Ruta Puuc

South of Uxmal, the low Puuc hills carry a string of sites that perfected the region's signature style - plain lower walls beneath friezes of columns, lattices and rain-god masks - and the marked Ruta Puuc threads three of the best within minutes of each other. Kabah answers Uxmal directly down a ruined sacbe: its Codz Poop palace lifts a facade of some 250 stacked Chaac masks, hooked noses by the hundred, one of the most obsessive surfaces in ancient America, with a freestanding arch marking the causeway's start. Sayil spreads horizontally - its Great Palace runs three colonnaded terraces over 80 metres wide, a Maya Versailles amid forest. Labna closes with the most photographed arch in the Maya world: a corbelled gateway crested and friezed on both faces, joining palace to observatory-topped mirador. Xlapak's modest palace fills the gaps between. Tour buses concentrate at Uxmal, leaving these roads to motmots, iguanas and the handful who came for architecture in solitude.

What you actually see

• Kabah's Codz Poop - the wall of 250 Chaac masks.
• Sayil's Great Palace - three colonnaded storeys in the forest.
• Labna's arch - the corbelled gateway of the postcards.
• The Puuc road itself - jungle lanes linking quiet ruins.

When to go

Dry-season mornings, working the route early before heat; combine with Uxmal at opening or day's end. Weekdays can deliver whole palaces to yourself.

Honest expectations

There is no food along the route and little shade on the plazas - carry water and fuel up in Santa Elena or Ticul. Public transport is impractical; drive or hire. Climbing is restricted at most structures.

Nearby

Uxmal anchors the route's head; the Loltun caves and the convent towns of the Ruta de los Conventos extend the day eastward.