Set out from Palenque for a day full of natural wonders and cultural exploring. Visit the UNESCO-listed Palenque archaeological site and spend a couple hours touring this ancient, jungle-clad city, learning about its role in Mayan civilization while perusing its temples and artifacts. Afterward, pay a visit to two local waterfalls: the towering 115-feet-high (35-meter) Misol-Ha, and Agua Azul, a series of turquoise-colored cascades and pools—prefect for a refreshing afternoon swim.

A full-day cultural and archaeological tour from Palenque, Mexico
Explore the ancient Mayan ruins of Palenque, a UNESCO World Heritage site
Admire the 115-foot-high (35-meter) Misol-Ha Waterfall
Splash in the pools of Agua Azul, a series of cascading waterfalls
Includes hotel pickup and drop-off

What's Included

Hotel pickup and drop-off
Transport by air-conditioned minivan
Local guide according your selection or not.
Entrance fees to the sites

Food and drinks
Gratuities

Meeting And Pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Start time

08:00 am

Pickup details

We pick up from any Hotel in Palenque City and near of the Archaelogical Site

What To Expect

Zona Arqueologica de Palenque

2 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Cascadas de Misol-Ha

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Cascadas de Agua Azul

2 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Infants must sit on laps
Not recommended for travellers with back problems

Not recommended for pregnant travellers
No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
Travellers should have a moderate physical fitness level
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 12 travellers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.

Traveller Photos

Reviews

3.5

18 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travellers.

Showing 1-10 of 18 reviews

Uncomfortable Waste of Money

Tracy_S, Dec 2022

My tour was tagged on to another tour . Without notice the tour was extended 3 hrs at the waterfall to accommodate the other tour. The bus was very cramped with 2 additional pick up passengers who sat on the floor for 2 + hours! The guide did not speak English . He was not a guide but a driver. Other passengers translated pick up times and locations. Recommend get yourself a taxi and save your time and money.

The trip was great and...

Agnes_B, Apr 2022

The trip was great and very interesting. IMHO Palenque ruins is much more value for the money than Yaxchilan & Bonampak so if you are choosing between these two tours, choose Palenque. Our guide, Belen, was fantastic she has very deep knowledge of the Mayan culture and is eager to share it in an engaging and interesting way. Definitely recommend doing a tour with her (both in English and in Spanish). The Misol-ha waterfall is nice but could honestly be skipped. Agua Azul is much more impressive and you can have a nice refreshing swim on the different levels of the waterfall. Very commercial though with people offering you things to buy every step you take. Manuel Barrios waterfalls are almost as impressive and much more natural and native, also better to swim in. The trip is longer than they tell you. It was important for us to know the exact duration of the trip as we had to book a bus in the evening and almost missed the bus because of the missinformation. On the website it says 8h, the tour organizer assured us that it's absolutely not longer than 10h when we called and asked explaining why it's important for us to know the exact time. Only once we met the driver who picked us up did he tell the truth about the duration, which is actually 11,5h...

Crowded

HelgaMari_H, Apr 2022

We were seated in a snakk car. It was too crowded. For this price you would get better service if you just hire a taxi to drive you around to these places.

Perfect tour!

HelenaAbdali_J, Apr 2022

Belen was a great guide with a lot of knowledge! We had a perfect amount of time each place, and just a really good day!

Very knowledgeable guide...

Harald_S, Feb 2022

Very knowledgeable guide for the Mayan ruins. After the ruins I was picked up and added to another tour to Misol-ha and Aqua Azul. I would have wished some guidance in English. An SMS would have been sufficient as I was not clear if I would stay or need to switch. Both sites was great. However aqua AZul was a bid long. Max 2 hours are sufficient. Overall a great experience

A bad day turned good

Daniel_E, Feb 2022

The worst thing about this tour was that our English speaking tour guide never showed up. Luckily enough our driver found us another English speaking guide. After agreeing to pay extra at a lower price for an extended tour, through the jungle and into undiscovered temples, we actually had great time. The waterfalls are amazing though there are a lot of vendors about. What we thought was going to be a disastrous day turned out to be great one.

I am the only person who joined the...

JLL, June 2017

I am the only person who joined the tour in the morning. It was a little confusing because the drivers speak a little English. Palenque ruins is great, and the guide explained the history of this site very well. I was transferred to another local tour to go the the 2 waterfalls in the afternoon. The driver did not speak English at all. Thankfully Mexicans are eager to help me all the way. I would rather stay at Palenque ruins longer, because traffic time was really long to the waterfalls. The whole trip was safe, and the general experience was good and unforgettable.

I really enjoyed this tour. I ended...

Ines N, Mar 2017

I really enjoyed this tour. I ended up being the only one attending the tour that day and my tour guide was just full of knowledge. I feel like I gained a lot from the experience. Palenque is just beautiful!

Palenque is an extremely important...

William C, Feb 2017

Palenque is an extremely important site for Mayan civilization. Unfortunately for tourists, there's less there than the reputation would indicate. Only 1-5 of the total site has been reclaimed from the jungle, so you can see the whole thing in a couple of hours. Unless you are hell-bent to go for the history, or are in the area anyway, it's a long way to travel for what you get. Unlike Chichen Itza or Teotihuacan and other per-Colombian sites, Palenque isn't near anything particularly interesting. The town of Palenque is mostly another sad, poor Mexican town, with a few hotels and restaurants. The archeological site is well-maintained, and our guide was quite knowledgeable, though his English was at the bare minimum level. The Misol-Ha and Agua Azul waterfalls were more disappointing: hours spent traveling over horrible roads to sites that were nice, but hardly worth the time invested. It was fascinating to travel through rural Mexico past villages and towns I would not otherwise even know about, but the roads are in a state of disrepair and the use of topes speed bumps to slow traffic meant grinding to a near-halt dozens of times. Better than going to the waterfalls in my opinion would be to spend some time at the Palenque Museum. Our guide discouraged us from going because he likely got a kick-back from the restaurant at Agua Azul we ate lunch at. In hindsight, I would have rather paid him a bit more NOT to take us there. While the town of Palenque isn't much to talk about, we did have some good food at the Restaurante Maya and Bajlum, which prepares are vision of authentic Mayan food cash only!. And our stay at the Hotel Villa Mercedes Palenque was a bit of paradise in a chaotic world.

Palenque was great, but the local...

Stephan H, Feb 2017

Palenque was great, but the local guide was a little bit annoying because he tried to sell an extra tour instead of just doing the tour which was already paid for. Misol-Ha really great, but not too much time to explore well. Agua Azul is very growded and really annoying because you can't just admire the falls because of hundreds of people trying to sell you banana. Recommended restaurant was bad and expensive. Overall a good tour regarding destinations, unfortunately a not very motivated guide.

We essentially had a private tour...

Taylor R, Jan 2016

We essentially had a private tour with Ricardo. It was a fantastic experience! Palenque has great ruins that you can actually walk through inside the structures, unlike others in the region. Additionally, the waterfalls were both amazing stops. Highly recommended!!

Ein wunderschöner Ausflug

Radu_D, Apr 2023

Unser Guide der Driver alles haben sehr gut funktioniert.Wir haben wunderschöne Objektiven gesehen .Ein Ausflug zum empfehlen

20 Minuten zu spät abgeholt...

Jochen R, Mar 2016

20 Minuten zu spät abgeholt ausschließlich spanisch sprechender Kundenservice, Tourguide sprach nur Spanisch, wobei man von Tour nicht sprechen kann - wir wurden ohne Map, Informationen o.Ä. in Palenque ausgekippt und 2 Stunden später abgeholt. Es gab auch vor Ort keine Informationen - nichtmal englischsprachige. Natürlich hätte man sich einen Guide buchen können, für 700 Pesos pro Person - bei dem Preis dieser Tour erwarte ich, dass das inbegriffen ist. Der Bus fliegt dann über schlechte Straßen, dass es einem nur übel wird. Misol-Ha ist ganz nett, Agua Azul total braun, weil Regen und leider total zerstört durch die Straßenhändler, die überall lauern. Auch hier keine weiterführenden Informationen. Hätte ich nie zu diesem Preis gebucht, wenn ich das vorher gewusst hätte, denn einen Mietwagen hatten wir selbst und nur fürs Rumfahren hätten wir die Tour nicht gebucht.