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City in Quintana Roo, Mexico

Cancún

Cancún is the most populous city in the state of Quintana Roo, located in southeast Mexico, on the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula.

Cancún
Cancún · Wikimedia Commons (see file page)
The place

Cancún is the most populous city in the state of Quintana Roo, located in southeast Mexico, on the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. It is a significant tourist destination in Mexico and the seat of the municipality of Benito Juárez. The city is situated on the Caribbean Sea and is one of Mexico's easternmost points. Cancún is located just north of Mexico's Caribbean coast resort area known as the Riviera Maya. It encompasses the Hotel Zone, which is the main area for tourism.

Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

What is there

Worth seeing in and around Cancún

10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.

  1. 01
    Cancun Underwater Museum

    Underwater museum in Cancún, Mexico

    9.4 km · Wikipedia
  2. 02
    Andrés Quintana Roo Olympic Stadium

    Football (soccer) stadium in Cancún, Mexico, home venue for Atlante FC

    1.4 km · Wikipedia
  3. 03
    Estadio Sherwin-Williams Beto Ávila

    Baseball stadium in Cancun, Mexico

    1.4 km · Wikipedia
  4. 04
    El Meco

    Maya site in the coast of Quintana Roo, Mexico

    7.2 km · Wikipedia
  5. 05
    University of the Caribbean

    University in Cancun, Mexico

    5.3 km · Wikipedia
  6. 06
    Mercado 28

    An open-air market in Cancún

    1.4 km · Wikipedia
  7. 07
    Estadio Cancun 86

    Stadium in Mexico

    3 km · Wikipedia
  8. 08
    Plaza Las Américas

    Shopping center in Cancún, Mexico

    2.9 km · Wikipedia
  9. 09
    Nichupté Vehicular Bridge

    Bridge in Cancún, Mexico

    5.4 km · Wikipedia
  10. 10
    Pok Ta Pok

    Maya site in Quintana Roo, Mexico

    9.3 km · Wikipedia

Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Do

Things to do

Cancún is best known for its beautiful turquoise waters and powdery white beaches. To get from the center to a beach quickly, go to

From Wikivoyage: Cancún, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Eat

Where to eat

For a big variety of local food, the Mercado 28 and the Parque de las Palapas are the right address. These US fast food (and casual dining) chains are less common worldwide, but have restaurants in Cancun: • in the city center: Carl's Jr and Church’s Chicken • near the city center: Little Caesars (pizza) and Dairy Queen (ice cream and cakes) • in the Hotel Zone: Johnny Rockets and Hooters • in the Plaza Las Americas…

From Wikivoyage: Cancún, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Go there

Getting to Cancún

Airports
Cancún (CUN), 14 km · Cozumel (CZM), 72 km · Felipe Carrillo Puerto Tulum (TQO), 139 km
  • Cozumel → Cancún
    83 km · quickest by road, 7h 57m · MX$95–130
  • Tulum → Cancún
    118 km · quickest by road, 3h 1m · MX$130–170
  • Mérida → Cancún
    289 km · quickest by air, 4h 4m · MX$970–1,490
  • From anywhere
    The planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
    Plan a trip

Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.

Not yet researched

No local-transport research exists yet for Cancún

Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Cancún. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.

What Wikivoyage says about moving around
  • Get inThey are in free standing buildings and within the malls for travelers planning to take a day trip, shopping for tours and activities or for booking an onward journey to the next destination.
  • Get inThe following bus lines offer services into and out of the Central Bus Terminal: Second class buses with AU, Oriente, Mayab and Noroeste (subsidiaries of Grupo ADO) are available for more localized travel to Tulum, Playa del Carmen, Puerto Morelos, Polponah, Kantunilkin, Chiquila (location for Holbox ferry) and other nearby towns and villages in Quintana Roo, Yucatan and Campeche states.
  • Get aroundR1 buses will go to the ADO bus station and some go to Puerto Juarez (where you can catch the ferry to Isla Mujeres.
  • Get aroundA taxi from the Puerto Juarez ferry terminal to the Mercado 28 area at night will be quoted at roughly M$200, and may have a driver willing to accept M$150 if you say that you need to find a taxi for that amount (Feb 2024).
  • Go nextThe largest Maya archaeological site in Yucatan, Chichen Itza is often visited on a day trip from Cancún, but is rather distant and only a small portion of the site and attractions can be seen this way.

From Wikivoyage: Cancún, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.

The nearest places where the work is done
  1. 01
    BacalarMX

    9 ways of moving, 41 sources

    320 km
  2. 02
    Caye CaulkerBZ

    9 ways of moving, 42 sources

    400 km
  3. 03
    FloresGT

    9 ways of moving, 32 sources

    568 km
  4. 04
    Isla de OmetepeNI

    12 ways of moving, 49 sources

    1,082 km
  5. 05
    Capurganá and SapzurroCO

    8 ways of moving, 28 sources

    1,725 km

If you know how people move in Cancún – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.

Around it

Next door to Cancún