts of warriors (sacrifice?), the Christian god just wanted love and now all Campeche people grow oranges on their patios. We weren’t fans of this messaging neither.

If you do want to go, tickets can be bought at this gate or at Centro Cultural Casa 6.

Fountains – Parque de las Banderas

On this small plaza, just off the main square, there are fountains that dance to music at 7 pm and 9 pm. They’re very pretty. Our kids were desperate to get in the water but clearly, that’s not a great idea. At the other end of this square, there are small stalls selling marquesitas and other local snacks.

Day Trips From Campeche

If you have time and desire then Campeche offers a good selection of off-the-beaten-track day trips and adventures.

Archaeological Sites  

Edzná

📌 This ancient and magnificent Puuc style Maya site was probably inhabited as far back as 600 BCE but only became a major player around 200 BCE. It was abandoned around 1500 CE, just before the Spanish arrived to conquer the region. In the late Classic period, Edzná was part of the Calakmul sphere of influence but some time after that it may well have been related to the powers at Chichén Itzá – the name Edzná means something like “House of the Itzaes”.

📌 Before visiting Edzná, I read that some aspects of the large site mimicked Teotihuacan (located outside Mexico City), which of course only fuelled my desire to visit.

📌 Don’t miss the Gran Acropolis, the Small Acropolis, the Temple of Masks and the palace. We even got to the top of the pyramid at the Old Sorcerer Complex, which is around 1km walk from the main complex.

🚗 45 minutes (52km) from Campeche

5 ⭐️ Recommended Tour: Bird Watching and Site Exploring at Edzná

Extra: There is an evening sound and light show at Edzná, which sadly I did not get to visit as we had to drive home to Mérida the same day. If you’re staying in Campeche, do not miss out like we had to.

Uxmal and the Ruta Puuc

📌 Although located over the border in Yucatán, Uxmal is still just about visitable in a day from Campeche.

📌 Uxmal is regularly visited as a stand-alone site but it’s actually officially part of the Ruta Puuc, a region of southern Yucatan where you can visit four sites (including Uxmal) and one set of caves.

📌 Uxmal is considered to be one of the most important archaeological sites of Maya culture, along with Palenque in Chiapas, Chichen Itza in Yucatán and Calakmul in Campeche.

📌 The Sorcerer’s Pyramid is the first thing you see when entering the Uxmal site. It’s a huge and very striking pyramid, which was built over a long period of time with successive stages being covered over with newer ones.

📌 If you set out early, a day trip to Uxmal can be paired with a trip to the Choco-Story Museum or even a cenote.

🚗 2hr (160km) from Campeche

5 ⭐️ RecommendedTour: Uxmal and Kabah

Chichén Itzá, Calakmul and Palenque

📌 Three of the biggest names in Maya ruins are all tantalisingly close to Campeche but really, they’re just out of reach for most people when it comes to planning day trips. If you really want to see any of these sites then I recommend extending your trip, and renting a car.

Both Calakmul and Chichén Itzá make it onto my list of the top ten ruins on the Yucatán Peninsula.

⭐️ Chichén Itzá is around a 4 hour drive (300km) from Campeche.

➡️ Read more about visiting Chichén Itzá and other ruins in Yucatán

⭐️ Calakmul Biosphere Reserve and ruins are around 4 hrs (300km) away from Campeche however, this is not such an easy drive and this four hours is only to the gates of the reserve. Once at the gates you then have a further 2 hr drive to go. Another reason to not even consider Calakmul unless you have a tour booked or a spare few days is that quite apart from the enormous Calakmul site itself, there are at least six other Maya sites in the vicinity. I’ve visited Calakmul and most of the other ruins here and can honestly say they are some of the most gorgeous I’ve ever seen.

➡️ Read more about visiting Calakmul and the other Campeche ruins

If you do want to take a day tour to Calakmul, know it generally will be a long day with a pick up around 5 am.

⭐️ Palenque in Chiapas is 4hr50 (367 km) from Campeche. Far better to rent a car or take a bus to the pueblo magico of Palenque Town, which is what I did both times I visited the phenomonal site of Palenque.

➡️ Read more about exploring Palenque from Chiapas and from Tabasco.

Day Trips from Campeche: Small Towns

Pomuch

Not many people know about Pomuch, in fact it’s really not on the tourist radar at all but if you’re at all interested in Day of the Dead, burial rights or cemeteries, it’s somewhere you can’t miss. Pomuch is one of the few places in the world where they don’t bury their dead but instead, clean the bones and display them in open boxes. It’s fascinating.

🚗 50 minutes / 55km

Becal

Just before the border with Yucatán is the small town of Becal, famous for being home to the jipijapa hat (panama hats). Be sure to stop off here to visit a hat workshop and learn more about this traditional village.

➡️ How to visit Becal

🚗 1hr20 (100km)

Brand New Recommended Tour: Becal, Pomuch, traditional lunch and Kankí ruins

➡️ Pueblos Magicos: there are three pueblos magicos in Campeche: Candalaria, Isla Aguada and Palizada.

➡️ Mérida: If you don’t have time to spend more than a day in Mérida, it’s still worth including it in your itinerary if you can as it’s a beautiiful big city with plenty of history, great museums, stores and restaurants. It’s much bigger than Campeche.

🚗 2hr20 (180km)

Beaches, Cenotes and Nature Getaways

Campeche is a city on the Gulf of Mexico but it doesn’t offer access to beaches in the same way Mérida does. However, check out  these suggestions for beautiful beaches near Campeche.

Dolphins and Isla Aguada

This is the furthest from Campeche but this small town offers decent beaches, year round dolphins tours and a wonderfully relaxed pace of life. We spent a few days here while taking a road trip through Campeche, Tabasco and Chiapas and absolutely loved it. My kids tell me it was one of their best ever experiences.

🚗 2hr30 (166km)

➡️ Read more about how to visit Isla Aguada

Flamingos and Isla Arena

It is possible to take a tour from Campeche to Isla Arena although I have not personally taken one. Next time I’m in Campeche I’ll be looking into this tour for sure. Isla Arena is part of the Celestun Biosphere and is really one of the hardest places to get to on the whole peninsula, hence the need for a tour. Huge colonies of pink flamingos can be seen here as well as many other birds. There is an 8km long artificial canal at El Remate where the whole family can enjoy water based fun (a bit like the one just outside Tulum).

Beaches Around Campeche: Playa Bonita, Balneario Mar Azul, Xpicob

IchHaLool Xaan Ecoparque

I wouldn’t say the park isn’t for everyone but if you enjoy a romp in a very rustic natural setting then you’ll enjoy it here. There are two ‘ojos de agua‘ (springs) and there’s a river too. You can swim in the ojos de agua and even rent a canoe for a splash about on the river. If you cross over the bridge you can have a great walk through the jungle. We’ve been a few times and always enjoy ourselves (but do always take mosquito repellant).

🚗 20 minutes north of Campeche

Parque Ecoturistico Yaax-Ha 

Just outside China, near Campeche is an ecopark where you can find numerous small pools (including some private pools), a temezcal, horse riding fun and even ATVs (which my kids adored). There is a small restaurant on site or you can bring your own food. we were extremely pleasantly surprised by the quality of teh food in teh restaurant here.

🚗 20 minutes south-east of Campeche

Cenotes near Campeche

You’ve heard all about cenotes, you know the peninsula is dotted with them and now you’re wondering about whether there are any cenotes near Campeche, right? Well, in the state of Campeche you need to drive south, near Champotón to find any cenotes: here there are the three cenotes of Miguel Colorado although only two are swimmable (the third is home to some scary African bees, apparently).

➡️ There are far more cenotes to visit over by Mérida and Chichen Itza/Valladolid

Eating and Drinking in Campeche

Obviously restaurants come and go but these have remained long term favourites of mine and of many others visiting Campeche.

• La Pigua – great seafood. Very popular with residents.
• La Olla de la Pagoda – decent Mexican food at good prices. Very friendly staff.
• Cafe Luan – good breakfast food and coffees. Eco-conscious, they use metal straws and have a small ‘green store’ on the side.

Top Tip: We had a very negative experience in one of the malecon seafood restaurants. The waiters are trained to give a ‘hard sell’ to entice customers. If you do want to eat in one of these restaurants I think get a recommendation from someone who knows. We had such a bad time (inedible overpriced food, music so loud we couldn’t hear ourselves, terrible bathrooms).

A Final Word on Spending a Long Weekend in Campeche

My family loves Campeche and always has a lot of fun when we have the opportunity to visit. It’s a gentle, laid back kind of town and I highly recommend it for everyone looking for somethin a little off the beaten path but still super accessible. Enjoy!