Tulum, you had me at white sand beach, Mayan ruins and cool beachfront bars.  Yet there’s also a growing arts scene to uncover. We recently combined a visit to the ruins with a tour of the colourful street art – hope you enjoy the photos!
We were staying at nearby Mayakoba, a luxury eco resort that’s halfway between Cancun and Tulum on the Riviera Maya. They can arrange group tours to Tulum but as we were limited in time we opted for a private car.
Tulum’s Mayan Ruins
It’s really worth setting out early to get to the ruins as soon as they open. The third most visited site in Mexico gets incredibly crowded from mid morning onwards and I can only imagine how busy they are late afternoon. However, it’s possible to visit at sunrise or sunset by paying a premium. Be warned that in theory you have to pay a considerable additional sum to film the ruins. Nevertheless, we saw lots of people filming on their phones so there seems to be a certain tolerance for personal use, although tripods are apparently a no-no without payment. Our friendly driver dropped us off near the entrance and explained that we could either take a Land train or walk the 1 kilometer distance to the site itself. We chose to walk and were glad that we did as the land-train wasn’t much quicker than we were and doesn’t drop you all that close to the entrance. It would be a good option if visiting with small children, the elderly or infirm though.
After purchasi...