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A day on foot through the greatest of the Maya cities: limestone temples rising 70 metres out of the rainforest, plazas where spider monkeys swing overhead, and the view from Temple IV across an ocean of green broken only by the crowns of other pyramids.
At its height in the eighth century, Tikal held perhaps 60,000 people. Today its temples stand in a national park of 576 square kilometres of rainforest, home to howler monkeys, toucans, coatis and ocellated turkeys.
From the gate a causeway runs about 20 minutes to the Gran Plaza, framed by Temple I, the Temple of the Great Jaguar, Temple II and the North Acropolis. The loop continues to Temple V, the Lost World pyramid (Mundo Perdido), and Temple IV, whose wooden stairs climb to a platform above the canopy, then back via the Complex Q twin pyramids. Temple VI, the Temple of the Inscriptions, is an optional detour about a kilometre out.
Hiring a bike at the entrance roughly halves the walking time. Start at six, carry two litres of water and eat at the comedores by the gate. Sunrise tours mean fog and the howlers' roar; sunset is clearer and emptier.
A clockwise loop; the site map at the gate shows the causeways.
Show your ticket and follow the causeway north-west through tall forest, listening for howlers and toucans.
The ceremonial heart: the Great Jaguar temple facing Temple II across the plaza, with the stelae of the North Acropolis behind.
Walk south to Temple V, then climb the Lost World pyramid for a view of the temple crests over the trees.
Climb the wooden stairs of the tallest temple for the famous view east over Temples I, II and III.
Return past the twin pyramids of Complex Q, adding the 1 km detour to Temple VI if your legs allow.
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Shuttles leave Flores from about 4.30am; the first ones reach the gate as it opens. Staying at a lodge inside the park allows sunset and sunrise visits.
Buy entry at the bank booth before the park gate; sunrise and sunset tickets cost extra and require a guide.
Licensed guides wait at the visitor centre; a two-to-three-hour tour explains what you are looking at.
Flores practical notes →Wikimedia Commons photographs are used under their licences; Pexels photographs under the Pexels licence.
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