Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
wear comfortable shoes with good rubber treads that grip well. The ruins here can be very
slick from rain and organic material, especially during the wet season. Bring plenty of wa-
ter, as dehydration is a real danger if you're walking around all day in the heat. Please
don't feed the coatis (pisotes) that wander about the site.
GUIDES
Multilingual guides are available at the information kiosk. These authorized guides dis-
play their accreditation carnet, listing the languages they speak. Before 7am, the charge
for a half-day tour is Q100 per person. After that you pay Q300 for a group of up to four
people, plus Q40 for each additional person.
MONEY
The Jaguar Inn (
Click here
)
will exchange US dollars and traveler's checks (at a poor rate)
and provides internet access at Q50 per hour.
RESOURCES
For more complete information on the monuments at Tikal, pick up a copy of
Tikal - A
Handbook of the Ancient Maya Ruins
, by William R Coe, which is available in Flores and
at Tikal. A book you're best off finding before you come is
The Lords of Tikal
, by Peter
D Harrison, a vivid, cogent summary of the city's history. Guards at the ticket booth sell
you an 'official' site map (Q10) which is identical to the one posted at the site entrance.
Getting There & Away
Four microbuses by Asociación de Transportistas Imperio Maya (
Click here
)
depart
Flores between 6am and 3pm (Q30, 1½ hours), the last returning at 5pm. They return
from Tikal at noon, 1:30pm, 3pm and 6pm. You could also take the Uaxactún-bound bus
from Flores at 2pm, which goes a bit slower. Autobuses del Norte provides Pullman ser-
vice to Tikal at 6am and 8am (Q80).
From El Remate a collective shuttle departs at 5:30am for Tikal, starting back at 2pm
(Q30/50 one way/round trip). Any El Remate accommodations can make reservations.
If traveling from Belize, get a Santa Elena-bound microbus to Puente Ixlú, sometimes
called El Cruce, and switch there to a northbound microbus for the remaining 36km to
Tikal. But note that there is little northbound traffic after 11am. Heading from Tikal to
Belize, start early and get off at Puente Ixlú to catch a bus or microbus eastward. Be wary
of shuttles to Belize advertised at Tikal: these have been known to detour to Flores to pick
up passengers!
