10 days itinerary through Quintana Roo – Basic info
We know the Yucatán Peninsula is famous for its hotspots such as Cancun and Tulum, but this area of Mexico is so special that it is simply a pity to stay focused only on such famous hubs. If you are not a fan of all-inclusive resorts and are looking for a road trip itinerary in Quintana Roo that goes beyond the obvious path, exploring hidden gems from north to south, THIS is the post for you. During 10 days, we have explored the best of Quintana Roo and we have now summed it all up in this optimized and tailor-made road trip itinerary through the Riviera Maya. Come along!
On this itinerary we will guide you through our trip through Quintana Roo, exploring cenotes and natural locations that are often overlooked by tourists. You will go from Holbox to Bacalar, saving a full day to explore one of the 7 Wonders of the World – Chichen Itzá. We did not include Cancun in this trip but if this is something you would like to do, feel free to adapt our itinerary and add a couple of days to explore Cancun.
Ps: This is a road trip itinerary, meaning that it has been optimized for people traveling by car like we did. It is entirely possible to follow the same itinerary using public transport, but please consider that you should save more time in this case since transit times will be longer if relying purely on buses because you will need to organize the schedule according to bus availability.
Read more: Tips about renting a car in Mexico
Day 1: Arrival in Quintana Roo, Mexico
If you are planning to travel through Quintana Roo, Mexico, the best airport to fly to is Cancun International Airport (CUN). It is quite a big airport, with direct flights to the USA, South America, and several European countries. Our suggestion is to rent a car right by the airport and head directly to Playa del Carmen. This will be your base for days 1 through 5. We usually avoid changing hotels every day, but if you wish, you can split this stay between Playa del Carmen and Tulum to experience a bit of both places.
Since we were with the rental car, we decided to stay in Playacar for comfort. Here are two accommodation options in this area:
- Esquina de la Felicidad de Playacar (budget-friendly option)
- Casa Pili (+comfort)
Check other accommodations in Playa del Carmen and Tulum.
Playa del Carmen has less charm and is more touristic and affordable while Tulum holds a status of being more alternative and cooler, even if it is nonetheless full of tourists. We picked Playa because of the convenience to stay next to the big roads and to take advantage of the cheaper prices.
The drive from Cancun Airport to Playa del Carmen takes only 1h. To compensate for the long flight day, take the time to get settled nicely, explore a bit the neighborhood, and go out for a nice dinner – maybe even have some tequila to start tasting a bit of Mexico!
Day 2: Cenote hunting + ruins in Tulum
Rise early because the 2nd day of this Quintana Roo Itinerary is full of activities! For the morning, we recommend exploring some cenotes on the way between Playa del Carmen and Tulum. We recommend Cenote Azul and Cenote dos Ojos, both located between the two cities and easily accessible by car.
Head to Tulum for a quick lunch and, in the afternoon, visit the Tulum Ruins. We took a self-guided tour but you will also be able to join group tours right at the entrance – however, we recommend booking in advance. After exploring, you can enjoy the end of the day by the beach in Tulum and head back to Playa del Carmen just in time for dinner.
Read also: 7 Best Cenotes in Riviera Maya
Day 3: Visit Chichen Itzá and surrounding cenotes
This is one of the most exciting days of the trip because you will visit one of the 7 Wonders of the Modern World!!! Chichen Itzá is a “must go” place when traveling through the Yucatán Peninsula, not only for its historical importance but also because it is a really interesting and impressive monument.
Wake up early because the drive to Chichen Itzá is a bit long. We aimed to get there a bit before the gates opened to be one of the first ones inside and it was perfect. We strongly recommend getting a guided tour (we got a private guide for our family of 4) so you don’t miss out on any of the information and curiosities.
The tour lasts around 4h and, around lunchtime, you will be wanting to leave as the midday sun gets tougher. Head to Cenote Ik Kil, located within the same property, for some relaxing time and a cold ice cream. After gathering your strengths, there are three more cenotes we recommend visiting on the way back to Playa del Carmen: Cenote Samulá, Cenote Xkeken, and Cenote Suytun.
You can book an All-inclusive tour on Get Your Guide!
Day 4: Enjoy the beaches in Tulum and have fun at Park Xenses
To make up for the previous long day, we recommend taking some time to recover your energies and that is why we have planned a very chill and fun time for this 4th day of our Quintana Roo Itinerary.
For the morning, we recommend visiting Park Xenses for some adult and family fun time. The entire region of Riviera Maya is famous for its theme parks, but most of them have activities that aim for families and children. However, Park Xenses is an exception. Their goal is to provide activities that play with our basic senses and, boy, they do it well! It was specially designed for adult entertainment and it offers fun for everyone! We spent a whole morning at the park and had so much fun, we left with our bellies aching.
For the afternoon, head down to Tulum and spend some quality time by the beach. For more comfort and structure, you can go to one of the beach clubs by the left corner of the beach. If you prefer more private and secluded locations, we recommend going to Caleta Tankah – it is paid but the ticket allows you access to the beach and a private cenote. It is truly one of our favorite beaches in Mexico, so quiet and incredibly beautiful.
Day 5: Head to Bacalar & enjoy the sunset by the lagoon
Whether you chose to stay in Playa del Carmen or Tulum, now is the time to change cities and head down south to Bacalar. Known for having “7 shades of blue”, Bacalar Lagoon is one of our favorite locations in Quintana Roo. The road down is quite safe, but make sure to fill up your tank before hitting the road.
Check into your accommodation, take a stroll around Bacalar, and enjoy the sunset on one of the decks by the lagoon. Here are our hotel suggestions in Bacalar:
- BOA BOA Bacalar, for lovers of unique accommodations (a bit outside of the center)
- La Galuna Bacalar, located right by the city center
Ps: You might want to take the time to arrange a boat tour for the next morning.
Read more: Complete Bacalar travel guide: accommodation, transport & more
Day 6 & 7: Explore the best of Bacalar
The next two days in this Quintana Roo Itinerary are fully dedicated to enjoying the best Bacalar has to offer. We recommend going on a boat tour, swimming in the cenotes, having fun on the rapids at Los Rapidos, paddling on sunrise, and even sailing! Bacalar may be a small village but the lagoon has so many attractions to offer!
Read more: Best Attractions in Bacalar – Our top choices
Day 8: Drive to Holbox + rent a golf cart on sunset
This is the day you will put in most driving hours. Our recommendation is to go straight from Bacalar to Holbox – so the best approach is to wake up early to arrive on Holbox Island around lunchtime. Since our outbound flight departed from Cancun, it made more sense to finish the trip in Holbox than in Bacalar and it turned out to be the perfect destination for closing this amazing trip.
Holbox is a very laid-back island with amazing sunsets and very interesting attractions! It has a much different energy than Cancun or Tulum, which are considered big cities in comparison. The entire island of Holbox is made of sand streets, so you will spend a couple of days wearing only flip-flops and driving bikes around. Here are our accommodation recommendations in Holbox:
- Hotel La Palapa, an adults-only beachfront hotel
- Hotelito Villas Holbox, a budget-friendly alternative
- Casa Las Tortugas, for lovers of unique accommodations
For this first day, we recommend renting a golf cart at the end of the day for a couple of hours to explore a bit the island and “get the feel of the land”. Mark down the places you would like to come back during the next day with a bit more time. We recommend watching the sunset at Punta Mosquito.
Read more: Complete Holbox travel guide
Day 9 & 10: Explore the best of Holbox Island
We recommend spending at least two days in Holbox to make sure you have time for touristic activities and also to relax in a hammock by the beach. To make it easier for you to decide what attractions are worth visiting, we have put together a guide to the best things to do in Holbox below. A little spoiler: we strongly recommend renting a bike for a day and seeing the bioluminescence phenomena at night!
Read more: 10 Best things to do in Holbox, Mexico
Day 11: Head back to Cancun to fly out home
The logistics of the last day of the trip will depend on the time of your outbound flight. If flying in the morning, we recommend heading to Cancun the night before and sleeping in the city to avoid any surprises while driving from afar. However, our flight was only at night so we had a few spare hours to buy some souvenirs in “Mercado 28”.
Frequently asked questions on traveling in Mexico
This 10-day road trip itinerary has been carefully designed to fit some of the best locations in Quintana Roo. We feel that 10 days was a great trip duration and allowed us to enjoy a lot while having some rest days. We strongly recommend it.
However, there are some cities that were obviously left out of our itinerary such as Cancun. If you want to take some time to visit also Cancun (picture below) or other historical cities such as Merida or Izamal, the best thing to do would be to add some extra days. I would recommend around 3 days to explore Cancun and Isla Mujeres and additional 2/3 days if you would like to add a visit to Merida and other surrounding cities.
Absolutely! Besides having some bad reputation in the past, we felt extremely safe while traveling to Mexico and exploring all the mentioned places. The people we met were extremely friendly and joyful.
However, as always, we do advise you to take basic care and pay attention to your belongings while traveling, as you should do anywhere. Always have cash with you since many places and gas stations do not accept payment by card. Whenever buying something, especially in small shops, always negotiate and make sure you are getting a fair price and not an “overpriced-for-tourists” price. Learning a few Spanish words will take you a long way and make locals more sympathetic towards you.
Make sure to get yourself traveling insurance, check out the best options for you using this link.
The cost of traveling through Mexico will depend mostly on your travel style. It can be an expensive trip if you stay in high-end hotels and book only private tours. But if you travel independently as we did and aim to stay in smaller towns, you will find affordable accommodation and cheap entertaining activities. Just as a reference, the price for visiting most cenotes ranges around 150 MXN.
Bus tickets are pretty cheap, but we advise you to be careful when taking a cab. Request one from a trusted company or through your hotel to make sure they are legal and always check the average price beforehand. Gas price was quite cheap, around 17,97 MXN per liter (in 2024 these prices are around 25 MXN per liter). The cost of food can also vary depending on the places you choose to eat. It can range from 20 MXN for a taco stand to more than 400 MXN for a nice restaurant.
The summer season is between June and August, which is usually known for being the rainy season. For this reason, summertime is a lower season for tourism. Prices are a bit lower around this time of the year, but we recommend adding some extra days to allow you some flexibility to rearrange the schedule in case you need to cancel some tours due to the weather.
We traveled to Quintana Roo in December, which is technically winter time but we honestly could not tell. The weather was amazing, we got sunny days all trip long with the temperatures being quite stable at around 20-25C. The only downside of traveling around this time is that the highest season is between November and February, which makes things busier than usual. As a result, we recommend booking tours and accommodations in advance to make sure you get decent prices and reserve your spot.
Here is some more inspiration for activities you can do on this trip:
Organizing your trip
To help you plan your trip to Mexico, we have put together our favorite planning resources:
- Flights: Get affordable flights to Mexico on Skyscanner.com.
- Travel insurance: Make sure you are protected during your trip. We use SafetyWing whenever we are traveling abroad.
- Renting a car: We always use Discover Cars to get the best car deals.
- Accommodation: Find the best hotels and apartments on Booking.com.
- Activities: Get fun ideas of what to do and buy unique activities with Get Your Guide.
- SIM Card: Stay connected during your trip with Airalo.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. This means that we get a small commission from any purchase you make, at no additional cost to you!
