Ahh, the million dollar question when traveling to Cancun! Should you make a trip to Chichen Itza or Tulum? To make things really easy and also not be any help at all, go to both!
Now I know you're like, "Really? If I could go to both I wouldn't be here right now." Ok, ok. I understand. Well in our 72 hours in Cancun blog we talked about our tour of Tulum but we didn't really talk about why we chose Tulum over Chichen Itza, so here it is!
When we originally got to Cancun we were determined to go to both seeing as we had three days and each was only about a 12-14 hour tour. However, money for this trip was a little tight and so we felt it was necessary to choose between the two. The prices were practically the same with Tulum only being a few dollars cheaper.
The next question is which would we have more fun at. Now, that was a really hard question to answer. After scouring the internet and talking to many people, both natives and tourists alike, we came to an agreement on Tulum.
The biggest selling point on Tulum was that the tour offered more to see and do, including, two archaeological sites and a cenote (for a little bit cheaper than a tour that only took you to Chichen Itza).
I had honestly never heard of Tulum until we had started to plan the trip, but it came so highly recommended. Being that we are such huge water people, it also was a big plus that it was right on the water. I think it is safe to say that, if and when we make our next trip down to Mexico, we will consider actually staying in Tulum for a few days of culture, history, sunshine and waves! Hope this helps you make your decision!