Your tour of this incredible archaeological site kicks off right next to the parking lot, where the path to the ruins begins. From here, you'll simply follow this path to discover an ancient, fascinating ruin. NOTE: The tour is over 1.5 miles long, with more than 28 audio stories, and takes about 1-2 hours to complete. New, Lifetime access, no expiry. Use it anytime, on any trip, as many times as you want.
The first major landmark you'll encounter is the Casa Cenote. You'll step through the entrance and find yourself in another world entirely.
To our left stands the Platforma Funeraria, where the ancient Mayans conducted their funeral rites. Before a body was buried or cremated, the Mayans would place maize in their mouth. This served as food for their journey to the next world, but also represented life and rebirth.
It's impossible to miss the next stop, El Castillo. Standing at 40 feet, The Castle was built to honor the Mayan God Kukulkan and stands at the highest elevation in Tulum, making the already imposing structure even more striking.
As you keep walking, you'll see the Temple of Frescoes, renowned for its detailed paintings of various Mayan deities.
Then you'll visit the Temple of the Wind, one of the most interesting structures in Tulum. The Temple sits atop a cliff and was built to serve as a warning of approaching storms. The round platforms seen here indicate that this is a temple to the Wind God.
The genius of Mayan architecture is epitomized in this building, The House of Chultun. Here, rainwater harvesting ensured that the people in Tulum had enough fresh water for all their needs. The building is structured in a manner so that rainwater would drain into the reservoir.
If you look closely you can see that there is an intricate web of holes in the temple. When hurricane force winds blow from the Caribbean, the holes start to whistle loudly and function as an efficient warning system.
Now continue past the platform and stop in front of the ruins of a house on the right. This is Casa del Noreste, or the Northwest House. This house would have been home to important members of Mayan society.
There are niched figurines of the Maya ‘Descending God’ or Venus which finds prominence across the main facade of the temple reflecting the work of artisans of Mayan era. The “Descending God” is manifested as a stucco figure on the western wall in the temple situated in central precinct of the site, giving the temple its name as the “Temple of the Descending God”.
GPS worked well along the walking self-guided tour. Large opportunity to add a lot of audio of the history of the area during the silent walks between GPS sites.
First off got scammed by a chicklet toothed local. Wouldn't accept the ticket we purchased so we had to drive back go the area we purchased it at. Eventually we got into the park. After hearing how “beautiful” it was I had a bit of hope…. NOPE! Totally desolate unkept area. Absolutely zero effort into making it a complete gem( which is an total loss to the country) not sure why there is so much garbage and unkept areas in a place that could be majestic!
Good app and easy to download. We found it best to download when we had wifi and then log out of it (even switch off the phone to remove the blue quick open button top left) so that it didn’t use up all our battery power. Best to take a separate power bank in case your phone runs low. Sometimes the section didn’t play, probably more to do with us not being in the right spot, but easy enough to just click on the list and tap it manually. Really liked the voice of the narrator and the helpful photos.
Tour was very easy to install and follow along. Great information and knowledge of ruins. Well worth the money and very easy to follow along
They would not except our tickets and qe had to pay again..I want my money back please I was not happy.waljed and in the heat for nothing
This is an excellent option as you can go at your own pace. Since it tracks your location, the narration keeps quiet and lets you go off-route and stay as long as you want at different spots. It starts with the narration when you return to the route. People who went with guides felt rushed through the tour because the human guide wanted to be done and get back to the start to meet other groups.
The Tulum guided tour was an enchanting experience. It effortlessly combined history, culture, and natural beauty into a captivating journey. The informative narration brought the ancient Mayan ruins to life, while the inclusion of stunning coastal views made it even more memorable. This tour is a must-do for anyone visiting Tulum!!!
This app was a great find! Lots of interesting info and a good intro to Mayan history and culture, before and after encounter with the Spanish. Allows you to explore at your own pace and really enjoy the ruins and the scenic location. In my view, the best way to explore Tulum ruins! Ppl kept asking us where we got the app!
I highly recommend this app! In my opinion, this is the best way to explore the Tulum ruins. The app gives you a good introduction to Mayan history and culture before and after encounter with the Spanish, and gives you details about each spot in the ruins. The audio description pops up as you approach the next stop on the map. If it doesn’t, it’s easy to pull up the map and see where you are then click on the appropriate description. Allows you to explore at your own pace at a great price!
This self-guided tour was a great find! While there are several live tours one can book, this option gives you flexibility to tour at your own pace and provides a wealth of background information. It was reasonably priced, a relatively quick download, available to follow offline and easy to follow. I was pleased with the service and highly recommend it! Thank you!
The program did not work well for me, possibly because the location feature on my phone was not enabled. It kept going back and starting the section it had just finished, several times. I gave up and just walked around and read the signs. In the future, I would not pay for the program but just walk around and read the signs. The Tulum ruins were very interesting and well worth visiting.
Action Tour Guide app for walking the Tulum ruins is money well spent. The ruins are relatively small and can be walked quickly, but using the maps helps you take the time, enjoy the beauty, and gain an understanding of what you are experiencing. We enjoyed the 30 stops and felt we were getting better information than some of the guided tours we crossed paths with at many of the key sites. The app downloaded quickly and the map worked perfectly to place us in the right spots to enjoy the commentary. Some of the bad reviews are just silly as they complain that it is not an entrance ticket to the site. It is not. It is not presented to be such. Read what you are buying. It is your guide only and a pretty enjoyable one. We'll worth your $10. Nice work people.
This purchase was a waste of money as they did NOT accept the barcode. Only QR is accepted. We had to buy tickets AGAIN with exact change at the gate. The gatekeeper said this happens often, so PLEASE just take exact change (90 pesos) and buy them there!
This was perfect for us. This self pace tour allowed to get info about the sites, go at our own pace and allowed us to take breaks in the shades when it gets too hot.
The information in the recordings was great. The geolocation not so much. The recording rarely provided directions of where to go next. We spent a good amount of time wandering aimlessly and lost between recordings and ended up missing a lot because of the lack of direction. Definitely didn’t replace hiring an actual guide.
This was the best seven dollars I ever spent. My advice is to arrive early when it opens initially. They do not take American dollars or credit cards at the front desk but you can purchase a ticket at a vending machine with a credit card right there by the front entrance. The self guided walking tour using this narration can be as short or as long as you would like. I gleaned some extremely helpful information and didn’t have to stand in a crowd. Magically quiet
The ruins themselves are amazing. But this $6.99 online ticket is a scam. You buy the ticket online, but are denied admission to the park unless you first go by the souvenir shop so they can try to sell you something while you pick up your ONLINE ticket. Save your money and buy the ticket at the gate unless you want to have to go to the souvenir shop
The idea of this app was good in theory. In reality, it has too many bugs. The site itself is nice but the app is terrible to guide you through the site. I would walk and the app would sometimes kick in to tell me about the ruins. Most of the time, it would fail to provide me any details or guidance. Don't waste your money. When you get to Tulum they offer guides tours and tickets included for $10USD.
Great way to see the ruins and very informative! Also like how we didn’t have to wait for a tour guide and was able to avoid being in a big group.
We took a taxi to Tulum . Paid to see the ruins and taxi driver waited to take us back. Price to get into ruins was less than $10. US It was amazing and beautiful. Took about 11/2 hours to look around. Would have enjoyed more if we had booked a guide. There are guides for hire at entrance for about $5. And next time I would get one as they explain more about it. Worth going on your own as the excursion trips were way overpriced!
It is very good application and I work very well. Geolocation works well and explanations are good
Very well appointed, pleasant visit experience, not too much solicitation of guides. The ruins are really put to good use.
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