Parque Nacional Tikal Transportation Tips by Bwana_Brown Top 5 Page for this destination

We Snag a Mini-Van

When we opted for our impromptu trip to Tikal, with no Spanish to fall back on, we were not exactly sure what to expect. However, with lots of tips from other travellers at our Trek Stop stay in Belize, we decided to give it our best shot. By 7 AM we were standing on the highway headed for the border when a 'share cab' stopped to pick us up (US$3). As soon as we arrived we were set upon by money changers, in both Belize and the 'no man's land' between border stations. Planning only a short trip, I changed a minimal amount of BZ$300 (US$150) into 1050 Quetzales and got on with the border formalities. Things went well, US$37.50 to exit Belize and ~US$3 to enter Guatemala. Between border posts, we had been approached by a taxi driver, who pointed me to the proper immigration forms for the Guatemalan side. Once we were through, he and I discussed how we were going to continue our journey, since practically everyone else was already attached to a pre-paid tour of some sort. The going rate for a 'taxi' ride to Tikal had been US$60 but had recently been reported as raised to US$75 from our information, so when the driver offered to take us both for US$40 we accepted it after a bit of haggling (after all, we only had one night to play with so did not have a lot of time available to be waiting around!) and we were underway by 8:30 AM (continued next Tip).

Mode: TO

Type: Bus

The Road to Tikal

The road from the Belize border was unpaved and undergoing extensive repairs for the first ~30 miles, but it was not overly rough and we made relatively good time - the countryside was nice too but you could immediately tell the lower economic standard as compared to Belize. We soon hit pavement and bombed along quite nicely until we pulled over for the scenic shot shown here near El Remate, where the road forks between the town of Flores and Tikal National Park. We paid our US$14 entrance fees (for two) as we entered the outer boundary of the Park and soon covered the remaining 20 miles (30 km) to the Temples, arriving at about 10 AM.

Our transportation guys helped us sort out our accommodations and offered to come back the next afternoon at 2:30 PM to take us back - for the same price (after a bit of bargaining). When they did come back, they had brought a couple of young American customers (from San Igancio) on a day-trip, so we had to wait until these people had finished their touring at ~4:15 PM before we actually headed 'home'. All went smoothly and we were back across the border by 6:15 PM, from where we took a 'share cab' back to our accommodations at the Trek Stop (whose owners had kindly allowed us to leave our large backpacks in our chalet at no charge while we stayed in Tikal with our day-packs!). Our taxi van was operated by ASETUR out of Melchor de Mencos, Peten District and we saw another couple of their vans while in Tikal - no complaints!

Mode: TO

Phone: 5598-2784

Type: Bus