Hi, I am thinking to plan a two-week Mexico trip on next December. I have certain places in my mind to visit. Like Chichen itza, Playa Delfines, some white sand beaches and all. Is it a good idea to hire a tour guide for experiencing local culture in depth? Any suggestions are highly appreciated. Btw, it will be a family of 3 trip. So trying to figure out things accordingly.

You can experience much of the local culture, Mayan ruins, and designated sites on your own. Depending where you are staying, you have 3 - different transports options, and different prices based mostly on your level of “adventure”…

BETWEEN THE AIRPORT AND YOUR HOTEL/RESORT -
Private transfer - The typically recommended outfits are Canada Transfers, Happy Shuttle, USA Transfers, a favorite of ours and other longer-term visitors is Cancun Reliable Tours.
You can also get a shared transfer to your hotel and pay less, you will likely take longer to get there.

ADO bus - very inexpensive option to get to Cancun, Puerto Morelos, PDC, or points south. Clean, comfortable ride, but you will be dropped at the ADO terminal and will need to taxi to your hotel. Very popular option for PDC…

Taxi - similar fare as a private transfer and generally not a good choice.

GETTING AROUND -
Private transfer
Taxi
Rental car
Private or shared guide through the hotel

We have a trusted taxi driver that we have shared with several other visitors, some looking for a ride between the airport and resort, some looking for a driver/guide to go to the Mayan ruins or other beach towns like Akumal and Tulum. He is a very nice gentleman and his rates have not increased like the transfer outfits and taxi unions. I can share feedback from others if you want his contact info…

If staying in PDC or nearby you will find a number of excellent restaurants and food carts in the area. Also great live music if you like classic rock or Latin music…

So do you have your accommodations booked already? Are you planning on staying in a couple different areas or just in PDC because that is a central location? Do you want to visit Merida or another area in the Yucatán state? Isla Mujeres or Cozumel?
It’s easy to do too much moving around here, and PDC can be an ideal spot, but it depends on how far south you want to be…

Hi crmoores, thanks for the insight. Please share his contact info. My initial plan was to Visit Cancun First. In Cancun: Chichen Itza, Isla Mujeres, Playa Delfines or some other famous beaches out there. Then we will move to Mexico City for Museo Nacional de Antropologia,
Palacio de Bellas Artes and Chapultepec Castle. I know there are a lot of Museums, so I will be visiting many of them with my kid, as It will be great learning for him. I was following this article to figure out what to do there: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attract..._City_Central_Mexico_and_Gulf_Coast.html

I do have some hotel in mind from https://www.booking.com/ but yet to finalize them. Getting a second opinion is always better, so before finalizing, asked about my query here. Btw, I was thinking about tour guide because of my son. I don't want him to miss out on any cultural experience. I came across this while searching https://gowithguide.com/mexico/guides. Do you have any local guide contact info? That will do the job also.

Our driver is Martin, his WhatsApp/SMS# is 52 984 179 8440. Depending on where you are contacting him from you may need add a “1”. 52 1 984 179 8440.
He’s just a very nice guy and very familiar with everything here.

Here is feedback from Jackie whom recently stayed at the Fives and we recommended Martin to:
“Thanks so much for recommending Martin… we used him a few times to go into Playa del Carmen and he also took us to Tulum and around for the day. He’s a nice guy and he treated us really well. Recommended him to a couple in the hotel so hopefully he’ll get some work from it. He was also really interesting to talk to… from politics to the seaweed problems… !!
Please feel free to share our feedback! I’m sure he’d be glad of the work. He joined us for lunch in Tulum and was really good company. We are two older ladies travelling alone and it’s important to feel safe more than anything, added to which he was always punctual, reliable and really helpful.”

Of course the main area of Cancun is the hotel zone, and there is really nothing to see or do there. Isla Mujeres is a nice island to visit, but has gotten very crowded over the years and is more a day trip for visitors.
So I would consider other areas in the Riviera Maya, perhaps using PDC as a base to visit nearby areas. The Mayan ruins at Tulum and Coba, for example, along with one or two of the cenotes here, and of course the beaches of Tulum, Playa, or Puerto Morelos. All of these areas are drivable from PDC. And it’s a 45-minute ferry from ODC to Cozumel if you want to add that. There are other areas, and options like Xcaret if you want that…
Then perhaps spend some time in Merida before flying to Mexico City. See the Cathedral and plazas, and the ruins of Ek Balam.

Just a bit more culture everywhere but Cancun…[b][/b]

Okay, gotta change my itinerary according to this. Tulum was out of my mind. WIll include it also.

Well I would recommend taking advantage of other forums where you can get a broader feedback from more folks. This forum is very quiet…

The various Riviera Maya forums on TripAdvisor, including Playa Del Carmen, Cancun, Isla Mujeres, Puerto Morelos, Akumal, Paamul, Puerto Aventuras, Tulum, and Mahahual are great places to learn about these areas. You can follow these specific forums, or follow the Quintana Roo forum to see all posts on all of the regional forums. But if you have not already, take a look at those forums, you will see a lot of activity on various topics. There are also Facebook forums, but the feedback there tends to be from less experienced and novice travelers…

This is the Q Roo forum, you will,see that you can drill down to more specific forums -

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g1575485-i14383-Quintana_Roo_Yucatan_Peninsula.html

There are some areas of Quintana Roo that you may feel safer in, smaller communities versus Cancun, Playa, and now Tulum for example. But it just depends on what you see that interests you. Following the Isla Mujeres forum, you may find it is exactly where you want to go.

Just be aware of the potential scams here and you will be a smarter traveler…

For getting a real feel of the local culture, a tour guide can be super helpful. They'll tell you all the cool stories and facts you'd probably miss on your own. Since you're traveling with your family, a guide can make things smoother by focusing on what you all like. Just make sure to pick someone with good reviews. Have a fantastic trip and enjoy all the awesome sights and experiences Mexico has to offer!