TIKAL National Park — Attraction in Flores

Breathtaking Site, but Disappointed with the Guided Tour

Tikal is an impressive archaeological site, beautifully maintained and absolutely worth visiting. We opted for an organized morning tour with a guide, arriving at the entrance at 6 AM.

The Site Itself: The ruins are breathtaking, and the surrounding nature is stunning. Visiting early in the morning gives you the chance to experience the magic of the site in relative peace, with the jungle coming alive through the sounds of howler monkeys and birds.

Downsides of the Guided Tour: What frustrated me the most was how the guides seemed to deliberately slow down the group. We purchased the first normal ticket at 6:00 AM, which required leaving Flores at 4:30 AM, specifically to spot wildlife and avoid the crowds. However, as soon as we entered the park, the guide suggested we stop for breakfast.

This was frustrating because we came to Tikal to experience the sunrise and the natural beauty, not to sit and eat. Since some people in the group decided to have breakfast, it delayed the entire group. As a result, we completely missed the sunrise.

It felt like an intentional strategy by the guides, possibly coordinated with the park, to make the more expensive ‘sunrise tour’ (100 QZ extra) seem more attractive. This was disappointing because the sun rose around 6 AM, and we could’ve easily caught part of it if we’d just kept walking. Instead, it was already 7:30 AM before we started exploring.

Conclusion: While Tikal itself is phenomenal, I wouldn’t book a guided tour again. Exploring the site on your own gives you the freedom to move at your own pace without...

If you enjoy being outdoors surrounded by wildlife, jungle terrain, historical sites and walking, you will love it. If not, I would not recommend the trouble of coming here. If you do, here are my tips: (👍 to keep this post on top) Take a local shuttle it's 30Qs near Las Gardenias or you can pick this up at any route from Flores to El remate. Runs every 45-60 min. Round trip . Don't forget another 30q for the return trip. The shuttle doesn't have a name, it just says TIKAL on a white shuttle bus. Stand outside and flag it down when you see it. There's no better method sorry. And no your hotel will probably not tell you about this shuttle. If you don't like this idea.. pay 100+qs for a guaranteed time Bring walking shoes, closed toe shoes, better yet boots. You'll walk through many different terrains and obstacles (mud, shrubs, branches, feces, bugs, climb temples, etc.) Be prepared and be comfortable. Bring deet mosquito repellent, if you use anything else, you will get lots of bites the natural stuff will not work. 150q entrance for foreigners and 25q for locals with ID. CASH ONLY Bring water in your water bottle - no plastic allowed Give yourself about 3-4 hours. Ruins are about a 15-25 min walk apart. Temp will be cooler than the city. You'll be in mostly shaded areas. Snacks and drinks for purchase. No food. You'll see monkeys, birds, ring tailed animals, and lots and lots of bugs. Prepare yourself for lots of walking. There's no transportation services in the park. Take a photo of the map and plan...

Everyone has to visit here at least once! We had a local tour guide take us around and boy am I glad. He was very knowledgeable, learning a lot of historical and interesting info about the people and structures. I am also glad for our tour guide because he knew the best temples to hike up to in order to whiteness a beautiful sunset as well as spot out dangerous snakes/spiders on our walk back once it was dark. The temples are amazing to be in the condition they are in for how old they are, you can even climb up to most of them if not closed off. (Climbing all the stairs can be exhausting so just a warning, I was sweating bad by the time I got to the top.) Great place to take pictures. Was very very hot and sunny so yes to brining water, snacks, bug spray and sunscreen. There are bathrooms periodically throughout the park. Talk about jungle, this was the epitome of jungle. Not even 15 minutes into the tour and I saw 3 spider monkeys in the trees and even more creatures. The sounds of the jungle around me were so relaxing so much better than those “jungle sound podcasts”. I believe it was temple #4 that had the great view of the sunset and temple #5 that has the view of sunrise. Just buy tickets at the door, wasn’t that busy around 15:00 when I purchased my tickets and would consider a tour guide especially if it gets dark (we had no idea which paths lead out of there.) Recommend bringing a headlamp/phone if you will be there when it’s dark. At dark I was able to get an amazing picture of the constellations...