Main entrance to the ruins with snack bars. You're likely to be launched upon by guides; ensure they are the registered guides, identifiable by their ID cards.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
0.12 MILES
Ancient Palenque stands at the precise point where the first hills rise out of the Gulf coast plain, and the dense jungle covering these hills forms an…
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Templo de las Inscripciones Group
0.09 MILES
As you walk in from the entrance the vegetation suddenly peels away to reveal many of Palenque’s most magnificent buildings in one sublime vista. A line…
0.12 MILES
Perhaps the most celebrated burial monument in the Americas, this is the tallest and most stately of Palenque’s buildings. Constructed on eight levels,…
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17.96 MILES
Thirty kilometers from Palenque, these 25m-high curtains of water aren't the most dramatic water features in the area, but the turquoise river pools make…
0.26 MILES
Pakal’s son, Kan B’alam II, was a prolific builder, and soon after the death of his father started designing the temples of the Grupo de las Cruces…
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0.24 MILES
In the jungle south of the Grupo de las Cruces is the Southern Acropolis, where archaeologists have made some terrific finds in recent excavations. You…
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0.43 MILES
East of the Grupo Norte, the main path crosses Arroyo Otolum. Some 70m beyond the stream, a right fork will take you to Grupo C, a set of jungle-covered…
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0.28 MILES
In 1999, in Templo XIX, archaeologists made the most important Palenque find for decades: an 8th-century limestone platform with stunning carvings of…
Nearby Palenque attractions
0.07 MILES
Also called Templo XII, this temple takes its popular name from the relief sculpture of a rabbit or deer skull at the foot of one of its pillars.
2. Tomb of Alberto Ruz Lhuillier
0.07 MILES
The man who discovered Pakal’s tomb in 1952 was buried here, under the trees in front of Templo XIII.
0.08 MILES
Overgrown and of little interest, Templo XI is the first structure you'll see entering the site from the main entrance.
4. Templo de las Inscripciones Group
0.09 MILES
As you walk in from the entrance the vegetation suddenly peels away to reveal many of Palenque’s most magnificent buildings in one sublime vista. A line…
0.09 MILES
This temple contains the tomb of a female dignitary, whose remains were found colored red (as a result of treatment with cinnabar) when unearthed in 1994…
0.12 MILES
Ancient Palenque stands at the precise point where the first hills rise out of the Gulf coast plain, and the dense jungle covering these hills forms an…
7. Templo de las Inscripciones
0.12 MILES
Perhaps the most celebrated burial monument in the Americas, this is the tallest and most stately of Palenque’s buildings. Constructed on eight levels,…
0.14 MILES
Built in the 8th century by Ahkal Mo’ Nahb’ III and restored in 1955, the tower has remnants of fine stucco reliefs on the walls, but you’re not allowed…