Tikal. The very name conjures up images of majestic, ancient pyramids surrounded by lush green jungle. The ruins of Tikal are some of the most iconic, most visited of all the Mayan ruins. There’s a reason these magnificent stone structures are on nearly everybody’s Guatemalan bucket list. Tikal will always hold a special place in the foggy depths of my memory, like the remains of a beautiful dream.

Some Practical Information About Visiting Tikal

The ruins of Tikal are located in the Petén jungles in the northern lowlands of Guatemala. You can take an overnight bus from Antigua to the nearby town of Flores. Or, you can also get there in about four hours from Belize. There’s an airport in Flores, too, but flying is expensive and bad for the environment. So, there’s that.

We hopped on the bus from Belize. Keep in mind that this was about ten years ago, so things may have changed. Life is ephemeral and change is inevitable. That’s why this post is more of a travelogue rather than practical information. However, there are a few bits of advice that I think still are still applicable. You can also visit the official national park website for more current information: https://tikalnationalpark.org/

Stay Near the Park and Get There Early

If you can, get a hotel just outside that park entrance. That way you can get to the ruins right as the park opens at 6am. Yes, they have a six in the morning now.

This will help you to not only avoid the hottest part of the day, but also the other tourists that will inevitably crowd things as the day goes on. Plus, mornings in Tikal are absolutely magical.

Make sure you have some instant coffee or something if you’re a caffeine addict. Our hotel didn’t have coffee ready that early, so we had to go without. It remains my one regret of our Tikal experience.

Don’t Forget About Flores

Flores, Guatemala, is a lovely little town built on an island in the middle of a lake. This is where most people stay when they visit Tikal. As much as I suggest staying near the park, I’d also recommend at least one night in Flores either before or after your visit to the ruins. Wander the streets and admire the colorful colonial buildings of this quaint little village.

Our Magical Morning in Tikal

As I mentioned, we took the bus from Belize and got a hotel just outside the entrance to the Tikal ruins national park. It also happened to be New Year’s Eve. We celebrated with a fancy chicken dinner and some champagne at the hotel. Not too much champagne, though, and we definitely didn’t last until midnight. We had already set our alarms to get up at the crack of dawn so we could arrive at the park by the time it opened at 6am.

I think I may have woken up a few minutes before the alarm, I was so excited. We got dressed, had a quick breakfast of hyper-processed Bimbo snack cakes and slipped out the door before the staff was even awake. Unfortunately, we didn’t take into account that we’d be up too early for coffee at the hotel.

We stumbled to the park entrance in the dark and handed the guards our entrance fee amid lots of yawning and eye rubbing. I’m pretty sure they were laughing at us as they lifted the gate. We lumbered down the dirt path, into the dark rain forest.

Dawn crept up and a soft grey light grew brighter beyond the trees. The jungle yawned and stretched and started waking up all around us. Tropical birds began to chirp a few morning songs from their hidden perches in the tree tops. Animals rustled in the undergrowth.

We saw nothing. Thick grey mist covered everything around us. We were lucky to even see the trail at our feet.

Suddenly, the forest opened up and we stumbled out into the ruins. The ancient stone structures reached up towards the jungle canopy from their ancient foundations. Lush green moss clung to the grey stones. Thick fog still surrounded everything. The fog and the lack of light made it nearly impossible to take a decent picture. It didn’t matter.

We scrambled up the side of one of the pyramids, crawling up the steep stone steps, marveling that we were climbing the same paths that ancient Mayan priests once strode. The heat and humidity began to rise. When we reached the top, we were drenched in sweat, our shirts clung to our bodies.

We sat down, chugged water and took in the surrounding scene. The grey morning mist still blanketed the area. We could just barely make out the tops of the trees and what might possibly have been the summit of another pyramid.

Then the sun rose higher, the wind shifted and the fog began to clear. Yes, those were the other pyramids. They materialized out of thin air, like ghosts fading into view. It was magical. Maybe one of the most magical things I’ve seen to this day, and something that will always remain in my memory.

We climbed down and wandered through the rest Tikal as the morning wandered into the afternoon. A flock of parrots squawked at us from the treetops. A family of adorable coatis emerged from the forest, scrounging on the grounds of the ruins a few feet in front of us. Wild turkeys with almost iridescent feathers strutted past the crumbling walls. A spider monkey followed us as we left, swinging through the trees and chattering at us above our heads.

Maybe it was the mist, or maybe it was the lack of sleep and coffee, but the whole thing felt like some kind of wonderful dream.

On our more recent trip through Central America and Guatemala, we debated going back to Tikal. In the end, we decided not to. That first visit was so magical, a second visit could only tarnish things. Better to let Tikal remain for us as it was; in a collection of blurry photos on my hard drive and in the sweet, misty depths of our memory.

Read more about Guatemala’s other amazing places here: Go to Guatemala: A Travel Guide Without the Tourist Traps