Why is Palenque better than Chichen Itza and other reasons to visit

Palenque was one on my favorite places to visit. And if you are into ancient pyramids, it should be yours as well (yes, it is better than Chichen Itza). If you are not into pyramids, it has plenty more to offer

The city itself is not so impressive, but as all of Chiapas it is a gateway to a lot of history and nature. Here is what I did there:

Ancient Ruins

As the title suggests these ancient ruins are the best I have seen in the country, and if I had to choose only one historical site to visit in Mexico, this would be it. Yes, I am serious.

The ruins are located just out of town, you can take a taxi to it or just walk (which I did). On the entrance to the park, you will find certified guides waiting for the tourists. You don't have to have a guide, but for this one I would strongly recommend to hire one. The experience gets A LOT better when someone explains to you what is everything. I shared a guide with a guy that I met in my hostel and it was just amazing. The guide took us through the ruins, explaining the history of the place. Then continued to explain to us the food history, and even took us to the jungle to show us a different angle of the ruins. The ruins are just the tip of the iceberg, they are scattered all around the jungle but it is forbidden to dig more as it is influencing the nature around and the endangered jaguars that live in that jungle (yes, I know what I said!).

Agua azul waterfalls

There is a lot of day trip options around Palenque. But like in San Cristobal, I had the time to do only one day trip. I opted in for the waterfall tour, and I did not regret that decision. The tour takes you through a few waterfalls, ending at Agua Azul. It is an amazing set of huge waterfalls along the river. You can bath in the cold water in some sections of the river. There are plenty of options to eat and drink around while you chill.

You can also arrive to the waterfalls without a tour, I took the tour just because I wanted to see a few waterfalls and didn't want to waste time looking for a ride

Misol Ha waterfall

This is the "warm up" waterfall the tour took us to before reaching Agua Azul. It has a large area to swim and walk around (and below) the waterfall. It is impressive in height and easily one of my favorite ones in the area

Aluxes ecopark

Aluxes is an animal refuge, they are saving local animals, healing them up and releasing them back into nature. After the visit here I saw a few more of those around the world, but this was the first time I encountered the concept and I was amazed!

Final thoughts

Yes, I really skipped Chichen Itza because of this place. My bus stopped in front of it and when I saw the vast amount of tourists it hit me that I saw a better place, and shared my experience with WAAAAAY less people, making it more special.

With that said, if you have the time to visit all the ruins, visit all of them! I opted out of shoving tourists, not out of seeing the world marvel! I hope this post convinced you to visit one of the most special places in Mexico. If it did, tell me! If it did not, tell me why not!