Last Updated: March 16, 2023
Izamal, meaning ‘Dew from the Sky’, is a small town in the state of Yucatan in Mexico. It’s an awesome place to visit with the family if you’re in this neck of the woods and a really easy day trip from nearby locations.
With lots of transport options, easily negotiable and charming, it’s great for a visit with kids for a morning/afternoon or a whole day (or two).
Nicknamed ‘la ciudad Amarilla’ (‘the yellow city’), it’s been marked as one of Mexico’s ‘pueblos magicos’ (magic towns) by the Mexican Tourism Secretar. Who give particular towns this title when they have a special appeal about them.
Why is Izamal Yellow?
The first thing that strikes you when you enter Izamal is the that all the buildings are yellow. But why is it that this town has adopted this colour?
Well it depends on who you ask as to what answer you get…
Some say the town was painted yellow in 1993 in honour of the Pope John Paul II visit. Which was a very big deal for the town and you can see the statue of said Pope when you enter the convent.
Others agree on the year, but the reasoning is debated. Saying that in 1993 they painted it yellow as it was a politically neutral colour. Due to none of the large political parties having this as their colour at the time.
Others completely disregard the two above as they say it as yellow long before this. And that it was in honour of the Mayan Sun God, Kinich Kak Moo. The same god who’s pyramid remains are in the town (more on that below!)
Others argue it was simply a practical case of trying to keep mosquitos away as they are supposedly deterred by the colour yellow. Although I would argue with this as they seem to bug me even more when I have my yellow t-shirt on!
Whatever you believe, it’s safe to say the ‘Yellow City’ is now great site to behold!
Where’s the Best Base to Visit Izamal with Kids?
You can stay in Izamal itself. There are a couple of hotels in the town and on the outskirts that can be found for most types of budget on the usual websites like booking.com etc.
But as the town is quite small and can easily be explored in a day, it might be more appealing to hit it on a day visit
So if you do just want to take a quick visit, it’s very easy to do from the nearby cities of either Valladolid or Merida.
Merida is a particularly good with one with loads of transport options and only being around an hour from the Izamal. Merida is also a great place to spend some time in Mexico. Being one of the safest cities in the Americas and with lots of family friendly activities to enjoy, it’s a great place to stay with kids.
So for the purpose of this post we’ll concentrate on Merida as our base.
How do you get to Izamal from Merida with Kids?
There are lots of options for getting to Izamal from Merida. You can take the local bus, Oriente coach, a colectivo, private taxi or as part of a tour.
Colletivo is the option we would recomend, its the fastest and one of the cheapest and is very conveinent and easy to do.
The only challenge that some might come across is actually finding the colectivo stop in Merida.
There are numerous colectivo stops in Merida, but most are clustered together along Calle 50 to 52, between Calle 65 and 69. Google maps actually has some of the stops marked so you should be able to find it with relative ease using this app.
Alternatively, just head towards the streets and ask the locals ‘donde esta la colectivo a Izamal?’ (where is the colectivo to Izamal?).
Once you have found the stop its a case of paying to get on, taking your seat and waiting. It’s usually in the region of 35-40 pesos per person. The colectivos usually leave when full, so you do sometimes have to wait, but they usually fill up within twenty minutes or so.
The local bus departs from the Noreste Bus Terminal, very close to the colectivo stop and is around the same price as a colectivo. It’s probably a little comfier with it being less cramped, but will be a bit slower making more stops. They leave around every thirty minutes, so another easy option.
There is an Oriente Coach that also does the journey. They leave from just opposite the Noreste Bus Station. It’s a bit more luxurious than the local bus with air-con and comfy seats. And only a little more expensive. These ones seem to only leave hourly though. Roughly on the hour every hour, but the timetable often changes. So you can go for this option if you want a little more comfort.
To get accurate timetables for the buses, your best bet is to head into the ticket office the day before and ask for the departure times for the next day. The local bus and Oriente booths are in the same place inside the Noreste Bus Station. So you can check both easily. The timetable seem to change quite regularly, so we would recommend checking in the booths before you head off.
For all the above, just remember where you get off in Izamal, as there are different departure points for each mode. Don’t forget to ask as you depart what time the return journeys are, then just head back there after you’re done exploring.
You can also take a private taxi, but this option is a pretty pricey one and not really advised due to the vast options on public transport. But if you want to take a private taxi you can arrange this in Merida. Just be sure you trust the driver and agree a price up front so that there are no issues.
Finally, there are loads of tours that you can join, or even take a private one. Most will include transport, guides and other frills if this is the way you go.
You can easily sort these out in Merida. If you just head to centro and walk around you will see signs advertising tours. Or alternatively you can book one online through Viator or other sites.
What is there to do in Izamal with Kids?
The main draw to Izamal is basically the town itself. The vibrant yellow buildings, friendly local people and small town atmosphere is enough to enjoy this lovely area all by itself.
But there are also a few ‘highlights’ that you should check out whilst here.
The convento de San Antonio de Padua should definitely be on your list and where most tourists first hit when they arrive. It’s the centre piece of the town and is a nice wide open space where kids can be a little free.
You can also check out the inside which is very beautiful.
There’s also a couple of town squares near to the convent, one being the old trading square and the other being the main square. Here you will find plenty of vendors and the colourful Izamal sign t get that all important snap!
There’s also a few Mayan Ruins to explore withn walking distance from the centre of Izamal.
The largest is Piramide Kinich Kakmo, and is about a 10 minute walk from the centre. Take a stroll over and then you can climb to the top. This gives great views of Izamal.
The area around it is also a nice place to sit and let the kids run around for a while with nice wide open green spaces and some trees dotted about.
There are also a few other pyramids dotted around the city, with Chaltun Ha, El Conejo and Habuk some of the others. The majority of these are currently closed to the public. They’re not as impressive as Kinich Kakmo, but still worth a butchers if you want to have a look from the outside.
How do you get around Izamal with Kids?
Izamal is pretty small and the main sites are all pretty close to each other, so walking is a good, cheap and easy method for getting about.
If however you want to travel in a different way or go a little further afield or just dont want to walk in the sun there are some alterntives.
There are many bicycles you can hire. It should be somewhere in the region of 50-100 pesos per bike for an hour. This is pleanty of time to cycle around the less central area of the town to maybe see some of the smaller pyramids and other areas of the town.
The roads are pretty quiet and safe, especially out of the centre where it is less busy. So most older kids should be ok to ride on their own bikes without too much problem.
We couldn’t find any bikes with a child seat on the back. But they do have a little ledge on the back that some smaller kids can potentially sit on.
Our youngest found this a little challenging and so had a little go, but mainly walked. But if you have older kids, bikes could be a good way too go.
There are some vey colourful horse drawn carriages you will see lined up. They will take you on a tour and see some of the smaller ruins around that are a bit more challenging to see on foot. But you’re talking a good few hundred pesos for this.
You will also see taxis around if you need to zip somewhere quickly, but zipping to places quickly isn’t really the order of the day in Izamal. Take your time and soak it in!