Belize Travel Forum

Hi all

We are planning a visit at Christmas which will mainly be in Belize (although it does concern a couple of other places too). The weather seems good this time of year, and we aim to get around by car (if this is feasible). We have 16 days total but this comes down to 14 once we knock off the 2 international flights to Cancun - It seems this is the cheapest way to get to this part of the world from UK. We are interested in mainly Mayan sites, trekking, jungles, rivers, old towns and the odd beach. Neither of us can dive properly but we would like to somehow see some of the reef.

As we are going to fly to Cancun we want to go to a few ruins in Yucatan and then drive down to Belize and see the many places there (with good relaxation time too). We would also like to go to Tikal from San Ignacio. This appears to be a good base for other activities too.

Is this feasible in a 14 day period? We are used to lots of driving. But the total distance over that period is far less than other road trips we have done. We would have to get back from Flores to Cancun at the end of the trip for the return flight. I've never driven across borders with a car. Is this allowed from Mexico to Belize? Do we even need a car on this trip?

Any help with a short itinery would be much appricated as this is our first time to Central America.

thanks in advance
mike and lisa

I don't know if you can drive from Mexico to Belize in a rental car. I do know that you can't drive a Belize rental car into Guatemala and you are going to have to return the car somehow to Cancun. I doubt that there are one-way rentals. For that reason, I'd prefer to fly from Cancun to Belize.

Go to San Pedro (boat or plane) for snorkeling activities. Then fly or take a boat back to the mainland and rent a car in Belize to drive around to the various Belize Mayan sites. Turn the car in in San Ignacio, take the tour to Tikal (a one day tour is pretty rushed for this site - I'd prefer to allow 2 days) and then fly back from Flores to Cancun.

Your trip is very fine but a beat long for 2 weeks...
Some advices... You can't drive across the borders with a rented car...Effectively you can imagine to drive from Cancun to Chetumal( Tulum), cross the border and then rent an other car for driving in Belize...id in San ignacio for Guatemala...Driving to Flores is not easy and difficult, and there isq no fly from Flores to Cancun.
So why do you want to fly cancun...? If you need to look some sites in Yucatan, it needs about 4/5 days:Chichen itza, Uxmal, Cobah, Tulum etc and you have no time for Palenque...On the other hand 2 new sites have been opened to tourism near ChetumaL...
A trip in Belize is quite long because the different sites are situated at the opposite...N:Altun Ha and Lamanai, SW: Caracol, Xunantunich...
And Then Tikal, the best way is to take a 2 days organized trip from San Ignacio...
Have a nice trip.

I agree with grovier. Either just stay in Mexico and do the mayan sites there, or go directly to Belize even if it does cost more. We spent 2 weeks in Belize including 2 days at Tikal from San Ignacio, but we were more interested in diving than in Mayan ruins.

If you had more than 2 weeks, you might try getting from Cancun to Belize by bus, but it will take time and I don't know myself how I would do that.

I agree with Grandmar and the best way is to go to Belize city via Miami (the fly to miami are cheaper than to Cancun and a 2 hours fly from Miami to BC is quite the same price than the transatlantic one).
On the other hand Guatemala is a great destination and one of the best trip i did.
Id for Mexico...

We did something similar to your idea a year ago, although we had slightly more than five weeks and we used buses. The problem with rentals are, as said previously, it's not possible to cross boarders with the rental. Walking through is a breeze. Flying to Belize city from Cancun can plop you right at a rental car agent and your on your way. Belize is smallish so you can see much in a short period of time. If you plan to go south the roads can get somewhat rough and driving is not that fast. Your really going to enjoy it!

Crystal Auto Rental will let you take a car to Tikal. But, they are located in Belize City. If you wanted to rent a car in Belize City then do your Tikal trip and other adventures and go back to Cancun from Belize.