Tulum, Mexico: Recap and Travel Guide

This weather has us dreaming back to our Tulum, Mexico trip we took last year. We called it our “honey match moon” to celebrate both Matt matching in his residency program and our overdue honeymoon. So, while we’re all dreaming of the places we’ll go when travel restrictions lift, here’s a little guide and recap of our trip to Tulum and some of our favorite photos from the trip!

how long to stay

We stayed for five nights and four days at the end of May into June, which was just enough time for us. We took early flights on Thursday morning and arrived in Tulum by the afternoon. We flew into Cancun from Philadelphia and booked a transfer shuttle to Tulum (it’s about a 1.5 hour drive from Cancun International Airport). I’d say that this type of timeframe is good if you’d like to touch on big things while also enjoy the shops, food and atmosphere.

what to expect

Tulum is so pretty! The quaint shops, hotels and food are designed with aesthetic in mind. The main area of Tulum is literally a long road that is one side jungle and one side beachfront, separated by a dirt road. There are shops and restaurants along each side of the road. Once you leave the main strip with all the restuarants and shops, there is the city of Tulum that also has other restaurants and shops. We found the heart of Tulum was on the main strip. We loved being able to walk out from our hotel and dip into a few shops and places to eat during the day.

The food! We loved every single thing we ate. More on this below!

where to stay

We opted to split the trip up into a hotel and an Airbnb. We stayed at Azucar Hotel for the first three nights which was directly on the beach. It was right next to Akiin Beach Tulum which had a great restaurant for poolside drinks, snacks and entrées. Azucar was a great spot to wake up, walk out and be right at the ocean. They served a light breakfast with your hotel stay. A few other noteworthy places that we would stay at if returning:

Nômade | Coco | Ahau Tulum | Be Tulum

where to eat

Everything we ate was out of this world good! You truly can’t go wrong with what and where you eat on the main strip of Tulum. If you do a quick Pinterest search of “what to do in Tulum” the top place that will pop up to eat is Hartwood and by all means, it did not disappoint!

Hartwood takes reservations and walk-ins and is solely outdoors. Their reservations book up quickly, almost a month to two in advance. When we were planning, we hoped to make a reservation but weren’t able so we took a chance and were able to get in right at opening. The menu changes frequently and is written on large chalkboards that the servers bring over to your table for view. If you’re a seafood lover, this is the place for you (most of Tulum is heavy on seafood entrées). We absolutely loved Hartwood and would highly recommend.

We also ate dinner at Gitano. Located in the heart of the jungle side of Tulum, it was the perfect place to grab appetizers, entrées and a few cocktails to kick off the night. The food was amazing!

There were so many great spots that we ate at for breakfast and quick lunches in between the beach and shopping. We ventured out into the city of Tulum for Burrito Amor (when we stayed at our Airbnb location) and it was so good, we still talk about it to this day! Here are a few of our other favs:

THINGS TO DO

Aside from eating at all the amazing restaurants, shopping is definitely something else to do on the days you want to roam around. There were so many places that sold clothing, home textiles and other goods. Some boutiques had the best little finds.

We also went to the Tulum Ruins on the second to last day of our trip. They were beautiful! The admission is relatively cheap and you can either pay for a tour or walk the ruins yourself. We opted to walk by ourselves so we could explore and take our time. Quick pointer: the weather in Tulum is very hot, especially during peak season(s). Highly recommend dressing light and bringing in water.

takeaways

There were a few things that helped us prep for the trip and that we learned while there that may help if you want to plan a trip.

Convert money before your trip. The conversion rates were better in our hometown than they were in Tulum. We ended up needing to convert more once we were in Tulum, but the rates are slightly higher.
Depending on the time of year, there can be a lot of seaweed in the water. This might vary throughout the year but if opting for more of a resort, a pool my be helpful.