Bonampak

Tickets and tours: all the options

Visiting Bonampak means paying twice. The national archaeology institute charges an entry fee at the site, MXN 210 for foreign visitors, and the Lacandon community that controls the access road requires visitors to leave private cars at its checkpoint and ride the last few kilometres in its own vans, for a separate fare. There is no online ticket or timed entry.

Almost everyone comes on a tour from Palenque, because the site lies about 150 km away near the Guatemalan border. The standard product is a long day trip that leaves Palenque very early, takes a motorboat down the Usumacinta from Frontera Corozal to Yaxchilan, then drives on to Bonampak; breakfast and lunch are usually included, entry fees often are not. Two-day versions add a night in a Lacandon village such as Lacanja, with a forest walk to waterfalls, and some tours replace Yaxchilan with river rafting. Groups are shared vans with a driver-guide; private tours with an archaeology guide cost more but allow longer at the murals.

For most visitors the sensible choice is the combined day trip with Yaxchilan. If you have more time, the two-day version with a night in the forest is more relaxed and less tiring.

A short history

Bonampak, known to its rulers as Ak'e, was a minor kingdom on a tributary of the Usumacinta that spent much of its history fighting and later serving its powerful neighbour Yaxchilan. By about AD 600 its lords were installed by Yaxchilan, and around AD 790 the Yaxchilan king Shield Jaguar III oversaw the accession of Chan Muwaan II, whose court was then painted in Structure 1. The city declined with Yaxchilan in the 9th century. Lacandon Maya continued to pray in its temples, and in 1946 they led outsiders, among them the photographer Giles Healey, to the ruins. Restoration of the murals continues under Mexico's archaeology institute.

Getting there

Palenque is the base, with buses from San Cristobal, Villahermosa and Merida and an airport with limited domestic flights; Villahermosa airport is about two hours away. From Palenque the paved Frontier Highway runs south-east along the Guatemalan border, and the turn-off for Bonampak is at San Javier, about 2.5 hours away. Shared colectivo vans to Frontera Corozal or Lacanja pass this junction for independent travellers. Private cars must be parked at the Lacandon checkpoint near the entrance, where community vans take visitors the last 9 km or so to the site. A short forest path leads from the ticket point to the Great Plaza.

Rules and what to bring

Inside the Temple of the Murals photography without flash is allowed, but do not touch the painted walls, lean on them or stay longer than the guard allows, as breath and humidity damage the pigment. Climbing is limited to the marked stairways. Drones need a permit. Bring insect repellent, water, a hat and shoes with grip for wet stone steps. Toilets and a small snack stall are near the entrance; the Lacandon communities sell crafts on the way in. Carry your passport, as there are military checkpoints on the border road.

When to go

Chiapas lowlands are hot and humid all year. The drier season from November to April is the easiest time to visit; from June to October heavy afternoon rain is common, the forest is at its greenest and mosquitoes are worse. March to May is the hottest stretch, when temperatures in the plaza often reach the mid-30s.

Day tours from Palenque usually go to Yaxchilan first and reach Bonampak in the early afternoon, so independent visitors who arrive in the morning have the murals almost to themselves. Light inside the rooms is dim at any hour, but late morning gives the best indirect daylight. The site rarely feels busy outside Mexican holidays such as Easter week and the Christmas season, when Mexican families add to the tour groups. Allow about two hours at Bonampak itself and a full long day, around 12 to 14 hours, for the trip with Yaxchilan from Palenque.