With a load of wedding-white beaches, spectacular clifftop ruins and fancy-pants hotels, Tulum holidays drop you in travel mag territory.
On-trend town
Tulum spent years as the underdog of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, letting Cancun and Playa del Carmen take top billing. But now, trendy Tulum’s basking in the limelight. And rightly so. This town of two halves has plenty to be smug about, including some wow-worthy Mayan ruins, lap-of-luxury hotels and some of the whitest beaches on the Caribbean Coast. Just so you know, the beaches on this stretch of coastline sometimes experience increased levels of seaweed – called sargassum. It’s influenced by the weather and ocean currents. If your hotel’s affected, the staff will do everything they can to clear it as quickly as possible.
Traditional and 21st-century
This place takes things a lot easier than its northerly siblings. But it’s no shrinking violet. First off, you’ve got the main drag, where you can grab tacos from street stalls, or traditional restaurants. Then, down on the beach, there’s another strip, which is on the more la-di-da end of the scale. Think eco resorts, high-end hotels and chic eateries and bars, dishing up ceviche alongside cocktails.