How long do you need in Valladolid?

🗓 Many of the Chichen Itza tours from Playa del Carmen, Cancun & Tulum will give you a few hours to explore Valladolid. If this is all the time you have, that’s ok, you’ll see the main square, check out some shops and maybe get to the Valladolid letters. But if you can, I do recommend spending longer in Valladolid. My recommendation is to spend a minimum of 2 days in Valladolid – this gives you time to explore town and take a trip to a ruin and/or a cenote – see below for tour recommendations. 

🔆 Valladolid is coolest during the winter months (October – March), which is something you may wish to take into account if you’re travelling with tiny kids who aren’t used to the heat.

Where to stay in Valladolid with kids

The following hotels are my favourites in Valladolid, my kids have stayed in all of them and loved them (except for Real Haciendas, where none of us have stayed but I’ve toured, met the owners and loved them). If you’re visiting in summer you’ll want to ensure A.C. and access to a pool.

Getting around with kids

🚗 If you’re taking a road trip around the Yucatán Peninsula then I definitely recommend having a rental car. If you’re hoping to do day trips from Valladolid, a rental car is also the best option as there aren’t too many tours available (I’ve shared my favourites below, however). With a car you know you can explore as you wish on your own timetable. You can also carry all the stuff you need to keep the kids fed, watered and entertained.

→ Check rental car options and availability

➕ Read the MexicoCassie guide to renting cars and driving in Yucatán

🚌 It is definitely possible to explore using only ADO buses but it, of course, limits where you can go and how much stuff you take. 

→ Check ADO bus timetables and prices in Spanish on the official website or in English on Busbud. After my recent problems having my bus tickets cancelled without warning via the ADO website I now recommend only booking through Busbud.

What to do  in Valladolid with kids

👶🏽 Here’s the fact about the main cultural sites in Valladolid: the kids don’t care. Young kids don’t care about the Templo de San Servacio (cathedral), or the Convento de San Bernardino (ex-convent) or the museums. If you care, then great, take them with you and it’ll be fine but if you’re purely looking for things the kids will enjoy, we need to be honest with ourselves!

I have visited all of the sites in Valladolid and think they’re wonderful but my kids definitely don’t! To learn more about exploring Valladolid generally, please do use my other Valladolid articles. Here we’re focusing purely on the best things to do with the kids in Valladolid.

➕ With older kids I probably would take them to either the Museo de Ropa Etnica or Casa de los Venados (all proceeds from here go to local charities) because both have a nice display of items from around Mexico but I don’t think younger kids would enjoy either particularly and you’d probably be stressed that the kids are going to break something in Casa de los Venados as there is breakable stuff everywhere.

🚾 There are public toilets in all Mexican cities and they’re ok but not always what you want with a little one. I can not imagine a single restaurant or cafe in Valladolid turning away a parent asking if they can use the bathroom with their kid. You could always offer to buy a drink or guacamole plate as a thank you but Mexicans are never going to refuse you a bathroom for a child. However, do have a stash of toilet paper on you always as not all bathrooms will have it.

🤿 Swim in cenote Zaci 

This is a great family friendly cenote. It has nice, wide, steps so it’s safe to access even with little ones. Life jackets are included in the entry price and everyone is required to wear them in the water. For the bigger and wilder kids, there are ledges for jumping into the cenote too!

There are basic changing rooms and bathrooms on site and there’s also a restaurant overlooking the cenote.

→ Read more about visiting cenotes with kids

📸 Snap a pic with the Valladolid letters

These are found just outside the San Bernadino de Siena Convent on Parque Sisal and you can’t really visit anywhere in Mexico without  stopping off for a photo with the letters (see photo above). 

📹 Watch a video mapping show

⏰ Note that I highly recommend you confirm the times when you’re in town because they are liable to change without warning. 

⭐️ “Noches de la Heroica Valladolid” – Convent of San Bernardino de Sienna: Tuesday – Sunday. Spanish at 9 pm and English at 9.25 pm.

⭐️ “Valladolid en la Historia” – San Servacio Cathedral – A spectacular video mapping show on the Templo de San Servacio every Tuesday – Friday at 9 pm.  Sat – Sun 9.20 pm.

🌗 Visit the plaza at dusk

Valladolid’s main plaza is officially called the Parque Principal Francisco Canton Rosado, and it’s always busy with people going about their daily business. Here you’ll find people selling street food and small souvenirs. The plaza is also surrounded by restaurants and souvenir shops.

My favourite time of day to be here is around dusk when all the tour buses show up to take the day trippers back to the Riviera Maya. At this time you’ll find the grackles noisily coming into roost overhead and there’s a group of local performers who come out every day to demonstrate traditional Mayan dance too. Don’t miss it, the atmosphere is really special and the kids will love the chance to play here.

➕ You’ll also find, on one side of the plaza, the Palacio Municipal. I highly recommend heading upstairs here for views over the plaza. 

🍫 Learn about chocolate at Choco-Story 

This is part of a family of museums dedicated to the history of chocolate. The other two are at Chichén Itzá and Uxmal. Here you’ll visit 12 rooms, try some chocolate and even be able to buy some of the famous Ki’Xocolatl chocolate (now renamed Choco Story Chocolate).

🛍 Go souvenir shopping

Give the kids some cash and let them pick up some souvenirs:

→ along Calzada de los Frailes you’ll find trendy stores selling gorgeous souvenirs from all over Mexico. The prices are a higher and you’ll spend your time panicking that the kids will knock stuff over, or break expensive things.

→ around the main plaza and the streets nearby you’ll find more low key, traditional souvenir shops where hopefully your stress levels will remain low as there’s less to break and prices are lower.

Nature experiences in Valladolid

🐝 Xkopek beekeeping park

The kids will love learning about local bees at this park – you probably think I’m nuts for saying this but they really will. My kids loved it because, wait for it, they use Ipads on the tour (😂). Don’t despair, they integrate them really well – the staff just have them to show extra information and to help describe what they’re talking about. My kids also loved learning about the mean bees and the kind bees, and tasting all the honeys. Don’t miss this. 

​➕ It’s also possible to stay over night here, which we really enjoyed. There’s a pool and a small restaurant on site too.

→ You can visit independently (send a message to +52 985 125 0964 to set up a time) or join this tour from Valladolid.

🐑 Vallazoo

I haven’t been to Vallazoo but it gets good reviews these days. It seems more like an animal park to me than an actual zoo. There is also a boating lake, mini golf, an interactive farm, bike paths and more – perfect for a day with the kids.

➕ It also has a hotel with really lovely looking rooms, a campsite and trailer park as well as a gorgeous pool on site. 

🛝 Playgrounds

The most central small kids’ playgrounds are by Parque Sisal, on Plaza Santa Ana, Parque Candelaria.

Day trips from Valladolid with kids

​Valladolid, located in the centre of the gorgeous Yucatán Peninsula is a great base for exploring the region. Here are a few popular day trips as well as a few lesser known options that my kids have loved. 

Ruins to visit from Valladolid

Within easy reach of Valladolid you have three excellent ruins to visit. My kids have been exploring ruins in Mexico since they were 2 and 4 years old and they have always loved the experience. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s too hard or that the kids will be bored. They won’t be bored as long as you don’t make it boring.

We don’t tend to follow tour guides at ruins because then the kids do get bored fast and I want them to love history and learning about other cultures. So instead, we go at our own pace, we talk about what it might have been like to live at the sites, what they were used for and more. We ensure we have snacks and water on us, always. 

Chichen Itza  

This enormous site is perhaps one of Mexico’s biggest draws, it’s a UNESCO World Heritage site as well as one of the new seven wonders of the world. It’s a big site and it can get both crowded and very hot here so my top recommendation is to try and get here as early as possible. 

Don’t miss: El Castillo, the Pok-ta-pok court, the sacred cenote

⭐️ Many visitors don’t enjoy the people selling souvenirs at Chichen Itza but I really do. I know that’s weird coming from someone who doesn’t really like shopping but these guys are just trying to make a living and they’re very friendly. My kids have always had a great time being allowed to buy a small souvenir or two here. The sellers are patient and chatty with them and honestly, they have always only enhanced our experience. Please do go with an open mind, if they try to call you over to their stalls, a friendly, “no, gracias” is all it takes if you don’t want to look. 

→ Read the MexicoCassie guide to visiting Chichén Itzá and other ruins in Yucatán

→ Read the MexicoCassie guide to cenotes near Chichen Itza

Ek Balam

Much quieter and smaller is the site of Ek Balam to the north of Valladolid, it’s well worth spending an hour or two here exploring, listening to the jungle and relaxing at the top of the largest structure whilst gazing out over the jungles of east Yucatán.

On a good day, it’s possible to see all the way to Chichén Itzá and Cobá from the top of the necropolis. 

Since you won’t need a ton of time to explore the ruins, I recommend also visiting a nearby cenote or two, such as nearby Xcanche (where the kids will have a great time ziplining, swimming and exploring).

Coba

⭐️ Big news in December 2025, Nohoch Mul, the tallest pyramid not only on the Coba site, but in all of Yucatán, was reopened to climbers after five years. It now has a full wooden staircase to the top, allowing climbers a safer adventure, while protecting this beautiful ancient structure.

Coba, about  45 mins drive from Valladolid, is an incredible sprawling jungle ruin site that reminds me of Calakmul, in Campeche.

I recommend getting to the site as early as you can because there’s really nothing like having this place to yourself before the magic and atmosphere are broken for the day by noisy visitors.

Both times I’ve visited I’ve opted to take a bicycle-taxi around the site because it’s so large. You can also walk or rent a bike to ride yourself around. They have both adult and kid sized bikes to rent for very reasonable prices. 

If you speak Spanish, the bike-taxi driver will potentially be able to tell you all sorts of interesting things about the area. 

➕ If you want to add a cenote stop to your day, consider Multum-Ha, Tamcach-Ha and Choo-Ha, which are all close together. Note that they do not have the facilities available at some of the larger cenotes.

→ Read more about Coba and the other Maya ruins in Quintana Roo.

Cenotes to visit from Valladolid

Cenotes are one of the things that make the Yucatán peninsula so special and exploring them is by far one of the best things to do in Valladolid. There is one right in the city centre (mentioned above) and many others are easily reachable within an hour.

If I’m totally honest, the cenotes around Valladolid are, for me, the most impressive on the peninsula.

Here are a few of my favourite cenotes near Valladolid:

Cenote Ik Kil – the most visited cenote by people going to Chichén Itzá

Hacienda San Lorenzo Oxman –  Both the hacienda and the Oxman cenote are very beautiful. It can get busy with visitors. Popular for its rope swing. There is a restaurant on site. Just twenty minutes from Valladolid. This is a perfect option if you have little kids who haven’t been in many cenotes before as there’s a life guard on duty and access to the cenote is nice and easy.

Dzitnup Village with cenotes Samula and Xkeken. A ten-minute drive from Valladolid, these cenotes are very popular with visitors. There is a restaurant on site.

Sac-Aua – This is one of my favourite cenote experiences on the peninsula, partly because it’s so beautiful and partly for the incredible cave on site. We spent ages exploring the cave before heading into the cenote for kayaking and swimming fun. This is apparently the only cenote on the peninsula with a natural island in it. Note that if there have been heavy rains, the island is sometimes covered by water.

➕ Cenote Suytun – This is one of the most famous cenotes on Instagram, with the photo of someone standing on the concrete platform with the sun’s rays illuminating them. Note that you can only get that specific photo at certain times of the day. You can prebook online and take advantage of their buffet lunch too. Personally, I don’t recommend visiting with kids because I’ve done it and people just got annoyed with kids there as most visitors are there for a perfect photo, not to swim and play.

→ Read the MexicoCassie guide to the best cenotes around Valladolid for more cenote ideas

→ Read the MexicoCassie guide to what to take when visiting a cenote

→ Read the MexicoCassie guide to cenotes with kids

Other towns to visit from Valladolid

Izamal (Yellow City)

You may have heard of the famous yellow pueblo magico with more archaeological sites IN the city than you can imagine. A trip to Yucatán just isn’t complete if you haven’t been to Izamal.

→ Read the full MexicoCassie guide to Izamal

Las Coloradas

The northeast coast of Yucatán is well worth a visit. Las Coloradas is the name of the small village next to the famous pink salt lakes. Head here to be wowed by the pink water and then by the pristine beaches in the nature reserve. As of 2026 it’s possible to swim in the pink waters.

→ Read the full MexicoCassie guide to visiting Las Coloradas and the pink salt lakes

→ This tour combines Las Coloradas with Ek Balam or you can combine Rio Lagartos and Las Coloradas.

➕ Tizimin – This small city is best known for its strange caves and ice-cream.

➕ Uyama – Go check out the amazing and weirdly tiled church in this tiny nearby town.

➕ There are gorgeous beaches such as El Cuyo and San Felipe that are visitable for the day from Valladolid.

What to eat with kids in Valladolid

You will find restaurants for all budgets and tastes in Valladolid – my preference is always for local restaurants where I know i’m getting real food rather than ‘tourist food’, you’ll find my recommendations below.

⭐️ Use the MexicoCassie guide to feeding kids in Mexico to take the worry out of finding kid friendly foods

→ see the MexicoCassie guide to safe drinking water in Mexico

Fast food is easy to find – you can get burgers, pizza, tacos & more

Where should you try?

Mercado Gastronomico – this is a good, non-fancy place to stop for a snack snack or agua fresca when you’re in central Valladolid.

Vegetarian – Le Kaat

Healthy international food – Yerbabuena de Sisal

Amazing tacos – Yakunaj (more upmarket) or Ke Kekas (CDMX style fast food)

The best poc chuc – La Tia Valladolid