Valladolid is the most beautiful colonial town in the Yucatan Peninsula and one of Mexico’s designated Pueblos Magicos — “Magic Towns” recognised for their historical and cultural significance. Located about two hours west of Playa del Carmen on the road to Chichen Itza, Valladolid offers a side of Mexico that the beach towns cannot — centuries-old architecture, a deep Mayan and Spanish colonial history, and a culinary scene rooted in Yucatecan tradition.

The town centre is built on a classic colonial grid around the Parque Principal, a leafy central plaza flanked by the San Servacio cathedral, pastel-coloured colonial buildings, and small restaurants where you can eat some of the best Yucatecan food outside of Merida. Lomitas de Valladolid (small pork-stuffed tortillas), poc chuc, and sopa de lima are local specialities that taste better here than anywhere on the coast.

Calzada de los Frailes, the town’s most picturesque street, runs from the main plaza to the Convent of San Bernardino de Siena — a 16th-century Franciscan monastery that is one of the oldest religious buildings in the Americas. The walk along this street, past colonial facades painted in terracotta, ochre, and faded blue, is one of the most photogenic strolls in Mexico.

Valladolid is also a cenote destination. Cenote Zaci sits right in the town centre — an open cavern with a pool of dark green water surrounded by stalactites and hanging vines. Cenote Suytun, with its famous light beam and stone platform, is a short drive away. Cenote Xkeken and Cenote Samula, a pair of underground caverns near the village of Dzitnup, are among the most spectacular in the region.

Most visitors experience Valladolid as a stop on the way to or from Chichen Itza, which is only 40 minutes west. But the town deserves more than a lunch break — an overnight stay lets you experience the town in the evening, when the day-trippers have left and the plaza fills with locals, street food vendors, and live music.