Hacienda Chichen

Activities

• Explore the awesome Mayan ruins at the Chichen Itza site, just minutes from the hacienda
  
  
• Go horse-riding to the old Chichen ruins, which have only been partly excavated - you can see pyramids and trees, but you can't go in. Reception can organise this for you
  
  
• Cool off in the hacienda's Olympic-size swimming pool
  
  
• Take a guided bird-watching tour in the hacienda's grounds - watch out for over 150 species, including rose-throated becards and yellow-faced grassquits
  
  
• Lie in a hammock and enjoy the peace
  
  
• Buy some jade jewellery or hand-dye weaves at the on-site Toh gift shop - everything is locally made and proceeds go to the hacienda's ongoing Wildlife Conservation Project
  
  
• Explore the hacienda's history by taking a guided bicycle tour around the grounds
  
  
• Admire the ancient buildings in Valladolid, the capital of Yucatan in colonial times (a 30-minute drive away)
  
  
• Visit the Convent San Antonio de Padua in Izamal (a 45-minute drive away). Built on top of three vast, partially buried Mayan pyramids, the convent is filled with ancient murals and was once visited by the Pope
  
  
• Spend a day in nearby Merida. Stroll around the pretty cathedral and cobbled streets, then treat yourself to some gorgeous hand-embroidered furnishings
  
  
• Visit nearby Ikkil and Balancache and go swimnming in their underground-lake cenotes
  
  
• Bliss out at the Yaxkin Spa, which offers a range of indulgent Mayan treatments, massages and beauty therapies. We'd recommend the Stress Relief Ritual (includes a banana leaf wrap and petal-filled foot bath), Cocoa Bliss Spa (the body is brushed with chocolate and coconut oil, then covered in orchids) or the Sacred Mayan Hot Stone Spa Massage