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Tulum Travel Guide with tips on things to see, the best places to eat, drink and stay in beautiful, sunny Mexico.
White sandy beaches and jewel coloured water. Chilled beach clubs spilling onto the sand serving well crafted mezcal cocktails and fresh tacos. Swings at white washed bars and beautiful street art painted along the roads.
Tulum has a distinctly hippie vibe, despite the beach strip being full of boutique hotels and some very fancy beach restaurants.
Whether you’re staying in Tulum itself or just taking the trip for the day to take in the ruins, Tulum is a must visit when on the Yucatan peninsula.
Tulum Travel Guide Contents
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WHERE TO EAT AND DRINK IN TULUM
TULUM RESTAURANTS
Safari
Tulum Town
Safari started out as an al fresco restaurant, serving up some of Tulum’s best tacos out of an Airstream. Now a bricks and mortar restaurant in town, Safari continues to serve God tier tacos and amazing margaritas with a full Mezcal menu.
La Zebra
South end of the beach
One of my favourite finds during my time in Tulum. With live music during the day and fantastic food, La Zebra is strewn with day beds and swings to lounge on.
La Zebra is a hotel too, but you can enjoy a day parked up here if you spend around $25 against food and drink during your time there. Easily done, and the food and drinks are well worth it.
Ziggy’s Beach Club
Midway on the beach stretch
Ziggy’s is a bit of me: a super chilled place with a huge circular bar in the centre, swings lined around it to sit on whilst you drink a cocktail. They also did a great rosé wine, which is exactly the sort of thing I crave on a tropical beach and yet not always the easiest to find.
Ziggy’s is beautifully lit by night and has a fire pit outside, and has live music pretty much every evening.
Mezzanine
North end of the beach
Sister restaurant and hotel to La Zebra specialising in Thai food alongside all the Mexican favourites: tacos, aguachile and ceviche. Views and vibes at Mezzanine are immaculate.
Papaya Playa Project
North end of the beach
One of the most coveted Instagram spots in Tulum; Papaya Playa Project is not only a stunning design hotel but a beach club serving high end food and cocktails.
TOP TIP: Just in case you’re not the sort of person who is comatose by 10pm on holiday, Papaya Playa Project are famous for the all night beach parties they hold every Saturday, the biggest one of the month being the Saturday that falls nearest the full moon.
Coco Tulum
Midway on the beach stretch
A beautifully designed bar, all whitewash with swings and big cushions that look out to the ocean. There’s even a shower under the tree in front of Coco, water falling from a sea conch like some sort of Robinson Crusoe dream world.
Prices of the food and drinks match the beauty of the place, and I found it a little pretentious, but it’s still a beautiful spot for a cocktail.
Kin Toh
North end of the beach
Architecturally stunning bar and restaurant in hotel Azulik, Kin Toh feels like a tree house, all wooden with lanterns hanging from the rafters, netted areas to lounge in and private ‘nests’ that give you magical views of the sunset over the Tulum jungle.
As a restaurant Kin Toh specialises in fine dining, offering a tasting menu, but you can always just go along for their champagne sunsets if you’d prefer.
Hartwood
Mid to south end of the beach
Once listed amongst the 50 best restaurants in the world, New York chef Eric Werner has set up Hartwood in Tulum and it has thrived with the New York set that vacay frequently in this area of Mexico.
Food is cooked on a open fire, the menu changes every day depending on local availability of ingredients and there is a strong a focus on sustainability. Hartwood is a popular place – reservations are highly recommended.
La Popular, Nomade Tulum
South end of the beach
La Popular is a beautiful boho beach restaurant, serving quality food – plenty of fish, freshly caught locally every day. There’s a heavy focus on sustainability too.
Gitano
On the beach road, midway down the stretch of road
A big mirror ball throws light amongst the palm trees in this low lit restaurant and bar in the jungle part of the Tulum beach road.
Gitano specialises in mezcal cocktails and live music takes centre stage on much of the time; Fridays and Saturdays descend into long nights of dancing after dinner.
Campenella Cremerie
Various, Tulum town
Frequently named as the best ice cream in Tulum, this gelateria is in the town and is also noted for its great coffee.
Antojitos la Chiapaneca
Tulum town
One of the best street food places in town with a short menu of tacos starting at the bargain price of 10 pesos each – showing that when you step away from the beach side of Tulum you can eat excellent local food at local prices.
Taqueria Honorio
Tulum town
Another cheap street food place in town for tacos, this one is open early in the day for all your breakfast taco needs. Open 6am until 2pm – the pork tacos come particularly recommended.
TULUM BARS
Mateo’s Mexican Grill
On the beach road, north end of the beach
Mateo’s climbs up a few stories to a rickety rooftop terrace with a bar serving 2-4-1 cocktails during happy hour, making it the ideal spot to watch the sun set over the jungle of Tulum. You can see the ocean from the other side of the bar, and the guacamole and fish tacos are excellent.
Ciel Rose Sunset Bar
On the beach road, north end of the beach
Just next to Mateo’s, this is another bar with a rooftop terrace on top of a tower, overlooking the jungle and the sunset beyond.
Batey Mojito and Guarapo Bar
Tulum town
Batey’s mojito bar in Tulum town has a reputation for being a lot of fun, and drinks are served out of a converted VW Beetle.
SPA TREATMENTS IN TULUM
Yaan Wellness
South end of the beach
Gorgeous spa with yoga every morning and evening, meditation three times a week and a full menu of massage, facials and detox programmes designed to make you feel your absolute best.
All treatments include one hour in the sauna, steam and pools water circuit to use prior to your appointment. Reservations recommended in advance. One of the more expensive spots for a pamper.
Massage on the Beach
Sporadically situated along the beach there are boards advertising massages at around $40 for an hour and my GOD, was the one I had good. I went to the little place right next to Coco, and there’s a really cute little shack bar on the other side of the massage spot, too!
Also: they take card. Cheap massages on the beach I can whack on my credit card after a few cocktails? Take my money.
THINGS TO DO IN TULUM
Chichen Itza
You can’t visit this area of Mexico without taking the trip out to Chichen Itza. It’s a disservice to Mexico and a disservice to yourself.
One of the new seven wonders of the world, this complex of ancient Mayan ruins is utterly fascinating. The precision with which the Mayan people built such huge temples, pyramids and structures, all without the use of the wheel (which would have been wooden and not strong enough to carry the limestone the ancient city is constructed out of)…well, it blows your mind.
An absolute must do and a real privilege to see first hand.
Tulum Mayan Ruins
The ruins in Tulum are very well preserved and are sitting on the coast, meaning they have their own beach you can lounge on and swim off of. Once a seaport, the complex at Tulum also has ruined temples and a (very small) castle that overlooks the Caribbean sea from the cliff top.
Well worth a visit, and the perfect way to start a day in Tulum before making your way down to some of the beach clubs.
Cenotes
Cenotes are essentially sink holes opening up into Mexico’s underground rivers, if you want to make them sound far less beautiful than they are. Full of clear (and slightly chilly) water, they are dotted all over the Yucatan peninsula, just waiting for you to go swimming and even diving in them.
WHERE TO STAY IN TULUM
Tulum is absolutely teeming with amazing boutique hotels with the most stunning design – some are even designed around the natural cenotes in the area!
Naturally, you’ll pay more of a premium to stay in one of these design hotels or directly on the beach as opposed to in downtown Tulum, but there are great places to stay in all areas across a range of budgets.
Hotel Shibari – Restaurant & Cenote Club
Hotel Shibari is set around a big cenote which aside from being incredibly cool, is absolutely beautiful. Booking.com do some good deals on rooms here, so this place would be amazing for a night or two as a luxe treat.
Shibari sits 200m from the beach and boasts a restaurant, bar, fitness centre and modern, spacious rooms – some with their own plunge pool. Sunbeds dot around the cenote for you to enjoy the sun between dips in one of Mexico’s natural beauties. Book here.
Beachfront without a crazy price tag, Playa Esperanza hotel not only has a lovely seafront location with private area of the beach, but an inviting swimming pool too.
Rooms are rustic but stylish, with an array of facilities: some have al fresco bathrooms and showers, others have terraces with private sunbeds on. There’s a restaurant and bar on site too. Book here.
On the edge of Tulum town, this beautiful hotel boasts a gorgeous swimming pool in stylish surroundings. Décor is stylish, all turquoise tiles and soft furnishings with wicker accents – the bar area in particular is lovely.
Bikes are available for guests to hire, making getting to the beach and the centre of Downtown Tulum a breeze. Book here.
Casa Agape offers stylish, modern rooms with a rooftop pool in Downtown Tulum, but with the added bonus of Beach Club access at Casa Maria, set in a private sandy cove. The best of both worlds! Book here.
The glamping tents at Uman are absolutely gorgeous, do not be put off by the word ‘tent’! Spacious, set under palmed roofs and complete with air con, Uman offers a unique stay, and that’s before you consider that the property is set by a cenote which guests can relax in.
Bicycle hire is available for guests to more easily reach the beach, and both snorkelling and canoeing is offered. Book here.
With plunge pools looking out to turquoise waters and the palm fringed beach, this beachfront adults hotel is a little slice of paradise in Tulum.
Mi Amor has an inviting swimming pool with a gorgeous bar area running along side it, modern rooms and a spa for guests to enjoy, as well as a restaurant on site. Book here.
GETTING TO TULUM
You can spend your hard earned Avios points on direct flights to Cancun with BA for 60,000 Avios + £150, which is an absolute steal for a 9 hour transatlantic flight.
Once you arrive, Tulum is two hours south of Cancun by taxi, or approx 2.5 hours on the coach from the airport. Busbud is excellent for booking buses and coaches around Mexico; you can book online easily. The journey from the airport to Tulum will cost around £17 one way.
GETTING AROUND TULUM
One of the most popular ways to get to Tulum is by bicycle. Bikes are available everywhere to hire, and will set you back around 150 pesos for the day. The cycle from Downtown Tulum to the beach takes between 20-35 mins. You could walk but it’ll take you around an hour! There are also buses, and taxis available – though the latter tend to be a quite pricey.
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Updated December 2024.
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Awsome journey…i like mexico too