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Self-Guided Tours of Downtown
Excerpted from CancunMap.com, an excellent map of Cancun

Downtown Map

Get off the bus at Ki-Huic Market on Avenue Tulum, which you will see on your right shortly after the bus turns right onto Avenue Tulum at the large seashell and starfish statue in the middle of the intersection.  Ki-Huic Market is open every day 9 am - 10 pm.  This open-air market in downtown Cancun is the city's oldest crafts market. Souvenir shoppers will find a variety of serapes, blouses, shirts and curios. 

After exploring the market, cross to the other side of Avenue Tulum.  Use the crosswalks, and use caution, as drivers in Cancun may not be as pedestrian friendly as you are used to back home.  Turn right and start wandering the wide sidewalks along Avenue Tulum and exploring the shops and restaurants on Tulum and on the small side streets running perpendicular to Tulum.

Turn left onto the small street at the Burger King corner and follow the pedestrian-only street to the end.  When the street turns keep going straight and you will see a small Catholic church on the right.  Straight ahead you'll see a giant thatched-roof stage in Parque de Palapas (Palapas Park).  Visit on a weekend, and you may get to enjoy some local entertainers on stage.  Come down to the park in the evening and watch it come to life with families, lovers, and the aroma of authentic Mexican cooking coming from the rows of vendor carts the line the sidewalks.

Once past the stage you'll catch a glimpse of La Habichuela Restaurant to your right - an excellent spot for fine-dining downtown.  Keep walking straight ahead.  This is a residential street, but it leads to downtown Cancun's nightlife strip - Avenue Yaxchilan.  This area features restaurants, bars and hotels frequented by Europeans, Canadians, and vacationing Mexicans.

One of the restaurants on this street is Perico's, located across the street to your left.  The crazy antics of the waiters make it a popular dinner spot for tourists. 

Other great restaurants are La Parrilla, down the street to your right, with great food and mariachi bands.  And La Taberna, a little further down and across Yaxchilan from La Parrilla. It is a nice sports bar where there are very few tourists. They also have an internet cafe on the premises that is cheap and you can eat or drink while checking your e-mails. 

The intersection with Avenue Sunyaxchen is a large intersection and the Caribe Internacional hotel is on one corner and is also near to the Hotel Margaritas.  Walk up Sunyaxchen (which is a "T" in the road at Yaxchilan so there is only one direction you can walk on Sunyaxchen).  You'll see the 100% Natural restaurant very near the intersection so that you know you're on the correct street.   

A few blocks ahead you'll come to a fork in the road.  In the center is Mercado 28 ("Market 28").  Make a left at the fork, cross the street, and enter the market area alongside the parking lot.  You'll find shops with everything from the daily needs of Cancun's residents to souvenirs to meats and vegetables.  Great prices are to be found at Market 28.  There are several restaurants and food stands at the market. 

After exploring the market, you can flag down a taxi and take it back to Av. Tulum (15 pesos) and take the R-1 bus back to the hotel zone.  To take the bus back to the hotel zone, board the bus on the side of Tulum where the Burger King is located.  Or, have the taxi rush you back to the beach and your hotel.

Downtown Map

When you board the bus in the hotel zone, tell the driver where you are going - Mercado 23 ("mare-CAH-doh VAIN-tee-TRAYC"), or write it down and show it to him.   

Then, after you arrive downtown, watch out the right side of the bus window for the McDonald's with the playground in front.  When you see it, stand up and start moving toward the front of the bus (you usually exit buses from the back, but walking to the front will remind the driver that you want to get off at Mercado 23). You don't need to rush to the front of the bus at this point - Mercado 23 is still a few blocks away.  

After the driver lets you off at Mercado 23, walk a block in on the opposite side of  Avenue Tulum from where the bus dropped you off, and you'll find yourself among the buildings that make up the market.  Lost?  Don't worry, you're really close.  Just say "mercado?" to anyone, and they'll point the way.   

Explore the market, and don't miss Hidalgo de Artisans - with the old horse drawn wagons in front of it - for the best prices on souvenir items.  Across the street are more shops with clothes, household goods, etc.  In the center of it all are restaurants and meat markets.  On the other side of the meat markets you'll find some spectacular fruit and vegetable markets.

Now, return to Hidalgo de Artisans, the first store you stopped at, walk around the corner, and you'll be right back on Avenue Tulum.  Catch the R-1 bus (going in the direction to your right) or a taxi back to your hotel.  

If you'd like to explore further, you can turn left on Tulum and walk about two blocks to a small mall where you can get a more modern feel for Mexican life.  After dark we don't recommend walking much further this direction than the small mall.

If you walk right on Tulum when leaving the market, you can walk about 5 blocks back to the main bus station, the Ki-Huic market, and the other shops along Av. Tulum that are the starting point for tour #1.

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