☰Day Trips

The Peten is one of the densest concentrations of Maya archaeology anywhere. Tikal is the obvious draw — a full day, ideally starting before dawn — and is covered separately. Beyond it, Flores is the practical base for visits to a string of smaller sites that take in the same rainforest setting with a fraction of the crowds. Yaxha and Nakum pair naturally into a single long day or overnight to the east; Uaxactun extends a Tikal trip by a night; and El Mirador, deep in the jungle near the Mexican border, is a multi-day trek for the committed.