Itinerary for a long weekend in Tulum
This long weekend in Tulum itinerary provides an overview of the best things to do and explore in the town and the beach while in Tulum, Mexico. It also includes how to get there, when to visit, where to stay, and how to get around.
I went to Tulum with my husband, Jason, in February 2022 for my 29th birthday. We were so excited to explore the beautiful beaches, the town, and the tropical scenery! Read below to see details about our trip and my tips for visiting.
Logistics for your Long Weekend in Tulum
How to Get There:
The best way to get to Tulum is to fly into Cancun International Airport. There are many direct flights from the states to there. We flew Delta and got a direct flight from LAX to Cancun. Once you land, you’ll need to set up transportation for the 1 hour 40 minute drive south to Tulum. We set up our round trip transportation from Cancun International Airport to our Airbnb before we left for our trip. I highly recommend doing the same if you go. You’ll likely save money booking ahead and booking the roundtrip ticket. We went through Tulum Transportation and booked a private shuttle for $175 roundtrip and had a great experience. Other options would be to book a shared shuttle, take public transportation, taxi or get a rental car. We found a private shuttle to be the fastest with the best experience. Other options will be cheaper, but could take up to twice the time to get you to your destination.
When to Visit:
We visited in February which is one of the coolest months of the year there. It was still very warm with temperatures in the 70s and 80s. February is also one of the dryest months, so we didn’t experience any rain. Before you book your trip, its also worth looking up the levels of seaweed on the beaches. We got lucky with this also with there only being a little bit of seaweed on the beaches and in the waters. Some times of the year it can get overwhelmingly populated with seaweed (around May typically).
Where to Stay:
We were torn on this decision for a while! The beach is beautiful and it would be nice to have that so conveniently close for our trip. However, since we lived at the beach and it was our first time to Tulum, we chose to stay in town. We stayed in a boutique Airbnb that we highly recommend! They gave us a ton of recommendations for exploring while we were there and are very friendly!. After our trip, we were super happy with our decision. It let us get a better sense of what the entire town was like and we found some amazing places to eat!
How to Get Around:
Our Airbnb had bike rentals available and it was so much fun exploring the town and beach this way! If you do stay in the town and want to bike to the beach, just make sure to take the north path (there is a north and south path to the beach). The north path has a paved biking path the entire way, where the south doesn’t and you’re basically in the road with the cars. If you really want to take the south route, its definitely doable! We just felt the north route was much more enjoyable.
Day 1: North Beach and exploring the town
We landed from our red-eye and took our transportation to our airbnb to store our luggage and change/refresh for the day. From there we went to get some cash from one of the local banks, grabbed lunch at La Hoja Verde in town, and then taxied to the north beach to spend the day at Cinco Tulum on the beach. We had a day laying on the beach with margaritas, guacamole, and delicious tacos!!!
We taxied back to our airbnb to enjoy our pool for a bit and then head to dinner and explore the town.
Day 2 - biking around south beach
We woke up feeling very rested and decided to rent bikes and explore the south beach today. We took the north route to the beach and then headed south. It was so nice to bike around in the warm sunny weather, explore, and eat more tacosssss. Some of our favorites were:
- Papaya Playa Project: we stopped at this boho resort for breakfast with a view of the ocean
- La Taqueria: the best tacos we had!!!
- La Bikineria: a cute, locally owned boutique with bathing suits, dresses, and jewelry
- Ziggy’s: great tacos and margaritas on the beach
- Public Beach: Just south of Azulik is a local public beach. Most areas of south beach are owned by resorts so you have to pay a minimum to enjoy the beach. This spot is completely free to relax on and take in the warm ocean breeze.
- Azulik: The coolest, artsy, boho, restaurant I have ever seen. At 5:30pm this restaurant takes guests first come, first serve for drinks at their bar. They also offer dinner through reservations. If you want to go, I recommend getting in line a little before 5:30.
We wanted an easy dinner after getting back to our Airbnb so we walked a block to a food truck spot with a bar and live music. This ended up being one of our favorite experiences while in Tulum! The place is called Xaman-ha Terraza Gastronomica. I highly recommend going, grabbing a beer, tacos, and enjoying the music! We even got surprised by a fire dancing performance!
Day 3 - enjoying the pool & our last day
We woke up and had to take our covid tests since our flight was in the evening. We brought Ellume tests (with the app) with us and signed up through the Azova app to do a live-screening test. After that, we enjoyed our pool for a nice relaxing morning. We went to explore the town for a bit and grabbed lunch at a vegetarian cafe, Co.ConAMor. They had delicious food and smoothies.
Then, for our last meal during our long weekend in Tulum, we had to get one more round of TACOS so we stopped in Crazy Fish Tacos for fish tacos and a round of beer. Sadly, after that we had to head back to grab our luggage from the airbnb and catch our ride up to Cancun to begin our trip home.
I hope this long weekend in Tulum itinerary helps plan your trip! Feel free to reach out on my Contact page if you have any questions!