Tikal Tours and Tickets: Frequently Asked Questions
What the park ticket costs and where you buy it, which tours put it in the fare, when the gates open for sunrise, and how you reach the ruins from Flores, Belize or Guatemala City. To compare the tours themselves, start with the guided tours of Tikal.
The park questions are here too: how tall Temple IV is, which temples you can climb, what lives in the forest, from spider monkeys to the ocellated turkey, and why the city emptied between about 830 and 950.
Tickets and costs
How much is the Tikal entrance ticket?
Q150 for foreign visitors and Q25 for Guatemalan citizens with a DPI. A sunrise or sunset visit adds a second ticket on top of the entrance: Q100 for foreigners and Q20 for nationals. Children under 10 enter free, whatever their nationality, and need no ticket.
Where do I buy park tickets?
Online at the Ministry of Culture and Sports' ticket platform, boletos.culturaguate.gob.gt, up to 30 days ahead, or in cash at any Bantrab branch in Guatemala. The third way is cash at the Bantrab window at the park's outer gate, the only place to pay on site. There is no ticket office at the ruins themselves.
Do tours include the park ticket?
Some fares include it and some do not, and each tour card says which. A fare without the ticket costs a foreign visitor Q150 more at the park, or Q250 with the sunrise or sunset ticket. Add that to the fare before you compare prices.
Can I buy the Tikal ticket at the gate?
Yes, in cash at the Bantrab window at the outer gate, about 17 km before the ruins. For a sunrise visit buy it before the day, because the gate window is reported to open at 6:00am, two hours after sunrise entry begins.
Are Tikal tickets refundable?
No, under any circumstances. A ticket is valid for up to 30 days after purchase, whatever date it shows, and it is used up on the day it is scanned at the gate. Each day at the ruins needs its own ticket.
Is there a discount for children, students or seniors?
Only for children under 10, who enter free. There are no senior, student, disability or group discounts, because the prices are set by law. From their 10th birthday children pay the full fee.
Can I still buy Tikal tickets at Banrural?
No. Banrural no longer sells Tikal tickets: that arrangement ended on 17 January 2025, and hotel pages that still mention it are out of date. Buy online at boletos.culturaguate.gob.gt, or in cash at a Bantrab branch or the Bantrab window at the gate.
Is the museum included in the Tikal ticket?
No. The museum ticket costs Q30 for foreign visitors and Q5 for Guatemalans, bought on top of a park entry ticket. The Museo Sylvanus G. Morley and the Museo Lítico both stand by the Visitor Centre and open daily from 08:00 to 16:00.
What do I show at the entrance?
The PDF ticket, printed or on your phone, and your passport or ID. Screenshots, bank receipts and card slips are refused. You are given a wristband, which you wear where it can be seen all day.
Can I pay for Tikal tickets by card?
Online, yes: the platform takes Visa and Mastercard, and international cards pay a 2.30% surcharge. In person, at a Bantrab branch or the window at the gate, it is cash only.
Booking and tours
Do I need a guide to visit the ruins?
Not between 06:00 and 18:00, when you can walk the site on your own. For sunrise and sunset visits a guide authorised by INGUAT is compulsory, together with the extra ticket, which is why most sunrise visitors book a tour.
Which Tikal tour is best?
Sunrise for the view from Temple IV and the wildlife at first light, and sunset if a 3:00am start is too much or you are coming from Belize. A full daytime tour covers the most ground at the ruins, and a fly-in day suits a traveller with one day to spare in Guatemala City or Antigua. Check whether each fare includes the park ticket before you compare prices.
Can I visit Tikal from Belize?
Yes. Some tours collect you in San Ignacio or at the Belize western border, and the fare rises with the pickup point you choose. Bring your passport, and carry cash, because Belize charges an exit fee at the land border.
Can I do a day trip from Guatemala City or Antigua?
Yes, by air. The fly-in tours take the 5:45am flight from Guatemala City to Flores and the 5:30pm flight back, with about four hours in the park and the park ticket and lunch included. They are non-refundable and a change fee applies, so book once your dates are fixed. By road, Guatemala City is 484 km and about nine hours away.
What time do sunrise tours leave?
Around 3:00am from Flores and 3:30am from El Remate, so that you are through the gate inside the 04:00 to 06:00 sunrise window. You are on Temple IV before the sun comes up, which is around 06:30 in January and nearer 05:30 in July.
How far in advance should I book a Tikal tour?
A few days ahead in the dry season, February to April, and around Holy Week. The park ticket itself can be bought online up to 30 days ahead, and for a sunrise visit it should be bought before the day.
Can I cancel a tour and get my money back?
Most fares cancel free up to 24 hours before the start. The fly-in day trips from Guatemala City and Antigua are non-refundable, with a change fee, and their cards say so. The park ticket is never refundable, whoever buys it.
Are Tikal tours private or shared?
Most are small shared groups, capped at nine on some fares and at 15 or 18 on others. A private day from Flores keeps the guide and vehicle for your group alone, and some operators sell private versions of their shared tours at a higher price.
Do Tikal tours include hotel pickup?
Nearly all collect you from hotels in Flores and the towns around it, and several also reach El Remate and the park hotels. The fly-in tours collect you from your hotel in Guatemala City or Antigua.
Do Tikal tours include food?
Several include lunch, and the small-group sunrise tour includes breakfast at the top of Temple IV. On your own, food and single-use plastics may not be carried into the archaeological zone, so bring a reusable bottle.
Visiting practically
What are the park's opening hours?
06:00 to 18:00 every day of the year, holidays included. Sunrise entry runs from about 04:00 to 06:00 and sunset from about 18:00 to 20:00, and both need the extra ticket and an authorised guide.
How far is Tikal from Flores?
About 64 km, or roughly an hour to an hour and a quarter by road. The route follows the CA-13 towards Melchor de Mencos, turns off at Ixlú towards El Remate and runs on to the park. The outer gate, where tickets are checked, is still about 17 km from the Visitor Centre.
How long do you need at the ruins?
Tours give you four to seven hours in the park. The Great Plaza, Temple IV and the Lost World fill a morning, and seeing both a sunset and a sunrise means a night nearby.
When is the best time to visit?
February to April is the driest stretch, with fewer than five rain days a month at Flores, the nearest weather station. April and May are the hottest, with average highs around 36 °C, and June and September to October are the wettest. From May to October the rain falls especially in the afternoons.
Can you climb the temples?
Some of them. You may climb only the structures opened for it, by their wooden stairs, and never the roof combs. Visitors currently climb Temple IV, the sunrise viewpoint, as well as Temple II and the Lost World pyramid, but the park can close a staircase for repairs.
What should I bring to Tikal?
Walking shoes, a refillable bottle, a rain jacket, sun protection, insect repellent and a torch for sunrise or sunset. Single-use plastics and food are not allowed in the archaeological zone. Download or print your PDF ticket before you set off, because signal in the park is weak.
Is Tikal wheelchair accessible?
The park publishes no accessibility information, and the paths between the temples are long and unpaved. Some tours state wheelchair access for their vehicle and route, so check each tour's details before you book.
Can I fly a drone at Tikal?
No. Drones are banned in the park, a rule INGUAT brought in in 2019 to protect the orange-breasted falcon that has nested on Temple II.
Can you stay inside Tikal National Park?
Yes. Three hotels stand beside the Visitor Centre, Jungle Lodge, Tikal Inn and Jaguar Inn, about a ten-minute walk from the Great Plaza, and there is a camping area at Q50 for foreign visitors. You still need a park entry ticket to pass the gate.
Is there phone signal at Tikal?
Weak or none inside the park. Download your ticket PDF and anything else you need before you leave Flores.
Is it very hot at Tikal?
Yes. Average highs at Flores run from 29 °C in January to 36 °C in April and May, with high humidity. Early mornings and late afternoons are the cooler parts of the day.
The park itself
Is Tikal a UNESCO World Heritage Site?
Yes, since 1979, and it is a mixed site, listed for both its Maya city and its rainforest. The property covers 57,600 ha, and it was declared a national park on 26 May 1955.
What is the tallest temple at Tikal?
Temple IV, about 65 m from its platform and some 70 m from the plaza floor to the top of its roof comb. It is the tallest structure at Tikal and one of the tallest the Maya ever built, though not the tallest in the Americas: La Danta at El Mirador is taller.
What animals can you see at Tikal?
Spider monkeys, Yucatán black howler monkeys, coatis, agoutis and ocellated turkeys are the usual sightings, with toucans and parrots in the canopy. UNESCO records more than 100 mammal species and more than 330 bird species in the park.
Was Star Wars filmed at Tikal?
Yes. In March 1977 a film crew spent five days shooting from Temple IV for the Yavin 4 rebel base in the first Star Wars film. The view east over the canopy towards Temples II and III is the one on screen.
Why was Tikal abandoned?
Central Tikal lost most of its people between about 830 and 950, and no single cause is proven. One contributing factor is documented: a 2020 study found two of the largest reservoirs contaminated with mercury and toxic cyanobacteria in the late 9th century.
When was Tikal built?
People lived here by about 800 to 600 BC, and work on the North Acropolis began around 350 BC. The great temples you see were raised in the Late Classic, between about AD 700 and 810, and the earliest dated monument is Stela 29, from AD 292.
Still deciding? Every tour sits side by side on Tikal National Park Tours. The fees, hours and ways to buy are on visiting Tikal, the gate and the paths on the Tikal map, and the longer answers in the Tikal guides.