Epic Travel → Central and South America → Guatemala → Tikal

Location: Tikal National Park, Northern Guatemala

Time Required: One day

Red Tape/Notes: Open 6am to 5pm, daily – for an additional fee, you can enter before 6am for a sunrise tour. Standard entry fee for foreign visitors is $20 US. For more information on Tikal, visit this website.

What’s Nearby?: Yaxha

During its apogee in from 200 – 900 CE, Tikal dominated much of the Maya region and interacted with far away powerhouses like Teotihuacan. It’s the best understood of the major lowland Mayan cities (due to the availability of information on its dynastic rulers from hieroglyphics and stelae), and is also one of the largest archaeological sites in the Maya civilization. It’s home to numerous architectural groups, temples, and structures, including the oft-pictured Temple I, and Temple IV, the tallest pre-Columbian structure in the Americas. The Lost World Pyramid is notable for its stucco masks of the Sun God, and the ruins of Maler’s Palace (particularly the south side) and the East Plaza (behind Temple I) are, in my opinion, the most interesting interesting and fun to explore (there’s also a small ball court next to Temple I). The Tikal National Park covers a large natural area which is interlaced with trails providing the opportunity to see wildlife and some interesting evidence of more recent occupation. And while Tikal is probably the most-visited tourist site in the country, it’s also large enough that if you’re willing to hike to some of the more remote areas, you can definitely escape the crowds and do some fun exploring on your own.

Epic Travel → Central and South America → Guatemala → Tikal