Here I am, after having disposed of the sadness of my return, to tell you about two week itinerary of my honeymoon in Mexico do it yourself, strictly backpacking: what do you want, Mexico is the ideal destination for a romantic trip, especially if low cost.
Mexico is a country that, if on the one hand, can be very expensive (being your honeymoon, maybe you prefer one of those wonderful resorts on the Caribbean sea, those with huts on stilts and towels put in the shape of a swan every time you visit. they redo the room), on the other hand it is a country that lends itself very much to backpacking trips with an eye on the budget.
The pyramid of Kukulkan to Chichen Itza
In our itinerary we started from Cancun and moved by public transport, dedicating a couple of weeks to Yucatan and Chiapas before going down to Guatemala and continuing our honeymoon there. We started with a rough itinerary and without booking anything, thank goodness since Air France has placed us a delay of those able to mess up the programs even to the most precise of living beings.
Below you will find ours itinerario two weeks.
The first two days were dedicated to Cancun e Isla Mujeres, just to see what the unsustainable tourism has managed to combine in these parts, reducing a beautiful territory to a large playground for those tourists who intend the trip only as eating-beach-eating.
Le rovine Maya in Tulum
Surely it would be to spend at least a few days in Playa del Carmen, since Tulum deserves not only for the ruins (the only Mayan ruins on the sea) but above all for the beach, a long and white strip of fine sand like talcum powder that plunges into the cobalt blue of the Caribbean Sea.
A tip: in Tulum organize a immersion in a Cenote, there are some where it is possible to do a “discovery” dive that is for those who are not in possession of the diving license (we did it to Cenote House, beautiful experience).
We then moved on to Valladolid where we did base two nights for I will visit Chichen Itza ed Ek Balam: if you go in the morning after visiting the ruins do not miss a swim in the Cenote X'Canche near there.
Cenote X'Canche, near the Ek Balam ruins
With the ADO bus it takes just under three hours to travel between Valladolid and Merida which is absolutely worth a couple of days. From Merida in a day you can visit the rovine Maya at Uxmal or the Celestùn reserve where you can admire thousands of pink flamingos.
I say it here and then I will not say it again in order to avoid insults from other travelers: I jumped Campeche.
I will surely find someone who will tell me that Campeche is the most beautiful of all the cities of the Yucatan peninsula, but we didn't have enough time: something we had to skip.
So from Merida we took the night bus to Palenque: arriving early in the morning allowed us to catch an agency at the bus station with which we immediately left to visit the rovine maya (really unmissable), the Misol-ha waterfall (pretty) and the very famous Blue water: the color of the water and the waterfalls are really beautiful, unfortunately being very touristy it is full of stalls that sell all kinds of souvenirs and that spoil the magic of the place a little.
From Palenque you can also organize a day trip to siti Maya di Yaxchilàn e Bonampak: keep in mind that we leave at six in the morning for the visit because there is a long way to go.
Yaxchilàn is located on the bank of the Usumacinta River which divides Mexico from Guatemala and to get there you have to navigate the river for about an hour observing lazy crocodiles snoring blissfully in the sun on the sandy shores.
Blue water
The following day it was the turn of San Cristobàl in the state of Chiapas. From Palenque it is about 4 hours by bus along an impassable road in the mountains, but with the perfect OCC buses the hours pass quickly thanks to the screening of a film (Warning: if you travel with your own car, try not to take this road at night, because it seems to be one of the most popular among the ladrones).
In San Cristobal we had no problem finding good and cheap accommodation: the level of the hostels and guest-houses is high and the prices are low: in practice an incredible godsend for a low cost honeymoon.
Church of Santa Lucia, San Cristobal
From San Cristobal in a day you can visit the Canyon del Sumidero and the indigenous community of San Juan Chamula (very feasible with collectivos taxis because they are very close to the city) and the Montebello lagoons, one of the biggest disappointments of my trip to Mexico: too many hours by car to see cute ponds of a dark blue color: it seems that the particular color of the lagoons is given by a type of algae that due to the fungicides used for the crops are changing their color.
If you're interested San Cristóbal de las Casas you can read this post from my friend Emanuele!
But every self-respecting honeymoon cannot fail to spend the last few days sprawled on some beach enjoying some sunset, perhaps sipping a nice fresh mojito and the Pacific is perfect for this.
We haven't given up on a few days of rest either and for this reason we have chosen nothing but a magical place facing the ocean: Mouth of Heaven.
Boca del cielo is very different from what you can find in other tourist places on the Pacific such as for example Manuel Antonio in Costa Rica: in Boca del Cielo there are no elegant structures equipped with jacuzzi and all comforts, in Boca del Cielo you will have to settle for a simple cabana on the beach, a hammock hanging limply from the palm trees, some small restaurant where you eat fish freshly caught and a 16 km long beach all just for you.
And if you are lucky like us (and if you go at the right time) you can have the privilege of seeing sea turtles born: what can I say, can you imagine a more romantic ending for a honeymoon in Mexico with all the trimmings?
Momenti magici to Boca del Cielo, Chiapas