Tikal is a Maya city and a rainforest in one national park. You can watch the sun come up from a temple, walk the plaza at the centre of the city, climb where the park allows it, and look for monkeys on the way. Here is each option with the ticket it needs, whether you need a guide, and the best time to go. Most of it fits in a day on one of the Tikal ruins tours.
This is the visit Tikal is known for. You enter between about 04:00 and 06:00, walk in the dark, and climb the wooden staircase of Temple IV. Then you wait on top as the forest wakes up below you.
The sun rises at about 05:32 in mid-July and about 06:30 in December and January. Either way you are already on the temple when it comes up, because the entry window closes at 06:00. The weather decides how much you see, so no one can promise you a clear horizon.
For sunrise you need three things: the Q150 park ticket, the Q100 sunrise ticket and a guide authorised by INGUAT. Buy the tickets before the day. The Bantrab window at the outer gate is the only place to pay on site, and it is reported to open at 06:00, two hours after sunrise entry begins.
Ticket: Q150 park entrance plus Q100 sunrise ticket, for foreign visitors. Guide: Compulsory, authorised by INGUAT. Best time: Every day of the year; the driest months are February to April.
Sunset entry runs from about 18:00 to 20:00, and it works like sunrise. You need the park ticket, the Q100 sunset ticket and an authorised guide. The viewpoint is the top of Temple IV again.
Check the month before you choose it. From about October to February the sun has already set before 18:00. In those months a sunset ticket buys you dusk over the canopy and a walk back in the dark. In mid-April the sun sets at about 18:16, and in mid-July at about 18:37, so you see it go down. Bring your own torch whenever you go.
Ticket: Q150 park entrance plus Q100 sunset ticket. Guide: Compulsory, authorised by INGUAT. Best time: Spring and summer, when the sun is still up at 18:00.
The Great Plaza is the centre of the city and the place most visits start. It lies about 1.3 km on foot from the Visitor Centre. Temple I, the Temple of the Great Jaguar, stands on its east side, about 45 m high. Temple II, the Temple of the Masks, faces it from the west.
On the north side rises the North Acropolis, the royal burial ground, with its construction begun around 350 BC. On the south side is the Central Acropolis, the palace complex. A small ball court sits between Temple I and the palace. Temple I was raised over the tomb of Jasaw Chan K'awiil I, who ruled from 682 to 734. The guide to the ruins takes each building in turn.
Ticket: Q150 park entrance. Guide: Not required between 06:00 and 18:00; you can walk the site on your own. Best time: Early morning, before the heat and the afternoon rain.
You may climb only the structures opened for it, and only by their wooden stairs. The roof combs are never climbed. Visitors currently climb Temple II, by the wooden stairs at the back, Temple IV and the Great Pyramid of the Lost World.
The park can close a staircase for repairs. Temple IV’s was closed on 7 and 8 April 2025 while the rest of the park stayed open. The rules can change, so follow the signs on the day. Temple I is not one of the climbs; you see it from the plaza floor.
Ticket: Q150 park entrance. Guide: Not required. Best time: Morning, while the steps are dry and the air is cooler.
The Lost World (Mundo Perdido) is the oldest complex at Tikal. It was used from the Middle Preclassic to the Terminal Classic, and it served as the city’s astronomical and public-ritual centre. Its Great Pyramid stands about 31 m high and is one you can climb.
Temple V is the second-tallest temple at Tikal, about 57 m by the ministry’s figure, from about AD 700. Both lie to the south of the Great Plaza, so they fit on the same loop as the plaza and Temple IV.
Ticket: Q150 park entrance. Guide: Not required. Best time: Mid-morning, once you have seen the Great Plaza.
In March 1977 a plate crew from Industrial Light & Magic spent five days filming from Temple IV. They pointed the camera east, towards the Great Plaza, for the rebel base on Yavin 4 in the first Star Wars. Temples II and III show above the canopy in the shot of the Millennium Falcon coming in.
You get the same view from the top of Temple IV, and a sunrise or sunset visit puts you there. The scene of the heroes at the temple entrance was not filmed at Tikal; it was shot in a hangar at RAF Cardington, in England.
Ticket: Q150 park entrance; add the Q100 sunrise or sunset ticket to be there at dawn or dusk. Guide: Required only for the sunrise and sunset windows. Best time: Any clear morning.
The Museo Sylvanus G. Morley holds about 250 ceramic pieces. Its best-known exhibit is a reproduction of the tomb of Burial 116, found under Temple I in 1962. The Museo Lítico shows 25 carved monuments: 21 stelae, 3 altars and a sculpture of a human figure. It opened in 1989.
Both open daily from 08:00 to 16:00. The museum ticket costs Q30 for foreign visitors, and you buy it on top of the park ticket; it is not included in the entry. The museums guide covers the collections in more detail.
Ticket: Q150 park entrance plus Q30 museum ticket. Guide: Not required. Best time: The middle of the day, when the heat is highest outside.
The Conservation and Research Centre, the CCIT, reopened to the public on 10 March 2026. It holds pieces from 300 BC to the Classic period. You can visit from Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 16:00. No separate fee has been published, but you still need the park ticket to reach it.
Ticket: Q150 park entrance; no separate fee published. Guide: Not required. Best time: A weekday; it is closed at weekends.
Tikal is a mixed World Heritage Site, listed by UNESCO in 1979 for its forest as well as its ruins. It is also a core zone of the Maya Biosphere Reserve. UNESCO records more than 100 mammal species and more than 330 bird species in the park.
You are most likely to see spider monkeys and Yucatán black howler monkeys, white-nosed coatis and agoutis. Watch for the ocellated turkey near the Visitor Centre car park, where males display in March and early April. Keel-billed toucans use the edge of the old airstrip, and a small wetland behind the Visitor Centre draws kingfishers. From October to April, North American migrants join the resident birds.
First light is when the birds are most active. Keep to the marked routes, and never feed the animals. The nature and wildlife guide lists what lives here.
Ticket: Q150 park entrance. Guide: Not required; the sunrise tours spot wildlife on the way. Best time: First light, and again late in the afternoon.
Three hotels stand beside the Visitor Centre, inside the park: Jungle Lodge, Tikal Inn and Jaguar Inn. Jaguar Inn also has tents and a camping site. All three are about a ten-minute walk from the Great Plaza, which puts you on the paths at first light without a 3:00am drive.
You still need a park entry ticket to pass the gate, and each day at the ruins needs its own ticket. The park’s camping area costs Q50 for foreign visitors, on top of the entry ticket. Food is not allowed in the archaeological zone, so eat at the camping area, at Rancho Tikal or at the Uaxactún car park.
Ticket: Q150 park entrance per day; Q50 to camp. Guide: Not required in daytime. Best time: The night before a sunrise, so you wake up next to the ruins.
Use this to plan the order of your day. The fees are the park’s own, for foreign visitors, in quetzales.
| Activity | Ticket needed | Guide needed | Best time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunrise from Temple IV | Q150 + Q100 sunrise | Yes, INGUAT-authorised | Entry 04:00–06:00 |
| Sunset from Temple IV | Q150 + Q100 sunset | Yes, INGUAT-authorised | Entry 18:00–20:00; the sun is down first from October to February |
| The Great Plaza | Q150 | No | Early morning |
| Climbing Temple II, Temple IV, the Lost World pyramid | Q150 | No | Morning, on dry steps |
| The Lost World and Temple V | Q150 | No | Mid-morning |
| The two museums | Q150 + Q30 | No | Daily 08:00–16:00 |
| The CCIT | Q150; no separate fee published | No | Monday–Friday 08:00–16:00 |
| Wildlife and birds | Q150 | No | First light |
| Camping in the park | Q150 + Q50 | No | Overnight |
If you have one day, go early and walk the Great Plaza first, then Temple IV and the Lost World. Leave the museums for the hottest hours. If you have two, sleep in the park and add sunrise or sunset. The Tikal map shows how far apart they are.
Temple IV before sunrise and breakfast at the top, then the north and west of the city with an eye out for wildlife. Lunch included; the park and sunrise tickets are extra.
From $98 per person · lowest pickup option · park + sunrise fee extra
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The other end of the day: a 12:30pm start, lunch, the park and sunset tickets in the fare, and the sunset from Temple IV. Bring your own torch for the walk out.
From $220 per person · sunset ticket included
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A daytime visit with the park ticket and lunch in the fare: about 4.5 hours of guided stops and a two-hour lunch at the park restaurant.
From $78 per person · park ticket included
Check AvailabilityHours, fees and climbing rules can change. Check the ministry’s own pages before you travel.
Tickets and opening hours sit on visiting Tikal, the month you are coming on the weather page, and every tour on Tikal National Park Tours.