"Roadtrip to Campeche and Edzna" Top 5 Page for this destination Campeche by Redlats

Campeche Travel Guide: 70 reviews and 203 photos

Sunset over the Campeche Malecon - Campeche

UNESCO World Heritage site

The State of Campeche is the least visited of the three Mexican states that make up the Yucatan peninsula and in fact it was the last one we went to see as well. Campeche covers the southwestern third of Yucatan, and the city of Campeche is a coastal town of 175,000 people 2 1/2 hours bus ride from Merida.

One of Campeche's features is its city walls and forts. As Campeche was a Spanish trading post, it was constantly besieged by pirates. In response, the Spaniards built a thick stone wall shaped like a hexagon that stretched some 2.5 km around the city. In addition, eight bastions (baluartes in Spanish) were spaced evenly among the wall. Seven of those bastions remain to this day, and some contain museums and gardens, etc. Because it is a Baroque colonial town and because of its fortifications against pirates, Campeche has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site.

We spent three days in Campeche, walking about in the walled city (which has no bus fumes to worry about and has cobblestone streets and colonial-era buildings), and visiting a nearby Mayan ruin -- Edzna. Campeche is typical of most cities in the Yucatan -- it has a central plaza, which has the important buildings of the city surrounding it, and a market (Mercado) nearby where locals buy fruit, vegetables, meats and other goods. Although Campeche City has a long west-facing waterfront (Malecon) it has no beaches -- nice sunsets though.

Walking tour of Campeche

Map of Yucatan with Campeche (from Google Earth)

First of all to get to Campeche from Progreso (where we were renting a condo), we took the bus from Progreso to Merida, then an ADO bus from Merida to Campeche. As you can see, Campeche is on the west coast of the Yucatan peninsula. The Yucatan peninsula including under the ocean to the north is limestone bedrock. As such, back in the Spanish conquistador day, Campeche was a significant port.

Because of Campeche's walls, the downtown is quite closely contained, and it is recommended to go on a walking tour of the town. My "Things to do" tips will primarily cover the different aspects of our walking tour.

Mayan ruin of Edzna

Five-Story Pyramid at Edzna

As there is no VT destination for Edzna, we have included our Edzna ruin photos and experiences in the "Off the beaten track" area of Campeche.

The most recognizable feature of Edzna is this Five-story Pyramid, which is fun to climb, even more fun to descend.

Pros and Cons

In a nutshell:A quiet, less-visited city

Last visit to Campeche: Feb 2006
Intro Updated Jun 27, 2006
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Reviews (22)

Edzna Ball Court Off The Beaten Path (8)

All native communities seemed to have ball courts, and Edzna was no exception, although this one is smaller than most --... more travel advice

Panorama view from top of the Five-Story temple - Campeche

Ednza panorama Off The Beaten Path (8)

The Mayan ruins of Edzna are approximately one hour southeast of Campeche -- they are the only major ruins near Campeche... more travel advice

On the road between Campeche and Edzna - Campeche

Getting to Edzna Off The Beaten Path (8)

Getting to Edzna is not that simple. We asked at the information booth in the Campeche plaza. There are basically two... more travel advice

Vieja Hechicera from top of an unexcavated bldg - Campeche

Vieja Hechicera Off The Beaten Path (8)

After visiting the main ruins, we followed the road to Vieja Hechicera. This road (or path) is over one kilometer long,... more travel advice

Restaurants (3)
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Hotels (1)
Reasonable accommodation
Things to Do (8)
See All Maternal Statue

Shopping (1)
Campeche's Mercado
Transportation (1)
ADO bus to Campeche
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Comments (9)

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ciaobella55 Oct 9, 2010 at 8:02 PM

Thanks for your info. I am planning a visit to Campeche and didn't know whether Edzna was worth a visit, but will defintely do so now.
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wilocrek Apr 15, 2008 at 4:59 PM

Excellent page! I have been all over the Yucatan but haven't heard of Edzna till now! I'm heading down to the Yucatan in June, I think I will try and include Edzna!
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Gatopardo Sep 4, 2007 at 1:45 PM

This is a very good page about Edzna, thanks for sharing it!!!
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Vulindlela Apr 24, 2007 at 9:15 PM

Wonderful photos and information! Mexico sure is a beautiful country.
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mtncorg May 7, 2006 at 8:11 AM

I found the visit to Edzna worth the trip to Campeche - the colonial flare is just an extra! Nice tips and photos.
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scottishvisitor May 3, 2006 at 12:42 PM

The temples look awsome = I like less visited places - enjoyable reading with great extra photos Thanks for the tour!
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deecat Apr 2, 2006 at 9:50 AM

A most interesting presentation of Campeche. Very thorough, informative, & interesting tips. Your style of narration is fun to read as well as helpful. Enjoyed your use of multiple photographs.
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Bwana_Brown Mar 18, 2006 at 5:35 PM

A first-class page Lats!! Your tips on Edzna were great & yes, the ball-court at Tikal was also aligned N-S! All these old Spanish town seem to have similar layouts. Nice Transport tip too - we heard in Belize about how good the Mexican busses were!
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alza Mar 13, 2006 at 3:15 PM

tks for the memories! Jus had hours there &a steal-band protest concert instead of classical...but I'll go back! Read "How to breast-feed" in an Argentine paper last week and 'that' way was the 2nd way of holding baby... looks difficult for both!